French actress Marion Cotillard is known for her brilliant work in films like La Vie en Rose and Two Days, One Night among others. She has achieved critical and commercial success, winning an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two César Awards, a European Award, and a Lumières Award. Apart from acting, Cotillard is also an active philanthropist and environmental activist.
“I’ve always felt an outcast,” Cotillard said. “There is something strange about me. I don’t ever feel at ease in a group of people. I have to fight hard to overcome my fears…I couldn’t identify with anyone. At school I was considered very strange. I didn’t understand the relationships between people.”
She added, “I used to pretend I was Louise Brooks or Greta Garbo in my bedroom. I absorbed a lot from my father. He taught us how to mime at home with games. I saw it as a way to escape myself. But it was through acting that I met myself.”
Her filmography continues to grow at an impressive rate but what are the actor’s best films that can be found on Netflix? Well, we’ve got you covered.
Marion Cotillard’s best films on Netflix:
Macbeth (Justin Kurzel – 2015)
Justin Kurzel’s innovative 2015 adaptation of Shakespeare’s play features Cotillard in the pivotal role of Lady Macbeth. Together with Michael Fassbender’s Macbeth, she plans regicide. The actress seamlessly transitions from hatred and greed to fear and guilt, marking her legacy in the pantheon of great actresses who have starred in that role.
“We had a rehearsal period that last a month and a half,” the actress recalled. “It was really like a theatrical rehearsal process. During the preparation, we went through all the scenes and worked on the meaning of each word because Shakespeare can put a lot of different meanings to one sentence, so you have choices to make.”
Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard – 2012)
Audiard conducts an unsettling psychological examination of the human condition in his 2012 melodrama. Cotillard is fantastic as Stephanie, a killer whale trainer who loses both her legs in a horrible accident. She bonds with Ali (played by Matthias Schoenaerts), a former boxer and single father who helps her come to terms with things. Cotillard earned a nomination for César Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Cotillard elaborated on the scene where her character realizes she has lost her legs, “That was a hard scene to get, because it’s hard to imagine what would be your reaction when you wake up and you realize that you miss your two legs.
“So we did different versions, and we ended up with, like, this state of shock. Like, she cannot even scream. It’s really a shock. What we hear in that take is almost nothing. Almost an inner struggle, and that leads to the question, ‘What did you do with my legs?’ Which is a crazy question.”
![Rust and Bone Trailer 2012 Movie - Official [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jg7skcyYolU/hqdefault.jpg)
La Vie en Rose (Olivier Dahan – 2007)
Marion Cotillard stole the show as iconic singer Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahan’s 2007 biopic. She brings Piaf back to life, following her meteoric rise from a poor childhood to a globally celebrated figure. For her brilliant performance, Cotillard won the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award among several other accolades.
Cotillard reflected, “I did three French blockbusters, which allowed me to connect with the audience, but not the industry. For the industry, those movies were not considered very serious movies, and I wasn’t considered a very serious actress.”
She added, “But even in France, where I had been around before, the big breakthrough was La Vie en Rose. It was a big thing for me.”
