Eva Green
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Good article Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Eva Gaëlle Green (Template:IPA; Template:IPA; born Template:Birth date) is a French actress, known for portraying eccentric, villainous, and complex characters. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she began her career in theatre before making her film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (2003). She portrayed Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem in Ridley Scott's historical epic Kingdom of Heaven (2005). The following year, she played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), for which she received the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
Green has since starred in numerous independent films, including Cracks (2009), Womb (2010), and Perfect Sense (2011). In 2014, she played Artemisia in the 300 sequel 300: Rise of an Empire and Ava Lord in Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Green is also known for her collaborations with director Tim Burton, starring as Angelique Bouchard in the horror comedy film Dark Shadows (2012), the titular character of the fantasy film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), and Colette Marchant in the fantasy film Dumbo (2019). For her role as an astronaut mother in the drama film Proxima (2019), she earned a nomination for the César Award for Best Actress.
Green starred as Morgan Pendragon in the Starz historical fantasy series Camelot (2011). She also starred as Vanessa Ives in the Showtime horror drama series Penny Dreadful (2014–2016), earning critical acclaim and a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.
Early life
Green was born on 6 July 1980,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> two minutes earlier than her fraternal twin sister Joy.<ref name="twominutes">Template:Cite news</ref> She is the daughter of French actress and author Marlène Jobert and Walter Green, a Swedish dental surgeon<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=yahoo/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and occasional actor in his youth (Au hasard Balthazar directed by Robert Bresson).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Green is of Jewish descent<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> through her Algerian-born mother.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name="fla">Template:Cite news</ref> She is the great-granddaughter of French composer Paul Le Flem<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and of Swedish photographer Mia Green,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the niece of actress Marika Green and the maternal first cousin of singer Elsa Lunghini and actress Joséphine Jobert.<ref>Biographie de Elsa Lunghini Template:Webarchive www.universalmusic.fr</ref> The surname "Green" [[Help:IPA/Swedish|Template:IPA]] has nothing to do with the color green; instead being derived from the Swedish word Template:Lang, which means 'tree branch'.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Green was raised in France and attended the American University of Paris, an English-speaking institution.<ref name="vanityfair">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nervousmuse">Template:Cite news</ref> She developed an interest in Egyptology when she visited the Louvre at age seven.<ref name=noteasy>Template:Cite news</ref> Green has shared at least explanations for why she decided to become an actress. At age 14, after seeing Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adele H., Green decided to become an actress. She has also stated that watching Jack Nicholson's performance in the 1980 movie The Shining laid the groundwork for her future profession.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her mother initially feared that an acting career would be too much for her sensitive daughter, but later came to support her ambitions.<ref name=notbondgirl>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green continued her studies at Cours Eva Saint Paul in Paris<ref name=cold>Template:Cite news</ref> and took an acting course at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.<ref name=yahoo>Template:Cite web</ref> After that, Green returned to Paris, where she performed in several plays.<ref name=notbondgirl /> Green stated that when she was in drama school, she "always picked the really evil roles" because "it's a great way to deal with your everyday emotions".<ref name=kohbbcinterview>Template:Cite news</ref>
Career
2001–2005
Green appeared on stage in Jalousie en Trois Fax (2001) for which she was nominated for a Molière Award.<ref name=queen>Template:Cite news</ref> She also appeared in Turcaret (2002).
In 2002, Green had her film debut, when director Bernardo Bertolucci cast her for the role of Isabelle in The Dreamers (2003), which involved her in extensive full frontal nude scenes and rear nude scenes as well as graphic sex scenes. Green told The Guardian that her agent and her parents begged her not to take the role, concerned that the film would cause her career to "have the same destiny as Maria Schneider",<ref name="guard">Stealing beauty , a February 2004 article from The Guardian</ref> because of Schneider's traumatic experience during the filming of Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris.<ref name=notbondgirl /> Green said that with Bertolucci's guidance she felt comfortable during the filming of the nude and sex scenes<ref name=onstage /> but was embarrassed when her family saw the film.<ref name=notbondgirl /> Her performance was well-received, and some compared her to Liv Tyler.<ref name=mile>Template:Cite news</ref> Green expressed surprise when a minute was cut from the film for the American market, stating, "[T]here is so much violence, both on the streets and on the screen. They think nothing of it. Yet I think they are frightened by sex."<ref name=notbondgirl /> Her next film was Arsène Lupin (2004), in which she portrayed Lupin's love interest. She enjoyed the light-hearted role, although she has stated that she generally prefers more complex characters.<ref name=queen />
Her performance in The Dreamers led Ridley Scott to cast Green in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), a film about the Crusades where she played Sibylla, Princess of Jerusalem. Green performed six screen tests and was hired only a week before principal photography began.<ref name=yahoo /> Green found the atmosphere of coming onto a film so late tense and exciting, and she liked the film's ambiguity in approaching its subject matter.<ref name=kohbbcinterview /> To her disappointment, much of her screen time was cut.<ref name=yahoo /> Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com praised her performance: "She doesn't quite know what to do with her character's stilted dialogue, but she carries herself so regally that you barely notice."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nev Pierce of the BBC, however, called her character "limp".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Green was satisfied when her character's complex subplot was restored in the director's cut.<ref name=envious /> Total Film said the new scenes completed her performance: "In the theatrical cut, Princess Sibylla sleeps with Balian and then, more or less, loses her mind. Now we understand why. Not only does Sibylla have a young son, but when she realizes he's afflicted with leprosy just like her brother Baldwin, she decides to take his life shortly after he's been crowned king."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2006–2013
