Léa Seydoux, an actress who's shy of getting attention

In 2022, French actress Léa Seydoux achieved outstanding performance. Both of her works were shortlisted at Cannes. When on the red carpet, she smiled so beautifully and lovely. In addition, the news of her participation in "Dune: Part Two" filled people with interest and expectation.

Despite frequent exposure, Léa Seydoux is still full of mystery. With a typical face of the French New Wave, she frequently appears in Auteur Films. At the same time, she is also a new Hollywood favorite, starring in two 007 movies in succession. Her family background is prominent, but she won the Golden Palm Award for her ability.

Although with such a reputation, she is so shy. She once said she might be the only actress who doesn't want to be seen. Today I want to talk about how Léa Seydoux became who she is today.

Many people knew Léa Seydoux from "Blue is the Warmest Color." You must remember those alienated blue eyes, warm smiles, and short blue hair. Although this lesbian film has won her the highest honor of the Golden Palm award at Cannes, I think this movie only shows one of her many aspects. If you don't believe it, look at the following photos!

The student in "The Beautiful Person", the prison guard in "The French Dispatch", the Bond girl in two 007 movies, and Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" are all played by Léa Seydoux, but they are not exactly her.

Bruno Dumont, a French director who worked with her, once commented on her, "It is Léa Seydoux who made Léa Seydoux!"

1. Léa Seydoux's Childhood: “Entrust me to me”

Seydoux is a famous surname in France and even the whole European film circle. The Seydoux family is inseparable from two old French film companies, Pathé and Gaumont. Léa's grandfather is the chairman of Pathé and a billionaire.

Her uncle was the CEO of Gaumont. Although her father did not continue the family's film career, he was also a successful entrepreneur.

Léa's parents divorced when she was three years old, but the public's imagination of her still has a strong sense of class: the film family, the third generation of a wealthy family, and so on. All kinds of voices of doubt inevitably attribute her achievements to the family.

However, Léa's description of her childhood is another version. In this version, her life in the family was not happy, and she got little attention, so she had to take care of herself. It made her withdrawn and introverted. She didn't get good grades. At the age of 18, she stopped her studies before she graduated from high school.

Later, she chose to become an actress. This career is like a refuge, which can solve the problem of food, clothing, housing, and transportation. It also provides the opportunity to travel around the world.

Another reason is that she fell in love with an actor. She went to see all his plays, but he never remembered her name. So, she secretly swore to herself that she would become famous one day and let him fall in love with her. Since then, she has learned to act from scratch.

2. From Seydoux to Léa Seydoux

At the 66th Cannes Film Festival in 2013, "Blue is the Warmest Color" won the Golden Palm Award for director Abdellatif Kechiche and two leading actresses Léa and Adèle. It was the first time that the Golden Palm Award was awarded to directors and actors in the meantime, creating the history of Cannes.

It is undoubtedly one of Léa's highlight moments as an actress and her graduation certificate for learning acting. On the day of winning the award, her grandfather, as an authority in the French film industry, sat in the audience, raised the camera, and recorded the important moment of this not-very-close granddaughter.

Since then, she has successively appeared in Quentin's "Inglourious Basterds" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", but only in a few scenes. As she goes deeper into the film industry, her film selection standard is higher. She gradually entered Hollywood or say the world film industry.

In addition to the 007 series that everyone is familiar with, she has also acted in films directed by Greece, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, and other countries. She once said in an interview that she likes to "work with directors worldwide".

As a prolific actress, she had four works that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival last year, namely "The French Dispatch", "France", "The Story of My Wife" and "Deception", three of which were selected into the main competition unit.

In 2022, Léa was shortlisted at Cannes for David Cronenberg's "Crimes of the Future" and French director Mia Hansen-Løve's "One Fine Morning". Since then, she has had a full schedule. In addition to playing a member of the Sisterhood in "Dune: Part Two", director Bertrand Bonello's new work "Beast" has also begun filming in Paris.

From supporting role to leading role, from Europe to Hollywood, from Auteur Films to commercial blockbusters, Léa has proved with her works that her success does not depend on her family. Gradually, people no longer talk about "Seydoux", but about "Léa Seydoux".

3. The Léa Seydoux you don't know

The words that can describe Léa Seydoux are often full of contradictions: famous but shy, decisive but fragile, pure but sexy. While seeing her imitating MJ vividly, you will think she is enthusiastic. While seeing her switching styles skillfully when shooting magazine covers, you will think she is confident and bold.

However, she said, "When I grew up, I finally learned to get along with my shyness." She cried when she saw her performance on the screen for the first time. It's because she couldn't stand watching herself looking embarrassed. Sometimes she even had red spots on her chest because of nervousness and shyness. Maybe her shyness makes her never become arrogant about getting honors. What she wants to do is all along acting.

4. Speak for actresses and women

"If you are a woman working in the film industry, you must fight because this is a world that hates women very much."- Léa Seydoux.

Although Léa cherished the Golden Palm Award, she did not hesitate to point out the harm to her caused by Kechiche, the director of "Blue is the Warmest Color." The shooting of the sex scenes in the film made her feel disrespected.

She once mentioned in the interview that the seven-minute sex scene had been filmed for ten days, one of the shots was even filmed 100 times. During the shooting, the director threatened to dismiss her many times.

Recalling the painful shooting experience, she said, "He used three cameras, and I had to fake an orgasm for six hours."

If she could do it again, Léa would still firmly choose to shoot that scene, but she argued that it was important who directed the sex scenes and that actors should have the right to check the nude shots.

Films are Léa's life, but she also always understands that this industry disdains women. In 2017, she published an article bravely exposing Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment against her and supporting the "me too" movement.

Such incidents frequently happened in Léa's acting career. In addition to criticizing the common sexual harassment incidents in the film industry, she also called attention to other gender discrimination phenomena, such as salary inequality, actresses' appearance anxiety, etc.

There's a natural resistance in Léa. She will continue to devote herself to her acting career certainly, fight against the injustice in this industry, fight back against the prejudice and malice imposed on her, and at the same time retain her shyness and innocence.

I have to say that her deep under-eye puffiness and the wide gap between her teeth are the most attractive parts of her. She is beautiful and intriguing.

Well, do you love Léa Seydoux? Which of her characters is your favorite? See you in the comments!