Valérie Lemercier (born March 9, 1964 in Dieppe) is a French actress, director, screenwriter, comedian and singer.
A three-time César Award winner, she's most famous for her works in the comedy film genre. She made her debut on television in 1988 in the comedy series Palace and started being noticed with her one-woman show Valérie Lemercier au Splendid in 1989-1990.
The one-two punch of L'Opération Corned-Beef and Les Visiteurs in 1991 and 1993, both times alongside Jean Reno and Christian Clavier and directed by Jean-Marie Poiré, cemented her film stardom.
She's directed and written six films since 1997 (and has starred in all of them). She's also done some dubbing.
Selected film works:
- L'Opération Corned-Beef (1991) as Marie-Laurence Granianski
- Les Visiteurs (1993) as Frénégonde de Pouille / Béatrice de Montmirail
- La Cité de la peur (1994) as the widow of Mr. Jacques
- RRRrrr!!! (2004) as Pierre (the guitar/sewing teacher)
- Sabrina (1995) as Martine
- Le Petit Nicolas (2009) as the mother of Nicolas
- Asterix & Obelix: God Save Britannia (2012) as Miss Macintosh
- Aline (2021) as Aline Dieu
French dubbing/voice works:
- Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) as Sassy
- Tarzan (Disney, 1999) as Jane Porter
- Chicken Run (2000) as Ginger (second dub)
- The Magic Roundabout (2005 film) as Azalée/Ermintrude
- Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) as Arthur's mother
- Fireheart (2022) as Pauline
Tropes & Trivia about her works:
- Creative Differences: She didn't like the script of the sequel to Les Visiteurs, The Corridors of Time (which gave her role of Béatrice de Montmirail much less interesting things to do or say), and refused to reprise the role as a result. Comedian Muriel Robin was cast in the role instead.
- Those Two Actors:
- "Those Three Actors" even. She's played in L'Opération Corned-Beef and Les Visiteurs alongside Jean Reno and Christian Clavier, and she's voiced Sassy in the French dub of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey while Clavier voiced Chance and Reno voiced Shadow.
- Lemercier and Clavier were also reunited in 2022's Irréductible.
