Scene from Beginners (2010)

Alternate Names: 멜라니 로랑, メラニー・ロラン, 梅拉尼·罗兰, ملانی لوران

Physical Characteristics: N/A

First Appearances:

• The Bridge (1999) as Lisbeth

Most Important Roles:

• Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006) as Élise 'Lili' Tellier
• The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) as Minskov's Girlfriend
• Days of Glory (2006) as Margueritte village Vosges
• Summer Things (2002) as Carole
• Paris (2008) as Laetitia
• Dikkenek (2006) as Natacha
• The Last Day (2004) as Louise
• The Concert (2009) as Anne-Marie Jacquet
• Every Jack Has a Jill (2009) as Chloe
• Room of Death (2007) as Lucie Hennebelle

Career Highlights:

• Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006)
• The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)
• Days of Glory (2006)
• Summer Things (2002)
• Paris (2008)
• Dikkenek (2006)
• The Last Day (2004)
• The Concert (2009)
• Every Jack Has a Jill (2009)
• Room of Death (2007)

Awards:

• Nominated for 1 Saturn Award - Best Actress (2010)
• Nominated for 1 Jury Award - Best Narrative Feature (2015)
• Won EFP Shooting Star (2007)
• Nominated for 1 Queer Palm (2014)
• Nominated for 1 Palme d'Or - Best Short Film (2008)
• Won César - Best Documentary Film (Meilleur film documentaire) (2016)
• Won César - Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin) (2007)
• Nominated for 1 Best International Feature Film (2018)
• Won Gotham Independent Film Award - Best Ensemble Performance (2011)
• Nominated for 1 Golden Starfish Award - Narrative Feature (2014)
• Won Excellence Award (2024)
• Won Jury Award - Best Actress (2012)
• Won OFCS Award - Best Actress (2010)
• Nominated for 1 Jury Award - Best Narrative Feature (2018)
• Won John Schlesinger Award - Narrative (2015)
• Nominated for 1 SDFCS Award - Best Supporting Actress (2011)
• Won SDFCS Award - Best Ensemble Performance (2009)
• Nominated for 1 SDFCS Award - Best Supporting Actress (2009)
• Won Actor - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (2010)
• Nominated for 1 Bronze Horse - Best Film (2014)

Mélanie Laurent (French pronunciation: [melani loʁɑ̃]; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress and filmmaker. She is an accomplished actress in the French film industry and the recipient of two César Awards and a Lumières Award. Internationally, Laurent is best known for her roles in Inglourious Basterds (2009), Now You See Me (2013), Operation Finale (2018) and 6 Underground (2019). 

Laurent began acting at age sixteen, cast by Gérard Depardieu in a small role in the romantic drama The Bridge (1999). She gained wider recognition for supporting work in several French films, including the comedy Dikkenek (2006), for which she won Étoiles d'Or for Best Female Newcomer. Her breakthrough role came in the 2006 drama film Don't Worry, I'm Fine, for which she won the César Award for Most Promising Actress and the Prix Romy Schneider. Laurent made her Hollywood debut in 2009 with the role of Shosanna Dreyfus in Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster war film Inglourious Basterds. Her performance won the Online Film Critics Society and the Austin Film Critics Association Best Actress Awards.

While she has worked mainly in independent films, including Paris (2008) and Enemy (2013), Laurent also appeared in commercially successful international films, including the comedy-drama Beginners (2011) and the caper film Now You See Me (2013), the former earning her a nomination at the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other notable works include the art-house drama The Round Up (2010), the comedy-drama The Day I Saw Your Heart (2011), and the mystery thriller Night Train to Lisbon (2013). She is also known for voicing Mary Katherine and Disgust in the French dubs of Epic (2013) and Inside Out (2015). Additionally, she starred in Chris Weitz's 2018 drama Operation Finale, telling the story of the capture of Nazi Adolf Eichmann.

In addition to her film career, Laurent has appeared in stage productions in France. She made her theatre debut in 2010 in Nicolas Bedos's Promenade de santé. The short film De moins en moins (2008) marked her debut as a filmmaker. Her feature film directorial debut is The Adopted (2011). Respire (2014), her second production as a director, was screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. She made her singing debut with a studio album, En attendant (Waiting For You), in 2011.