Émilie Dequenne, the Belgian actor who received a prime Cannes Movie Pageant prize for her breakout function in “Rosetta,” has died, a information report says. She was 43.
Her household and agent advised the information company Agence France-Presse that Dequenne died Sunday of a uncommon most cancers in a hospital outdoors of Paris.
In 2023, Dequenne revealed she had been identified with adrenocortical carcinoma. Representatives for Dequenne didn’t instantly reply to inquires from The Related Press on Monday.
Dequenne was solely 18 when she was chosen as finest actress at Cannes in 1999. In “Rosetta,” from Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, she portrayed a youngster making an attempt to flee her troublesome life in a caravan park with an alcoholic mom. The movie additionally received the Palme d’Or that yr.
Born in Belœil, Belgium, in 1981, Dequenne had a efficiency streak from a younger age. She studied drama on the Académie de Musique de Baudour.
She turned well-known in France after starring alongside Catherine Deneuve in “The Girl on the Train,” in 2009, primarily based on the true story of a lady who falsely claimed she was the sufferer of an antisemitic assault. Dequenne additionally portrayed police officer Laurence Renauld on the French sequence “The Missing.”
In 2012, she received the Un Sure Regard actress prize from Cannes for “Our Children,” a darkish psychological drama impressed by the true story of a Belgian lady who killed her 5 kids.
She was additionally nominated for a number of César Awards all through her profession, lastly profitable finest supporting actress in 2021 for the romantic comedy “Love Affair(s).”
Talking to The Guardian in 2013 in regards to the troublesome function in “Our Children,” she mentioned, “For my part I went home every weekend, and stayed with my family, which is a very safe place. Making a film like that is something that you have to survive.”
Extra just lately, she co-starred in “Close,” Lukas Dhont’s tender boyhood drama, which introduced her again to Cannes once more in 2022. She noticed similarities between her younger co-star and her personal breakout function with “Rosetta.”
“For me to be here and to come back here after 23 years, it’s very emotional and there is like a reflection between Eden (Dambrine) and myself because I remember when I was here the first time with ‘Rosetta,’” she advised The Related Press. “It was like a very powerful movie with this main character, which is in every scene, every, every shot. And that’s the same for him.”
Dequenne returned to the competition once more in 2024 for the twenty fifth anniversary of “Rosetta.” Her final movie was Frédéric Jardin’s post-apocalyptic thriller “Survive,” which got here out earlier this yr.
Whereas she beloved taking up work in England, France and Belgium, she had little curiosity in Hollywood.
“I have been to Hollywood and had meetings, but really they don’t do the kind of films I like to make. And everything is kind of boring, no?” she mentioned within the interview with The Guardian. “Honestly, it’s not a fun place, or at least not my kind of fun.”
She is survived by her husband, director and producer Michel Ferracci, and daughter, Milla Savarese.
