Ludivine Sagnier

Ludivine Sagnier is a French actress who achieved widespread recognition through her work in films such as Swimming Pool and Peter Pan, both released in 2003. On television, she is well known for playing Claire Laurent in the Netflix series Lupin. She has also appeared in prominent English-language series, including The Young Pope and the historical drama The Serpent Queen. Over the course of her career, Sagnier has received three César Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

Born on July 3, 1979, in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, Sagnier spent her childhood in Sèvres. Her father was an English professor at the University of Paris, while her mother worked as a secretary, and she grew up alongside her sister, Delphine. During her youth, Sagnier underwent surgery to remove a benign intestinal tumor, which left a scar, and later recovered from meningitis. Although raised in a family of musicians, she disliked playing the piano and gained permission to take acting classes instead, where she was discovered during a casting call.

Sagnier made her film debut at age nine in the 1989 feature Les Maris, les Femmes, les Amants, followed by minor roles in early 1990s productions such as Cyrano de Bergerac. Her adult career gained major momentum through her collaborations with director François Ozon in Water Drops on Burning Rocks, 8 Women, and Swimming Pool. These roles earned her significant acclaim, including a shared ensemble award for 8 Women and a César Award nomination for Swimming Pool. In 2003, she also portrayed Tinker Bell in the live-action adaptation of Peter Pan after initially being brought in as a visual reference model.

Following her early international success, Sagnier chose to focus primarily on French cinema rather than pursuing a Hollywood career. Her French feature credits include Love Songs, A Secret—which brought her another César Award nomination—and Mesrine. She returned to international projects with the 2011 biographical drama The Devil's Double, and later co-starred in the miniseries The Young Pope in 2016, reprising her role in The New Pope in 2020.

In 2021, Sagnier joined the cast of the hit thriller series Lupin. Her profile in international television expanded further with historical roles, including her portrayal of Diane de Poitiers in The Serpent Queen and composer Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy in the miniseries Franklin. In 2024, she appeared in the film adaptation And Their Children After Them, reunited with Ozon for When Fall Is Coming, and earned a Molière Award nomination for her performance in the play Le Consentement.

In her personal life, Sagnier has three children: a daughter born in 2005 with actor Nicolas Duvauchelle, and two daughters with her partner, director Kim Chapiron. Outside of acting, she has taught an acting course at the École Kourtrajmé since 2020 to support students from underrepresented backgrounds entering the film industry. She has also engaged in public advocacy, including signing a 2024 petition urging official French recognition of the state of Palestine.