Audrey Justine Tautou (born August 9, 1976 in Beaumont, France) is a French actress.
Her eponymous Manic Pixie Dream Girl role in an idyllic version of Paris from Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) instantly made her a star both in France and abroad. She has appeared mostly in French films, but is fluent in English and has dabbled in English-language films as well, such as in the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.
She adopted a Vietnamese girl in 2019.
Her filmography includes:
- Venus Beauty Institute (1999) — Film debut
- The Libertine (2000)
- Happenstance (2000)
- Amélie (2001)
- God Is Great and I'm Not (2001)
- He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (2002)
- The Spanish Apartment (2002)
- Russian Dolls (2005)
- Chinese Puzzle (2013)
- Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
- A Very Long Engagement (2004)
- The Da Vinci Code (2006)
- Priceless (2006)
- Hunting and Gathering (2007)
- Delicacy (2011)
- Therese (2012)
- Mood Indigo (2013)
- Open at Night (2016)
- Two Snails Set Off
(2018) - The Jesus Rolls (2019)
Tropes & Trivia abour her works:
- Billing Displacement: Happens to her a lot, due to being among the most well known current French actresses abroad (though she's since been somewhat overshadowed at that by the likes of Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux). She's front and center on the American posters for The Spanish Apartment, even though her on-screen time in the whole movie probably wouldn't total 10 minutes.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Most notably in Amélie but also in some of her other movies.
- One-Woman Song: "Tautou" by Brand New. The lyrics consist of "I'm sinking like a stone in the sea/I'm burning like a bridge for your body".
- Playing with Character Type: He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not completely and utterly eviscerated the persona she'd become known for after Amélie.