Green was considered for roles in The Constant Gardener (a role that went to Rachel Weisz) and The Black Dahlia.<ref name=notbondgirl /> She was cast at the last minute for the role of Vesper Lynd in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.<ref name=noteasy /> Green was approached in mid-2005 but turned it down.<ref name="envious">Template:Cite news</ref> Principal photography was already underway, and director Martin Campbell said casting the role was difficult because "we didn't have the final script and a Bond girl always had the connotation of tits 'n' ass." Campbell saw Green's performance in the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and approached Green again. She read the script, and found the character of Vesper far deeper than most Bond girls.<ref name="envious" /> Green's performance was well received: Entertainment Weekly called her the fourth-best Bond girl of all time;<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> IGN named her the best femme fatale, stating, "This is the girl that broke – and therefore made – James Bond";<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and she won a BAFTA and an Empire award for her performance. Both awards were voted for by the British public.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Green portrayed the witch Serafina Pekkala in the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass. Green hoped the religious themes of the book would be preserved,<ref name=envious /> but references to Catholicism were removed from the film.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In February 2008, Green appeared in the sci-fi thriller film Franklyn as the tormented artist Emilia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (who Green compared to real-life figures Sophie Calle and Tracey Emin)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the mysterious Sally, who she described as "full of life, very witty, big sense of humor".<ref name=role>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2009, she appeared in the psychological film Cracks, in which she plays an enigmatic diving instructor of an elite all-female school who becomes obsessed with one of her students, directed by Jordan Scott in Scott's feature directorial debut. She also appeared in Womb (2009), where she plays a woman who clones her dead boyfriend. It is a collaboration between actor Matt Smith and director Benedek Fliegauf.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
She was considered for the role eventually played by Cécile de France in Un Secret (2007).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, she was initially approached for the female lead in Lars von Trier's controversial film Antichrist (2009). According to Trier, Green was positive about appearing in the film, but her agents refused to allow her. The unsuccessful casting attempt took two months of the film's pre-production process. Anglo-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg was subsequently cast in the role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green later said that she got along well with Trier, "but then we started talking about nudity and sex and so on. It got a bit too far ... It was my dream to work with him, but it's a shame it was on that film that it nearly happened. I'm sure I would have been trashed doing that film".<ref>London Evening Standard – Shy Girl... sex bomb Eva Green is really a bundle of nerves Template:Webarchive Retrieved 6 August 2012</ref>
In 2011, Green signed with United Talent Agency in the US, remaining represented by Tavistock Wood in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green then starred in the first season of Starz's series, Camelot, as the sorceress Morgan le Fay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green stated, "This is such an iconic story and you have 10 episodes to explore a character. It's not a girlfriend role that you could have in a movie. It's a real ballsy character. She has some guts."<ref name=morgan>Template:Cite news</ref>
2014–2018
In 2014, Green played Artemisia in the historical action film 300: Rise of an Empire , the sequel to 300. Her performance received critical praise, despite the film's mixed to negative reception.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rafer Guzman in his Newsday review stated, "The one bright spot is Eva Green as Xerxes' machinator, Artemesia, a raccoon-eyed warrior princess... Green plays a snarling, insatiable, self-hating femme fatale and completely steals the show."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Stephanie Zacharek wrote in The Village Voice that "Rise of an Empire might have been essentially more of the same, but for one distinction that makes it 300 times better than its predecessor: Mere mortals of Athens, Sparta, and every city from Mumbai to Minneapolis, behold the magnificent Eva Green, and tremble!"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Between May 2014 and 2016, Green starred in the Showtime horror drama series Penny Dreadful as Vanessa Ives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her performance received widespread acclaim from critics, with Eric Diaz of Nerdist writing, "Eva Green as Vanessa Ives was really a Master Class in acting, and hopefully someone will give her a damn Emmy this time."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The A.V. Club described Green as "a fearless actress who has no time for pedestrian concerns about vanity or what some might consider to be over the top."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For her performance, she earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, she played the titular role of Ava Lord, a villainous femme fatale in the Sin City sequel film Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Green's performance was praised as the standout element of the film despite its negative reviews. The Guardian said that Green "brings a dangerous charisma to Ava Lord, the most compelling presence in the movie."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Variety stated that she "delivers a deliciously over‑the‑top femme fatale turn [and].., commanding every scene she's in." <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2016, Green reunited with Tim Burton in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a film based on the 2011 novel by Ransom Riggs.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Green collaborated once more with Burton in Disney's 2019 live-action adaptation of Dumbo, co-starring with Colin Farrell and Michael Keaton. In 2018, she was appointed as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honorary award given by the French government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2019, she starred in the French drama film Proxima directed by Alice Winocour. Green's performance in the movie was met with critical acclaim and she was eventually nominated for the César Award for Best Actress.<ref name="Cesar">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, she starred as Lydia Wells in the BBC One miniseries The Luminaries, based on the 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A Patriot film abandonment and lawsuit
