Laetitia Marie Laure Casta born 11 May 1978 is a French actress and model.
Casta became a “GUESS? Girl” in 1993 and gained further recognition as a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1998 to 2000 and as a spokesperson for cosmetics company L’Oréal. She has appeared on over 100 covers of such popular magazines as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Elle and Glamour, and has modeled for designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, J. Crew, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Roberto Cavalli, Lolita Lempicka, and Vivienne Westwood.
Casta became an actress, appearing in the films Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010), in which she portrayed sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, Face (2009) and The Blue Bicycle (2000), as well as the play Ondine at the theatre Antoine.
Early life
Laetitia Casta was born in Pont-Audemer, Normandy, France. Her mother, Line Blin, is from Normandy. Her father, Dominique Casta, is from Corsica. Casta has an older brother, Jean-Baptiste, and a younger sister, Marie-Ange. She spent her childhood in Normandy and Corsica.
Career
Casta’s modeling career reportedly began when she was discovered by the photographer Frederic Cresseaux, during a family holiday in her father’s native Corsica, at age 15. After her unexpected registration by Jeeby, Casta was elected Miss Lumio 93.
Casta has been the L’Oréal Paris brand ambassador since 1998. She has been featured in Guess? Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Miu Miu, Pepe Jeans, Alberta Ferretti and XOXO ad campaigns. Casta has appeared on more than 100 magazine covers including Victoria’s Secret catalogs, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE and Vogue magazines. She walked down the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Casta was one of the company’s signature Victoria’ Secret Angels from 1998 to 2000. She claims that her career with Victoria’s Secret ended because she was “too much of rebel”. She also appeared in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue three consecutive times, Rolling Stone, as well as the Pirelli Calendar 1999 by Herb Ritts and 2000 by Annie Leibovitz.
In 1999, Casta was ranked first in a national survey ordered by the French Mayors’ Association to decide who should be the new model for the bust of Marianne, an allegorical symbol of the French Republic, which stands inside every French town hall.
Casta became the focus of a controversy when, after being selected to be Marianne, newspapers in Britain and France reported that she had relocated to London where taxes on high earners are lower. Casta’s father said she went to London for professional reasons; on a TV show, she also said that she rented a flat in London to be near her boyfriend. The French minister of the interior spoke about Casta on the radio; comparing the advantages of living in France with regard to the drawbacks of London after political opponents used Casta’s relocation to London as an opportunity to criticise the government.
She is the face of fragrances Chanel’s Allure, Givenchy’s Forbidden flower, Cacharel’s Promise, Bulgari’s BLV II, Ralph Lauren’s Notorious, and on 15 June 2012 D&G’s Pour Femme shot in Erice by Mario Testino. The Parisians could follow her Adventures in the Galeries Lafayette by Jean-Paul Goude. For Christmas 2011, Peter Lindbergh shot True Love, the very thought of Casta at the summit of Manhattan and between the snowy lions of marble of the New York Public Library for Tiffany & Co. On 10 March 2010, in Paris, she opened the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2010 fashion show. On 27 September 2010, she closed the Roberto Cavalli SS 2011 fashion show in Milan.
Her first role was as Falbala in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar directed by Claude Zidi, a live-action adaptation of the comic book Asterix, in which Obelix, portrayed by Gérard Depardieu, plays Casta’s love interest. Casta appeared in Les Ames Fortes, a dramatic film directed by Raul Ruiz. Her interpretation of Brigitte Bardot in the movie Gainsbourg (Vie heroique) resulted in her Cesar Award nomination. Casta served as a jury member at the 69th Venice International Film Festival in 2012.
In September 2020 Casta appeared in a new FW20 campagne for Yves Saint Laurent.
Political involvement
On 6 April 2008, Casta demonstrated in a White March of nonviolent protest to ask for the immediate release of Ingrid Betancourt, presidential candidate kidnapped since 2002 by the FARC. On 30 April 2002, she attended the demonstration Vive la République after the first round election of the 2002 presidential election.
She was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on 9 December 2016, committed to help the 250 million children living in conflict areas.
Personal life
On 19 October 2001, Casta gave birth to her daughter Sahteene, whose father is the photographer Stephane Sednaoui. Casta was engaged to Italian actor Stefano Accorsi. The couple has two children: a son named Orlando, born on 21 September 2006, and a daughter named Athena, born on 29 August 2009. In June 2017, Casta married her boyfriend of two years, French actor Louis Garrel.
