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| Émilie Dequenne as she appeared in the title role of Rosetta, at the age of 18 Photo: UniFrance |
The world of Francophone cinema is in mourning following the death of Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne at the age of 43 following diagnosis in October 2023 of a rare form of cancer.
Dequenne who was born in Beloeil, Belgium in 1981, was acclaimed at the age of only 18 for her first major role in Rosetta by the Dardenne Brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre which won her a best actress accolade at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.
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| Émilie Dequenne Photo: François Berthier/UniFrance |
Her career encompassed more thane than 50 films including André Techinés The Girl on the RER, Joachim Lafosse’s psychological drama Our Children in 2012 (garnering another acting award in Cannes Un Certain Regard section), in a lighter vein for Belgian director Lucas Belvaux’s Not My Type and more recently a best supporting actress César in Emmanuel Mouret’s Love Affair(s) in 2021.
She returned to the Cannes Festival in May last year for the 25th anniversary screening of Rosetta and to present her last film, symbolically titled Survival, a thriller directed by Frédéric Jardin. She took a stand by making public her condition, saying that “cancer was nothing to be ashamed of”. She felt it important that other sufferers ought to know that “they were not alone".
As a youngster she followed elocution classes from 1989 to 1996, at the Music Academy of Baudour. At the same time she worked as a member of the Théâtre La Relève at Ladeuze. In May 1998 she took part in a public speaking contest at Richelieu de Mons-Borinage, and carried off the Prix de la ville de Mons. Her aunt encouraged her to reply to an advertisement for a casting session - and she was chosen from among 300 young women to play the tough role of Rosetta.
She achieved anglophone fame in the TV series The Missing, playing a police officer assisting a father (James Nesbitt) whose son goes missing in France.
In one interview she recalled that the first film she remembered seeing was Manon des Sources. "All I remember is that I was really afraid of Daniel Auteuil when he was hanging from the tree." Her favourite film is In the Name of the Father by Jim Sheridan which she has seen more than 30 times. She always admired Jeanne Moreau's career. "I think she's known a lot of things in her life; she started acting very young.”
Dequenne’s range of roles provides testimony to her maxim that she did not want to be typecast. “I don’t want to be confined to one particular type of role … I like to change completely every time there’s a new role,” she once said.
She is survived by her partner the actor Michel Ferracci and her daughter Milla. (23) who acted alongside her mother in Love Affair(s). Ferracci has two sons Enzo and Maël from a previous relationship.
She died yesterday evening (Sunday 16 March) at a hospital outside Paris. The news has been greeted with universal tributes from colleagues in the profession among them actor-director Alex Lutz praising her “talent and kindness”; actress Leila Bekhti describing her as “a great lady” and actress Elsa Zylberstein observing she was "a very generous person, a precious friend, a rare soul and so kind.”
France's minister of culture Rachida Dati wrote on her social media: “Her moving performances in powerful roles left a lasting impression on us all. Francophone cinema has lost, too soon, a talented actress who still had so much to offer.”
