Noémie Merlant

Noémie Merlant is a French performer and filmmaker. She has gained widespread recognition for her film roles, earning three César Award nominations throughout her career, which include a nod for her breakout performance in Portrait of a Lady on Fire and a victory for her work in The Innocent.

Born on 27 November 1988 in Paris, Merlant grew up in Rezé, a town located near Nantes. Her parents both worked as real estate agents. Prior to entering the film industry, she worked professionally as a fashion model and subsequently pursued drama studies at the Cours Florent in Paris.

Merlant achieved her initial career breakthrough starring in the 2016 feature Heaven Will Wait. Her performance earned her a nomination for the César Award for Most Promising Actress. She gained further international acclaim in 2019 for her leading role in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which earned her the Lumière Award for Best Actress and a César Award nomination for Best Actress.

Following her breakthrough, Merlant took on diverse roles in feature films. In 2020, she appeared in Jumbo as a woman who develops romantic feelings for a park attraction, and she also featured in A Good Man. She later appeared in the 2022 drama Tár, playing Francesca Lentini, an assistant and musician associated with a prominent conductor. She was subsequently cast as the lead character in Audrey Diwan's reboot of Emmanuelle, and in April 2025, she joined the cast of Roma Elastica.

In addition to acting, Merlant works as a film director. She initially directed short films, including Je suis #unebiche in 2017 and Shakira in 2019. She made her feature-length directorial debut with Mi Iubita Mon Amour, which screened at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and later debuted her second feature, The Balconettes, at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Merlant's contributions to cinema have been acknowledged through major industry invitations and honours. In addition to her César win and Lumière Award, she received an official invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2023.