Cinema is Léa Seydoux’s blood, one could argue. Her grandfather is the Chairman of Pathé, after all. It’s no surprise, then, that she began acting at a relatively early age, appearing in films such as The Last Mistress (2007) and On War (2008). Seydoux first came to attention after she received her first César Award nomination for The Beautiful Person (2008) and won the Trophée Chopard, an award given to promising actors at Cannes. Since then, she has appeared in major Hollywood films, including Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (2010).
Speaking of Cannes, Seydoux came to widespread attention when Blue is the Warmest Colorwon the Palme d’Or at the film festival. And at this year’s festival, she appeared in not one but two acclaimed projects: David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning. Please see below for a comprehensive list of Seydoux’s finest films to date — you’ll see she’s worked with some of the finest working directors.
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5 No Time to Die (2021)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
For the final time, Daniel Craig reprised his role as James Bond in this epic action-adventure thrill ride that comes off as an ensemble-cast film in a way. Everywhere you look, an A-lister fills the screen, and that includes Seydoux. Her edgy, mysterious turn in the latest Bond outing certainly surpasses her Spectre performance, which is why No Time to Die has made our top 5 list here.
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The journey of No Time to Die to cinemas was not easy, having originally been planned for release back in 2019. Owing to the departure of Danny Boyle as director, the film was delayed until April 2020, and that was enough to land it into the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision was initially made to delay the movie until November 2020, then April 2021, and finally, with a hope of giving the movie the theatrical run it deserved, it landed in late-September 2021 for most international markets and early October for the U.S.. Fans were more than ready for it, and the end result certainly delivered, thanks to the impressive direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga (whose career is currently marred by multiple misconduct allegations).
4 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Skydance Productions
Moviegoers turned heads when it was announced the director of The Incredibles would helm a new Mission: Impossible installment. The film follows Hunt and his team on a quest to stop a nuclear disaster before it is too late. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is filled with severable memorable scenes, including Hunt scaling a towering skyscraper in Dubai while pulling off a heist to retrieve nuclear codes. Simon Pegg gives us comic relief throughout the film, and Jeremy Renner was a great addition to the cast. However, it is perhaps Seydoux’s juicy, villainous role that steals the show when Cruise isn’t busy pulling off his absurd stunts. Her intense, piercing eyes make Sabine Moreau a supporting character worth remembering in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
3 The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Arguably Wes Anderson’s finest film to date, The Grand Budapest Hotel rightfully got plenty of love from the Academy at the Oscars that year. It’s a grand-scale film about the crushing blow of fascism and what it can do to a country. The story-within-a-story-within-a-story is told by a writer (Tom Wilkinson) reflecting on his life, as his younger self (Jude Law) voyages the titular hotel and learns all about the eccentric concierge Monsieur Gustave H. (Fiennes) and how love is the only answer to war. Seydoux’s subdued turn here might not make her the star of this A-lister vehicle, but she’s a splendid addition to the Wes Anderson universe. Therefore, we loved seeing her in Anderson’s latest release, The French Dispatch.
2 The Lobster (2015)
Element Pictures
Leave it to a Greek filmmaker to weave mythological themes into modern cinema. The Lobster takes place in a dystopian near-future, where single people — according to the laws of The City — are taken to The Hotel, where they’re obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or are transformed into beasts of their choice and sent off into The Woods.
This 2015 surreal black comedy was directed, co-written and co-produced by Yorgos Lanthimos, the mastermind behind the unique films The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Dogtooth, and others. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and rightfully won the Jury Prize. Seydoux plays the leader of the loners who occupy The Woods. A direct opposite to the rules of The City, she forbids any sort of romantic involvement in her community. Seydoux is simply perfect for the role, using her piercing “death stare” look to ultimate effect in a layered performance.
1 Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
Wild Bunch
Seydoux has spoken out in recent years about the difficulties of making this film with its director, Abdellatif Kechiche. Upon its release, Blue is the Warmest Color was commended across the board for its honest depiction of love while focusing on the struggle of maintaining it. The film features fantastic performances from both of the main actors, Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, and we’re given one of the greatest love stories of all time. In 2013, it made history at Cannes when the Palme d’Or was awarded not just to the director, but to the lead actresses as well.
“I think that French cinema tends to be more concerned with social issues and culture, less with entertainment than American cinema. There’s an educational goal,” Seydoux once told Esquire. “Part of it is that the government funds movies.”
