Emmanuelle Seigner

Emmanuelle Seigner born 22 June 1966 is a French actress, former fashion model, and singer. She is known for her roles in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), The Ninth Gate (1999) and Frantic (1988). She has been nominated for a César Award for Best Actress for Venus in Fur (2013), and for two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress in Place Vendôme (1998) and La Vie En Rose (2007). She has been married to Polish film director Roman Polanski since 30 August 1989.

Life and career

Seigner was born in Paris to a photographer father and a journalist mother. She is the granddaughter of the actor Louis Seigner and sister of the actress Mathilde Seigner. She was educated at a Catholic convent school and began modelling at the age of fourteen.

She married Roman Polanski on 30 August 1989, and they have two children: daughter Morgane and son Elvis. Polanski is 33 years her senior. Her husband directed her in Frantic (1988), Bitter Moon (1992), The Ninth Gate (1999), Venus In Fur (2013), Based On A True Story (2017) and An Officer and a Spy (2019). In 2010, Seigner was featured in Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing, which went on to win the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. In 2012, she played the principal role of Vanda in Polanski’s French film adaption of David Ives’s two-character play Venus in Fur, based on the Austrian novel of the near-same name, for which she received praise as Vanda, an actress, playing against writer and theatre director Thomas played by Mathieu Amalric.

Seigner appears as the main character in the music video “Hands Around My Throat” by Death in Vegas. In 2006, she became the lead singer of the pop rock band Ultra Orange, and the group’s name was changed to Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle. They released a self-titled album in 2007. Seigner released a solo album called Distant Lover in 2014. She and Polanski live with their two children in Paris. She was an ambassadress of the Polish brand Dr Irena Eris.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1984	Year of the Jellyfish		Christopher Frank
1985	Détective	Princess of the Bahamas	Jean-Luc Godard
1986	Cours privé	Zanon	Pierre Granier-Deferre
1988	Frantic	Michelle	Roman Polanski
1990	Dark Illness	The Girl	Mario Monicelli
1992	Bitter Moon	Micheline “Mimi” Bouvier	Roman Polanski
1994	Le Sourire	Odile	Claude Miller
1996	Let’s Hope it Lasts	Julie Neyrac	Michel Thibaud
1997	Nirvana	Lisa	Gabriele Salvatores
	La divine poursuite	Bobbi	Michel Deville
1998	RPM	Michelle Claire	Ian Sharp
	Place Vendôme	Nathalie	Nicole Garcia	Nominated – César Award for Best Supporting Actress
1999	The Ninth Gate	The Girl	Roman Polanski
	Buddy Boy	Gloria	Mark Hanlon
2001	Laguna	Thelma Pianon	Dennis Berry
	Witches to the North	Lucilla	Giovanni Veronesi
2003	Corps à corps	Laura Bartelli	François Hanss
	Os Imortais	Madeleine Durand	António-Pedro Vasconcelos
2004	Happily Ever After	Nathalie	Yvan Attal
	Sans toi	Armelle	Liria Bégéja	Short
2005	Backstage	Lauren Waks	Emmanuelle Bercot
2007	La Vie en rose	Titine	Olivier Dahan	Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly	Céline Desmoulins	Julian Schnabel
	Four Last Songs	Helena	Francesca Joseph
2009	Giallo	Linda	Dario Argento
	Change of Plans	Sarah Mattei	Danièle Thompson
2010	Essential Killing	Margaret	Jerzy Skolimowski
	Chicas	Nuria	Yasmina Reza
2012	A Few Hours of Spring	Clémence	Stéphane Brizé
	In the House	Esther Artole	François Ozon
	The Man Who Laughs	Duchess Josiane	Jean-Pierre Améris
2013	Venus in Fur	Vanda Jourdain	Roman Polanski	International Cinephile Society Award – Best Actress Nominated – César Award for Best Actress Nominated – Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress Nominated – Lumières Award for Best Actress
	Croire	Isabelle	Nicolas Cazalé	Short
2016	Heal the Living	Marianne	Katell Quillévéré
	Le divan de Staline	Lidia	Fanny Ardant
	The Siege of Jadotville	Madame LaFontagne	Richie Smyth
2017	Based on a True Story	Delphine	Roman Polanski
2018	At Eternity’s Gate	The Woman from Arles / Madame Ginoux	Julian Schnabel
2019	An Officer and a Spy	Pauline Monnier	Roman Polanski

Discography

Studio albums

• Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle (2007) Sony
• Dingue (2010)
• Distant Lover (2014)
• Diabolique (as L’épée) (2019) (with Anton Newcombe & The Liminanas)