Filmography
Director, screenwriter, producer
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Box office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | En Moi | Director, Writer, Producer | Cannes Critics’ Week closing short |
Actress
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Asterix et Obelix contre Cesar
(Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar) |
Falbala | Claude Zidi | |
| 2000 | La Bicyclette Bleue
(The Blue Bicycle) |
Lea Delmas | Thierry Binisti | TV film for France2 |
| Gitano | Lucia Junco | Manuel Palacios | ||
| 2001 | Les ames fortes
(Savage Souls) |
Therese | Raoul Ruiz | |
| 2002 | Rue des plaisirs
(Love Street) |
Marion | Patrice Leconte | Performs on the soundtrack |
| 2003 | Errance
(Wandering) |
Lou | Damien Odoul | |
| 2004 | Luisa Sanfelice | Luisa Sanfelice | Paolo Taviani
Vittorio Taviani |
TV film for France2, RAI Uno |
| 2006 | Le grand appartement
(The Big Apartment) |
Francesca Cigalone | Pascal Thomas | |
| La Deraison du Louvre
(The Irrationality of the Louvre) |
The young woman | Ange Leccia | Short film without dialog shot in the Louvre museum for which Casta was for the first time in cover of Les Cahiers du Cinema. | |
| Nymphea
(Nymphaea) |
The naiad | Ange Leccia | Short film | |
| 2007 | Le Petit Monde de Charlotte
(Charlotte’s Web) |
Charlotte A. Cavatica | Gary Winick | Voice in the French-language dub. |
| 2008 | Nes en 68
(Born in 68) |
Catherine | Olivier Ducastel
Jacques Martineau |
Cabourg: Golden Swann for Best Actress |
| La jeune fille et les loups
(The Maiden and the Wolves) |
Angele Amblard | Gilles Legrand | ||
| 2009 | Visage
(Face) ? (in Chinese) |
Salome | Tsai Ming-Liang | |
| Fleurs dans le miroir, lune dans l’eau(Flowers in the mirror, moon in the water) |
herself, Salome | Francois Lunel | ||
| 2010 | Gainsbourg (Vie heroique)
(Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life) |
Brigitte Bardot | Joann Sfar | Nominated for the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress Performs Gainsbourg’s songs on the soundtrack |
| 2011 | La nouvelle guerre des boutons
(The War of the Buttons) |
Simone | Christophe Barratier | |
| Derriere les murs
(Behind the Walls) |
Suzanne | Julien Lacombe
Pascal Sid |
||
| Островът (Ostrovat)
(The Island) |
Sophie | Kamen Kalev | First film with English dialogue | |
| Rio | Perla (Jewel) | Carlos Saldanha | ||
| 2012 | Arbitrage | Julie Cote | Nicholas Jarecki | First American film |
| Do Not Disturb | Anna | Yvan Attal | ||
| 2013 | Une histoire d’amour
(Tied) |
The young woman | Helene Fillieres | |
| 2014 | Rio 2 | Perla (Jewel) | Carlos Saldanha | First sequel |
| A Woman as a Friend | Claudia | Giovanni Veronesi | ||
| Des lendemains qui chantent | Noemie Archambault | Nicolas Castro | ||
| Sous les jupes des filles | Agathe | Audrey Dana | ||
| 2018 | A Faithful Man | Marianne | Louis Garrel | Completed |
| 2019 | Le Milieu de l’horizon | Nicole | Delphine Lehericey |
Music videos
| Year | Singer | Song | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Rihanna | Te Amo | Anthony Mandler |
| 1999 | Chris Isaak | Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing | Herb Ritts |
| 1998 | I Muvrini
Sting |
Terre d’Oru(in English, Corsican, and Greek) | Stefano Salvati |
DVD and Blu-ray
| Year | Title | Distribution | Language | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Laetitia Casta | StudioCanal | French | 2 | with Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Berge, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dominique Issermann, Sylvie Lancrenon, Jamel Debbouze, Omar Sy & Fred Testot, Frederic Lopez, Jean-Paul Goude, Jacques Weber, Claude Zidi |
Theatre
| Year | Play | Role | Playwright | Stage director | Theatre | City | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Scenes from a Marriage | Marianne | Ingmar Bergman | Safy Nebbou | Théâtre de l’Œuvre | Paris 9th | L’Express |
| 2008 | Elle t’attend
(She is waiting for you) |
Anna | Florian Zeller | Florian Zeller | Théâtre de la Madeleine | Paris 8th | Madame Figaro |
| 2005
2004 |
Ondine | Ondine | Jean Giraudoux | Jacques Weber | Tour in regions
Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau |
Ludwigshafen
Paris 10th |
L’Humanité |
Humanitarian action
| Year | Association | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Porteurs d’Eau (in French) | Water-carrier is an initiative of France Libertes – Danielle-Mitterrand foundation (in French) |
| 2006 | Rose Marie Claire (in French) | Casta among Claire Chazal, Isabelle Adjani, Axelle Red, Monica Bellucci and Tina Kieffer with the Rose Marie Claire (in French) are shot by Jeff Manzetti for the association Toutes a l’ecole (in French) |
| 2005 | Action Innocence | She belongs to the Committee of support of Action Innocence to protect the children from the dangers of the Internet. |
| 2004 | Action Contre la Faim | Casta drew a winged blue heart on a plate for the bidding of 19 November 2004 to help Action against Hunger |
| 2002 | Occi, paese rinascitu (in Corsican) | In the headquarters of the association Occi recovered village at the Caffe di a Mossa of Lumio in Corsica, Casta helped to reconstruct the old chapel of Annunziata in the abandoned village of Occi. Watch the Occi video on YouTube by official Korsika.fr |
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award | By | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres(in French)
(Knight in Order of Arts and of Letters) |
France Minister of Culture and of Communication | |
| 2011 | Nominated for the Cesar Award of the Best Supporting Actress
as Brigitte Bardot in Gainsbourg (Vie heroique) |
Cesar Awards | Nominated |
| 2008 | Golden Swann of the Best Actress
as Catherine in Born in 68 |
Cabourg Film Festival (in French) | Won |
| 2001 | Ranked No. 1 Top 50 Most Beautiful Women | Askmen.com | |
| 1999 | Marianne for the 21st century | 82nd congress of AMF, the French Mayors Association | Won |
Books
- Casta, Laetitia (24 November 1999). Assouline (ed.). Laetitia Casta (in French). ISBN 978-2-84323-179-7.