Name	Charlotte Gainsbourg
Height
Naionality	British
Date of Birth	21 July 1971
Place of Birth	London, England, UK
Famous for

Daughter of celebrity parents, England-born, France-raised Charlotte Gainsbourg started her professional career at age 13, when she landed the role of Catherine Deneuve’s daughter in a drama film about divorce, Paroles et Musique/ Love Songs (1984). The same year, she starred opposite her father in his controversial “Lemon Incest” music video, which featured the two cuddling on a bed surrounded by feathers. Gainsbourg, however, did not become a leading actress until in 1985 with the role of the naive but disobedient protagonist, Charlotte Castang, in L’Effrontee/ Impudent Girl, for director Claude Miller. Delivering an impressive performance, she won both the heart of critics and audience alike that resulted in picking up a 1986 César, the French counterpart of the Academy Award, for Most Promising Young Actress.

Gainsbourg followed it up with a starring role opposite her father in the ill-received drama Charlotte Forever (1986), which was helmed and written by her father. She also was seen in Kung Fu Master! (1987), a drama starring and penned by her mother, and rejoined director Miller for La Petite Voleuse/ The Little Thief in 1988, where she was cast in the starring role of a glowering teen experimenting with sex and a variety of illegal pursuits named Janine Castang. With the role, Gainsbourg gained first attention in America, as well as a Best Actress César nomination.

After Aux yeux du monde/In the Eyes of the World (1990, with future husband Yvan Attal and Kristin Scott Thomas) and Sole anche di notte, Il/Sunshine Even by Night (1990, starred with Julian Sands), Gainsbourg reprised her rebellious teenaged role in Merci La Vie/ Thanks for Life (1991), a black comedy that paired her with Anouk Grinberg as two young women on a rampage against men and almost whomever else crosses their path. The actress expanded her array by undertaking roles in writer/director Jacques Doillon’s Amoureuse/Lover (1992), an ensemble film about a group of women get together to discuss love and life, and the British The Cement Garden (1993), a drama helmed by her uncle Andrew Birkin and also marked Gainsbourg’s first English language outing. 1995 saw Gainsbourg hit the stage for the first time with a starring role in the Paris production of David Mamet’s “Oleanna” at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse.

Gainsbourg attracted the attention of American and international public in 1996 with her title role in Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The actress played the adult Jane, an impecunious governess who falls for her menacing employer (played by William Hurt). Though the film was poorly received by critics, it successfully introduced the actress to a wider international audience. Gainsbourg received additional recognition with her César-nominating performance, starring as Marie, opposite her husband Yvan Attal, in the comedy/romance Love, etc. (1996) and the brilliant, scene-stealing role of Milla Robin, a youngest sister dealing with the impending Christmas holidays, in La Bûche/ Season’s Beatings (1999), from which she was handed a 2000 César for Best Supporting Actress. Also in 1999, she starred in photographer David Bailey’s feature directorial debut The Intruder.

The following years found roles in several European films and television productions, including the TNT miniseries “Nuremberg” (2000) and Patrice Leconte’s Felix et Lola (2001, opposite Philippe Torreton), but Gainsbourg is perhaps best-remembered for playing the highly attractive actress-wife of an envious Parisian sportswriter in her real-life husband writer-actor-director Yvan Attal’s lively and enjoyable French romantic serio comedy Ma Femme Est une Actrice/ My Wife Is an Actress (2001). The film earned rave reviews in many critical circles.

Gainsbourg returned to American cinema in 2003 and received strong notice for her role as Mary, the formerly alienated spouse of a dying math professor (Sean Penn) in 21 Grams, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The film brought her a Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Ensemble Acting, an award she shared with other costars, including Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro.

Her more recent film credits include Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d’enfants/And They Lived Happily Ever After (2004), Lemming (2005), The Science of Sleep/ Science des rêves, La (2006), The Golden Door/ Nuovomondo (2006) and Prête-moi ta main (2006). She will star alongside Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams in the drama/music I’m Not There (2006). The forthcoming film is helmed and written by Todd Haynes.

Aside from acting, Gainsbourg is a talented singer. She has collaborated with various musicians like Madonna in “What It Feels Like For a Girl” (2001), Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) in his album Have You Fed the Fish? (2002, as a backing vocalist) and the acclaimed French artist Ètienne Daho in single “If” (2003). After a long-term hiatus, Gainsbourg, who launched her debut album in 1986 with Charlotte For Ever, released her sophomore effort, 5:55, on September 4, 2006. Released in the UK by Because Music, the album includes a new single, “The Songs That We Sing.”