Eva Green

Early life

Green was born on 6 July 1980, two minutes earlier than her fraternal twin sister Joy. She is the daughter of French actress and author Marlène Jobert and Walter Green, a Swedish dental surgeon and occasional actor in his youth (Au hasard Balthazar directed by Robert Bresson).

Green is of Jewish descent through her Algerian-born mother. She is the great-granddaughter of French composer Paul Le Flem and of Swedish photographer Mia Green, the niece of actress Marika Green and the maternal first cousin of singer Elsa Lunghini and actress Joséphine Jobert. The surname "Green" has nothing to do with the color green; instead being derived from the Swedish word gren, which means 'tree branch'.

Green was raised in France and attended the American University of Paris, an English-speaking institution. She developed an interest in Egyptology when she visited the Louvre at age seven. 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. Her mother initially feared that an acting career would be too much for her sensitive daughter, but later came to support her ambitions. Green continued her studies at Cours Eva Saint Paul in Paris and took an acting course at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After that, Green returned to Paris, where she performed in several plays.

Career

2001–2005

Green appeared on stage in Jalousie en Trois Fax (2001) for which she was nominated for a Molière Award. 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", because of Schneider's traumatic experience during the filming of Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris. 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." 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.

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. Nev Pierce of the BBC, however, called her character "limp". Green was satisfied when her character's complex subplot was restored in the director's cut.

2006–2013

Green was considered for roles in The Constant Gardener (a role that went to Rachel Weisz) and The Black Dahlia. 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, and approached Green again. She read the script, and found the character of Vesper far deeper than most Bond girls. Green's performance was well received: Entertainment Weekly called her the fourth-best Bond girl of all time; IGN named her the best femme fatale, stating, "This is the girl that broke – and therefore made – James Bond"; and she won a BAFTA and an Empire award for her performance. Both awards were voted for by the British public.

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, In February 2008, Green appeared in the sci-fi thriller film *Franklyn * as the tormented artist Emilia, (who Green compared to real-life figures Sophie Calle and Tracey Emin) and the mysterious Sally, who she described as "full of life, very witty, big sense of humor". 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.

She was considered for the role eventually played by Cécile de France in Un Secret (2007). 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. 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".

In 2011, Green signed with United Talent Agency in the US, remaining represented by Tavistock Wood in the UK. Green then starred in the first season of Starz's series, Camelot, as the sorceress Morgan le Fay. 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."

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. 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." 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!"

Between May 2014 and 2016, Green starred in the Showtime horror drama series Penny Dreadful as Vanessa Ives. 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." 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." 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. 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."Variety stated that she "delivers a deliciously over‑the‑top femme fatale turn [and].., commanding every scene she's in."

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-tim-burton-review/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-tim-burton-review/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children review: Tim Burton's Edwardian fairy tale feels oddly conventional

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. In 2020, she starred as Lydia Wells in the BBC One miniseries The Luminaries, based on the 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton.

''A Patriot'' film abandonment and lawsuit

In April 2018, it was announced that Green would star in the sci-fi thriller film A Patriot. 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. Green won the lawsuit in April 2023.

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."

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. 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. The series premiered on 24 February 2023.

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. 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.

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!" 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." However, she has tried to take more diverse roles in order to avoid being typecast.

Green is non-religious Jewish, though she describes herself as "very spiritual" and having complex beliefs about supernatural forces.

Green has expressed interest in returning to theatre. 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".

From 2005 to 2009, she was in a romantic relationship with her Kingdom of Heaven co-star Marton Csokas.

In 2017, she revealed that Harvey Weinstein made an inappropriate advance during a business meeting but she "pushed him off".

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."

Public image

Green's sex appeal has often been discussed in the media, and critics have described her as a sex symbol. Fashion outlets such as W Magazine and Vogue have described her as a style icon, emphasizing her avant-garde and gothic glamour, which extends to her dark and seductive roles—reinforcing her image as a "cinematic femme fatale".

Green is a brand ambassador for Roger Vivier and has collaborated in other luxury brands including Montblanc, Alexander Mcqueen, and Bulgari.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

Awards and nominations

References

References

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87. "Bvlgari honours its heritage with the 'Eternally Iconic' campaign".
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