In April 2018, it was announced that Green would star in the sci-fi thriller film A Patriot.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2020, it was reported that the actress, who was also an executive producer on the project, was suing the production company, White Lantern Film, because it had refused to pay her an £800,000 ($1.04 million) fee after the project was abandoned, and a pay-or-play contract had been agreed on. In its own suit, White Lantern claims Green derailed the film, for example demanding that additional expensive crew be hired. The company also claimed Green owed it more than £1 million ($1.3 million) after walking away from the project.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green won the lawsuit in April 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During the lawsuit WhatsApp messages between Green and friends included references to her describing potential crew members as "shitty peasants", the production as a "B-shitty-movie" and producer Jake Seal as "pure vomit". However, the Judge found: "She may have said some extremely unpleasant things about Mr Seal and his crew at Black Hangar, but this was borne from a genuine feeling of concern that any film made under Mr Seal's control would be of very low quality and would not do justice to a script that she and the former directors were passionate about."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022–present
Green appeared in Nocebo, a psychological thriller produced by teams from Ireland and the Philippines, released on 4 November 2022 in the US and on 9 December 2022 in the UK and Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2021, it was announced that Green would serve as the lead character in the British-French Apple TV+ series Liaison, co-starring Vincent Cassel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The series premiered on 24 February 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, she portrayed Milady de Winter in two French film adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel The Three Musketeers; The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers: Milady, both directed by Martin Bourboulon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Green reunited with Casino Royale director Martin Campbell in the action thriller film Dirty Angels, in which she plays a military soldier, assigned to rescue a group of teenage girls from ISIS terrorists. The film was released in cinemas and on demand on 13 December 2024.
Personal life
Green has been living in London since 2005. She has stated that she is happier in England than in France.<ref name="odell">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
When asked about her preference to play graphic, sexually charged roles, Green described it as "paradoxical" given her self-confessed shyness. She commented humorously, "I don't really understand why I do that. I need to go through therapy!"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Green also favours dark, twisted characters, as they allow her to feel liberated. She spoke about her role in Penny Dreadful as, "it's like I don't have a corset anymore when I'm playing Vanessa, you know? People will think that it's terrible to have fun in a show like that. But I do."<ref name=":0" /> However, she has tried to take more diverse roles in order to avoid being typecast.<ref name=":0" />
Green is non-religious Jewish, though she describes herself as "very spiritual" and having complex beliefs about supernatural forces.<ref name=":0" />
Green has expressed interest in returning to theatre.<ref name=onstage>Template:Cite news</ref> She says she has no plans to work in Hollywood full-time because "the problem with Hollywood is that the studios are super powerful, they have far more power than the directors... [my] ambition at this moment is just to find a good script".<ref name=womanlike>Template:Cite news</ref>
From 2005 to 2009, she was in a romantic relationship with her Kingdom of Heaven co-star Marton Csokas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2017, she revealed that Harvey Weinstein made an inappropriate advance during a business meeting but she "pushed him off".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In a 2020 interview with Town & Country magazine, Green said she did not currently want children, citing fear of judgement and public scrutiny, and explaining that she "can't visualise [herself] embracing motherhood any time soon". She added, "I don’t know. For now, no. What will be, will be. It's difficult — it's the judgement of other people, really."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Public image
Green's sex appeal has often been discussed in the media, and critics have described her as a sex symbol.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fashion outlets such as W Magazine and Vogue have described her as a style icon, emphasizing her avant-garde and gothic glamour,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which extends to her dark and seductive roles—reinforcing her image as a "cinematic femme fatale".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Green is a brand ambassador for Roger Vivier<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has collaborated in other luxury brands including Montblanc, Alexander Mcqueen,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Bulgari.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Camelot | Morgan Pendragon | 10 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | Penny Dreadful | Vanessa Ives | 27 episodes |
| 2020 | The Luminaries | Lydia Wells | 6 episodes |
| 2023 | Liaison | Alison Rowdy | 6 episodes |
Video game
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 007: Quantum of Solace | Vesper Lynd | Voice |
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Actresses from Paris
- Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
- American University of Paris alumni
- BAFTA Rising Star Award winners
- Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- Fraternal twins
- French expatriates in the United Kingdom
- French female models
- French film actresses
- French people of Algerian-Jewish descent
- French people of Swedish descent
- French secular Jews
- French spiritualists
- French twins
- Jewish French actresses
- Jobert family
- Lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie alumni
- Pieds-noirs
- Recipients of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 21st-century French actresses
- 21st-century Mizrahi Jews