Acting
Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud was born on January 17, 1971 in Lyon. Her parents separated when she was two years old. She spent her youth in the Lyon district of Croix-Rousse, raised by her mother, an accountant. In high school, she learned Chinese. Very early fascinated by the cinema, the young girl identifies in particular with the complexed teenager character embodied by Charlotte Gainsbourg in L'Effrontée. Having moved to Paris to study history, she soon embarked on acting by joining the free class at Cours Florent and then the Conservatory, where her teachers were Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel. She made her first screen appearance in 1994 in Couples et amants.
She decided to become an actress during her youth, after having admired actresses in films. She then took acting lessons in Lyon with the actor and director Christian Taponard. In 1989, she moved to Paris to study history, as well as drama lessons in free classes at Cours Florent, then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art for three years, with Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel for teachers.
In the early 1990s, she obtained her first small roles in the cinema, then in feature films such as The Story of the Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed by Philippe Harel (1994), Le Plus Bel Age..., by Didier Haudepin (1995) or even Love, etc. by Marion Vernoux (1996).
In 1997, Sylvie Testud experienced her first great success at the cinema in Germany with the film Beyond Silence by Caroline Link, for which she learned German, the clarinet and sign language. She is rewarded as best actress by the German Film Prize (the equivalent of the César for best actress). In 1998, she played her first major role in French cinema and enjoyed great success in France with the role of Béa in Karnaval, the first feature film by Thomas Vincent, for which she was nominated for the César for best female hope and received the Michael Simon Prize. She then began an important acting career with a preference for auteur cinema.
In 2000, her performance in La Captive by Chantal Akerman (adaptation of the novel La Prisonnière by Marcel Proust) earned her a nomination as best actress at the European Film Prize. In 2001, she obtained, for her second nomination, the César for best female hope for the remarkable interpretation of Christine Papin, one of the Papin sisters, in Les Blessures assassines by Jean-Pierre Denis, based on a news item from 1933.
Filmography
Browse movies and TV shows featuring Sylvie Testud
C à vous
Every day live on FRANCE 5, Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine and her team receive those who make the news. In the second...
C à vous
Every day live on FRANCE 5, Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine and her team receive those who make the news. In the second...
Capitaine Marleau
Beneath her eccentric appearance, Captain Marleau is a formidable detective. Her Sherlock Holmes deerstalker ca...
Suspiria
A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director,...
28 minutes
LOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour
At 55, Anne is finally enjoying her freedom after her children leave home. But everything changes when her 23-y...
Cocorico
The Bouvier-Sauvages, a large aristocratic family, meet the much more modest Martin family when their children'...
On n'est pas couché
On n'est pas couché was a French talk show broadcast on France 2 on Saturdays at 11 p.m., hosted by Laurent Ruq...
The Unexpected Getaway
In each episode, 3 celebrities who have never met go on a 24-hour break in the countryside. A moment out of tim...
The Unexpected Getaway
In each episode, 3 celebrities who have never met go on a 24-hour break in the countryside. A moment out of tim...
Too Close to the Sun
A magistrate investigating a fraud case discovers the woman is the biological mother of her adopted child. Inst...
La Vie en Rose
From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous c...
Maximilian and Marie De Bourgogne
Known as The Last Knight for his bravery and battle skills, the great European emperor Maximilian and his story...
Vengeance
A French chef swears revenge after a violent attack on his daughter's family in Macau, during which her husband...
Un monde, un regard
Cocorico 2
DNA tests before Alice and François's wedding reveal their fathers - an aristocrat and car dealer - aren't as F...
Kemps
In each episode, two teams of 2 celebrities challenge each other in a game of Kemps. The goal is simple: assemb...
Meet the Malawas
A news anchor, a comedian, an actress, and a soccer player with big egos have to travel across the globe to mee...
The Visitors: Bastille Day
Stuck in the corridors of time, Godefroy de Montmirail and his faithful servant Jacquouille are projected to a...
Panique dans l'oreillette
The Round Up
A faithful retelling of the 1942 "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" and the events surrounding it.
Eden
Rendez-vous in an Unknown Land
Deutsch-Les-Landes
A small French village deals with a culture clash after the town mayor sells the whole town to Bavarian Automob...
Lucky Luke
Fearless gunslinger, Lucky Luke, is ordered by the President to bring peace to Daisy Town.
What Pauline Is Not Telling You
Pauline regains her freedom when her husband dies, but her silence about the event places her under suspicion.
Runaway
Charts the descent into hell of 16-year-old Lea, a self-assured teenager surrounded by a loving family, who com...
Final Portrait
Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected arti...
Wedding Unplanned
When she discovers a wedding planer's business card, Alexia instantly says, "YES" to Mathias unaware that it be...
Fear by the Lake
A mysterious and mortally contagious virus threatens the population of Annecy, in southeastern France. A desper...
Tamara
Tamara, 15, complexed with her curves, decided its entry into second to get rid of the label of "big". To shut...
The Captive
Ariane lives with Simon in his large Paris flat. Simon is obsessed with her: he wants to know everything about...
French Women
A story about 11 girls living in Paris. Each of them has its own problems: career, love life, children. Every g...
Sur la dalle
Sagan
France, 1950s. From the Quartier Latin to Saint-Tropez via New York, a young Parisienne becomes the icon of a w...