Adèle Haenel

Adèle Haenel is a French actress and political activist born on 11 February 1989 in Paris. She rose to prominence in the French film industry after making her screen debut as a child actor. Over her film career, she earned seven César Award nominations, winning twice, alongside a Lumière Award. In 2023, she officially retired from cinema to focus on stage performance and political activism.

Raised in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Haenel is the daughter of a teacher and a translator. She has Austrian heritage through her father and speaks fluent German. She began acting at age five in local theatre. Alongside her early acting pursuits, Haenel completed extensive higher education, earning a master's degree in economics and sociology, as well as studying physics and marine biology.

Haenel made her feature film debut at age 12 in Christophe Ruggia's Les Diables (2002). Following a five-year hiatus, she returned to cinema in Céline Sciamma's Water Lilies (2007), earning her first César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress. She received a second nomination in the same category for Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance (2011), sharing a Lumière Award for Most Promising Actress with her co-stars.

Haenel won her first César Award, for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Katell Quillévéré's Suzanne (2013). The following year, she won the César Award for Best Actress for her performance in Thomas Cailley's Love at First Fight (2014). She subsequently appeared in André Téchiné's In the Name of My Daughter (2014), the German-language drama The Bloom of Yesterday (2016), Robin Campillo's BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017), and Pierre Salvadori's comedy The Trouble with You (2018), securing further César Award nominations for BPM and The Trouble with You.

In 2019, Haenel starred in Quentin Dupieux's Deerskin, Aude Léa Rapin's Heroes Don't Die, and Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Her portrayal of Héloïse in Portrait of a Lady on Fire earned her a seventh César nomination. That same year, she began rehearsing for Gisèle Vienne's stage adaptation of Robert Walser's L'Etang (The Pond), which premiered in Switzerland in May 2021.

Haenel stepped away from cinema in May 2022 and published an official retirement letter in Télérama in May 2023. She criticized the film industry for reinforcing structural inequalities, sexism, and racism, as well as its handling of sexual misconduct allegations. Following her retirement from cinema, she transitioned her artistic focus to experimental theatre.

A leading voice in France's #MeToo movement, Haenel publicly came out as a lesbian in 2014 during a César Award acceptance speech, referencing her past relationship with Sciamma. Politically, she advocates anti-capitalist, socialist, and radical feminist views. In 2022, she supported the Permanent Revolution candidate during the French presidential campaign. In September 2025, she announced her plan to join the Global Sumud Flotilla to bring food and medical aid to Gaza.