Sophie Nélisse

Early life

Marie-Sophie Nélisse was born in Windsor, Ontario, on March 27, 2000. She is French Canadian. Her family moved to Montreal when she was four. Her mother left her job as a schoolteacher in 2013 to act as a talent manager for both Sophie and her younger sister Isabelle, who is also an actress. Nélisse is fluent in French and English.

Career

Nélisse spent her early years training in gymnastics and signed to a talent agency to make money to pay for the training, but after getting the part of Liesel Meminger in The Book Thief (and subsequent accolades) she shifted her focus to acting.

Besides her Genie Award for Monsieur Lazhar, she won a Jutra Award for her performance and a Young Artist Award nomination as Best Leading Young Actress in an International Feature Film. She held a recurring role in the Québec sitcom ** and she also starred in the title role of the 2015 film The Great Gilly Hopkins. In May 2016, Nélisse was present on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival for the first time to present Canadian thriller movie Mean Dreams.

In 2016, Nélisse was one of four actors selected by the Toronto International Film Festival, alongside Grace Glowicki, Jared Abrahamson, and Mylène Mackay for its "Rising Stars" programme, described as an "intensive professional development programme [that] immerses participants in a series of public events and industry meetings during the Festival."

After graduating high school in June 2017, Nélisse confirmed she wouldn't be enrolling in post-secondary education due to commitments shooting Close in London and Morocco.

In June 2018, it was announced that she would be the face of Caroline Néron's Fall 2018 jewelry line. In a L'actualité series about "Being 18 years old in 2018", Nélisse spoke about entering adulthood in the era of the Weinstein effect, and deplored that when she announced she was looking for "more mature roles", she was quickly offered multiple roles where her characters would be raped and that scenarios she receives almost always include sexual elements. One of these instances was when she turned down the sexually charged lead role in Fugueuse, in which Ludivine Reding was eventually cast as Fanny, the titular teenage runaway who ends up a sex trafficking victim.

In November 2019, it was announced that she was cast as Shauna Shipman in the Showtime psychological thriller series Yellowjackets. The series debuted on Showtime on November 14, 2021. The second season premiered on March 26, 2023, and the third season premiered on February 14, 2025.

In 2023, she starred as Irena Gut, a Polish nurse who helped to shelter and protect Jewish people during the Holocaust by hiding them in the cellar of the home where she was employed as a housekeeper by German Army officer, in Irena's Vow. It premiered in the Centrepiece program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September.

On April 18, 2025, the author of the book Girl in Pieces, Kathleen Glasgow, confirmed that Courtney Eaton and Sophie Nélisse bought the film rights to the book. Nelisse portrayed Rose Landry in the Canadian sports romance television series Heated Rivalry (2025).

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Sophie Nélisse".
2. (Jun 1–9, 2012). "Monitor". [[Entertainment Weekly]].
3. Victoria Ahearn. (September 3, 2016). "Windsor-born Sophie Nelisse a Rising Star at TIFF and beyond". Windsor Star.
4. (November 27, 2013). "Meet Sophie Nélisse".
5. (March 6, 2012). "Sophie Nelisse of 'Monsieur Lazhar' takes Genie nomination in stride".
6. (November 22, 2011). "Sophie Nélisse: Activités familiales pour les vacances des fêtes: jouer en famille". [[Voir]].
7. (April 6, 2015). "Sophie Nélisse et sa mère Pauline Belhumeur, la double vie d'une maman gérante".
8. (March 11, 2014). "How Sophie Nélisse Went From Olympic-Bound Gymnast to 'Book Thief' Star in Two Seconds Flat".
9. (November 7, 2013). "Why Sophie Nelisse Gave Up Her Olympic Dream For 'Book Thief'".
10. "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". [[Young Artist Awards]].
11. (May 15, 2016). "Sophie Nélisse à Cannes dimanche avec Mean Dreams - Festival de Cannes". La Presse.
12. (May 15, 2016). ""Mean Dreams" dans lequel joue Sophie Nélisse, présenté à Cannes".
13. "Quebecers to watch at Cannes 2016".
14. (August 3, 2016). "TIFF RISING STARS REVEALED FOR 2016 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". Toronto International Film Festival.
15. (June 23, 2017). "Découvrez la robe de bal de finissants de Sophie Nélisse".
16. Duchesne, André. (August 22, 2017). "Sophie Nélisse tourne avec Noomi Rapace". La Presse.
17. HollywoodPQ. (July 17, 2018). "Sophie Nélisse sera le visage des bijoux Caroline Néron cet automne".
18. (December 8, 2017). "Passer à l'âge adulte en temps troublés".
19. (April 25, 2018). "Sophie Nélisse aurait refusé le rôle de Fanny dans Fugueuse pour cette raison".
20. Petski, Denise. (November 19, 2019). "Juliette Lewis & Christina Ricci Among Eight Cast In Showtime Drama Pilot ''Yellowjackets''".
21. Porter, Rick. (November 19, 2019). "Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci Board Showtime Drama ''Yellowjackets''".
22. Del Rosario, Alexandra. (August 24, 2021). "''Yellowjackets'': Showtime Survival Drama Starring Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci Gets Premiere Date & Trailer".
23. Ausiello, Michael. (December 7, 2022). "Yellowjackets Season 2 Pushed to 2023".
24. Andreeva, Nellie. (November 19, 2024). "'Yellowjackets' Sets Season 3 Premiere Date On Paramount+ With Showtime With Eerie Teaser".
25. Kay, Jeremy. (May 9, 2022). "Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott to star in Quiver's wartime drama 'Irena's Vow', as WestEnd launches sales".
26. "Irena's Vow".
27. Hazelton, John. (August 10, 2023). "TIFF sets Centrepiece line-up of international cinema".
28. "Instagram".
29. (2025-04-11). "'It's weird to see us evolve at the same time': Yellowjackets' Sophie Nélisse on how her life mirrors Shauna's".
30. Colangelo, B. J.. (December 19, 2025). "Heated Rivalry's Best Episode Yet Will Shut Down Any Haters".
31. "Festival de Cannes".
32. (May 17, 2017). "Lou-Pascal Tremblay s'en va à Cannes".
33. "DEMAIN DES HOMMES : une série dramatique originale dans l'univers du hockey junior sur ICI TOU.TV EXTRA".
34. (November 13, 2017). ""Demain des hommes" : une nouvelle série de hockey à Radio-Canada".
35. "Une série sur le hockey signée Guillaume Vigneault".
36. "Bell Media Announces 2025/26 Original Content Slate - Bell Media".
37. "Complete list of winners for the 19th Critics' Choice Movie Awards". [[LA Times]].
38. "2013 Award Categories".
39. (February 25, 2014). "‘Gravity,’ ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Lead Saturn Awards Noms". Variety.
40. (May 5, 2013). "2013 NOMINATIONS".
41. (May 4, 2014). "2014 NOMINATIONS & RESULTS".