5 Facts About Bond Girl Léa Seydoux
Here's what you need to know about the French actress who is changing the landscape of Hollywood films.
If you've been a longtime fan of French indie films, you probably have an idea of all there is to know about actress Léa Seydoux. From her brief appearance in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel to returning as Bond girl Madeleine Swann in the recently released ‘No Time To Die,’ Seydoux rose through the ranks within the realm of French and American cinema. With her latest appearance in The French Dispatch and her upcoming film France meriting relentless media attention around Seydoux, there is still so much to learn about the Parisian actress.
From a young aspiring opera singer to motherhood in Hollywood, here are five facts you need to know about Léa Seydoux
Seydoux was an aspiring singer.
Though Seydoux has been regarded for her compelling acting in French indie films, growing up she always wanted to be a singer. An aspiring opera singer, Seydoux studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris. "As a kid, I was always singing and sometimes performing in front of my parents but I didn't really know that I wanted to be an actress," she shared in an interview. "I had a beautiful voice, but I lost it." When asked why she failed to pursue singing as a career she said, "You have to do all the breathing exercises. You have to have a very strict regimen."
She comes from a well-known family in France.
Several of Seydoux's family members are high-profile figures in the film industry. Her father Henri Seydoux is the CEO of the French drone company Parrot; her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is the chairman of cinema company Pathé; and both her grand-uncles, Nicolas Seydoux and Michel Seydoux, are chairmans of Gaumont Film Company and Lille OSC, respectively.
She's worked with some of America's biggest directors.
Despite being a renowned actress in France, Seydoux has appeared in several Hollywood box-office hits including Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and Ridley Scott‘s Robin Hood, as well as landing a role playing Sabine Moreau in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opposite Tom Cruise.
She did not audition for Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris
Seydoux did not audition for her role as Gabrielle in the 2011 Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris. Rather, Allen was shown three images of French actresses and chose Seydoux. To this day, Seydoux calls Allen one of her favorite directors of all time.
Motherhood changed Seydoux.
Seydoux gave birth to her son George in 2017, and since then she claims motherhood has changed her for the better. "Since I was a baby, since I was a little girl, it was always what I wanted," she recalled on having a child. "I think that it nourished and probably my acting has more thickness to it...Having someone to be responsible for, donner la vie, to give life to someone, it's quite a thing."