Sylvie Testud
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Sylvie Testud was born on January 17, 1971 in Lyon. Her parents separated when she was two years old. She spent her youth in the Lyon district of Croix-Rousse, raised by her mother, an accountant. In high school, she learned Chinese. Very early fascinated by the cinema, the young girl identifies in particular with the complexed teenager character embodied by Charlotte Gainsbourg in L'Effrontée. Having moved to Paris to study history, she soon embarked on acting by joining the free class at Cours Florent and then the Conservatory, where her teachers were Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel. She made her first screen appearance in 1994 in Couples et amants. She decided to become an actress during her youth, after having admired actresses in films. She then took acting lessons in Lyon with the actor and director Christian Taponard. In 1989, she moved to Paris to study history, as well as drama lessons in free classes at Cours Florent, then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art for three years, with Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel for teachers. In the early 1990s, she obtained her first small roles in the cinema, then in feature films such as The Story of the Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed by Philippe Harel (1994), Le Plus Bel Age..., by Didier Haudepin (1995) or even Love, etc. by Marion Vernoux (1996). In 1997, Sylvie Testud experienced her first great success at the cinema in Germany with the film Beyond Silence by Caroline Link, for which she learned German, the clarinet and sign language. She is rewarded as best actress by the German Film Prize (the equivalent of the César for best actress). In 1998, she played her first major role in French cinema and enjoyed great success in France with the role of Béa in Karnaval, the first feature film by Thomas Vincent, for which she was nominated for the César for best female hope and received the Michael Simon Prize. She then began an important acting career with a preference for auteur cinema. In 2000, her performance in La Captive by Chantal Akerman (adaptation of the novel La Prisonnière by Marcel Proust) earned her a nomination as best actress at the European Film Prize. In 2001, she obtained, for her second nomination, the César for best female hope for the remarkable interpretation of Christine Papin, one of the Papin sisters, in Les Blessures assassines by Jean-Pierre Denis, based on a news item from 1933.
Known for
Credits
Suspiria (2018)
as Miss Griffith
Meet the Malawas (2019)
as Nathalie Dulac
The Round Up (2010)
as Bella Zygler
La Vie en Rose (2007)
as Simone 'Mômone' Berteaut
Legacy (2006)
as Patricia
Cocorico (2024)
as Nicole Martin
Arrête ton cinéma ! (2016)
as Sybille
LOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour (2026)
as Sylvie
The Exchange Student (2016)
as Eloïse
Stolen Tangos (2002)
as Alice / Paula
In Heaven (1999)
as Valeska
Cocorico 2 (2026)
as Nicole Martin
Tamara (2016)
as Amandine
À votre bon cœur, mesdames (2013)
as Lolita
Vengeance (2009)
as Irene Costello
The Visitors: Bastille Day (2016)
as Charlotte de Robespierre
Too Close to the Sun (2015)
as Sophie Picard
Wide Load (2019)
as Jennifer
Tout pour l'oseille (2004)
as Prune
24 Days (2014)
as Brigitte Farell
96 heures (2014)
as Marion Reynaud
Max (2013)
as Nina
Final Portrait (2017)
as Annette Giacometti
Where Souls Go (2025)
as Stéphanie
Everyman's Feast (2002)
as Sophie
Kings for a Day (2018)
as Val
Julies Geist (2001)
as Julia
A New Girl in Paris! (2018)
as Amandine
Sentiments provisoires (2010)
as Hélène
For a Woman (2013)
as Anne
Jíkuri. Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara (2024)
as Mathilde
Scénarios sur la drogue (2000)
as Segment "Lucie"
Sagan (2008)
as Françoise Quoirez dite Sagan
The Captive (2000)
as Ariane
Lucky Luke (2009)
as Calamity Jane
Bad Connection (2000)
as Laurence
A Day in the Life of French Cinema (2002)
as Self
Two Women (2014)
as Elisaveta Bogdanovna
Karnaval (1999)
as Béa
Simone: Woman of the Century (2022)
as Marceline Rozenberg (1968 - 1979)
Mumu (2010)
as Mumu
Rebellion (2011)
as Chantal Legorjus
Wedding Unplanned (2017)
as Clarisse
Labyrinth (2003)
as Claude
Life Kills Me (2002)
as Myriam
Victoire (2004)
as Victoire
Beyond Silence (1996)
as Lara
Sentimental Education (1998)
as Julia
Annaluise & Anton (1999)
as Laurence
Ceux qui dansent sur la tête (2014)
as Catherine
Fear and Trembling (2003)
as Amélie
Murderous Maids (2000)
as Christine Papin
Eat, for This Is My Body (2007)
as Madame
Spiderwebhouse (2015)
as Sabine
Quand sort la recluse (2019)
as le lieutenant Froissy
I’m Going Home (2001)
as Ariel
French Women (2014)
as Sam
Tomorrow We Move (2004)
as Charlotte
Fire in Paradise (1997)
as Esther
Marinette (2023)
as Régine Pierre, Saint-Memmie coach
The Château (2001)
as Isabelle
L'Heureux Stratagème (2021)
as La Comtesse
The Night Clerk (2011)
as Sylvie Poncet
Words in Blue (2005)
as Clara
Lourdes (2009)
as Christine
The Vanishing Point (2007)
as Lucie Audibert
My Name Is Hmmm... (2013)
as La mère de Céline
Fan Club (2018)
as Anna
Those Were the Days (1995)
as Sylvie
A Loving Father (2002)
as Virginia
Tout le monde savait (2022)
as Valérie Bacot
Tout un poème (—)
Actor
Only Girls (2003)
as Tina
La vie est à nous ! (2005)
as Louise Delhomme
Proust and Signs: On Chantal Akerman's "La Captive" (2025)
as archive image
Disclaimer (2019)
as Maïté
La France (2007)
as Camille
The Misadventures of Margaret (1998)
as Young Nun
Des mains en or (2023)
as Rose
Thanks to my Friends (2015)
as Stéphane Brunge
Marie's Song (1994)
as Marie
The Rebel, Louise Michel (2010)
as Louise Michel
Mörderische Stille (2017)
as Elena
I Love You Coiffure (2020)
as Geneviève (segment "L'Addition")
The Dark Room (2000)
as Azalaïs
Flashback (2021)
as Olympe de Gouges
A Happy Man (2009)
as Catherine
Gad Elmaleh - Le Big Show (2015)
as Self
Making of Tomorrow We Move (2004)
as Self / Charlotte
Maman, ne me laisse pas m'endormir (2022)
as Sophie
Deux gouttes d'eau (2018)
as Valérie Laforge
Cause toujours ! (2004)
as Léa
The Grand Restaurant IV (2022)
Actor
A Song For Mama (2013)
as Sylvie
A Moment of Happiness (2002)
as L'institutrice
Sisters (2009)
as Sybille adulte
L'Amour, la Mort, les Fringues (2011)
Actor
Dead Man's Memories (2003)
as Das Mädchen
The Two of Them (2024)
as Sandrine
Les Déferlantes (2013)
as Louise
Roxana's Hands (2013)
as Roxana Orlac
Les acteurs anonymes (2001)
as Self (uncredited)
Champagne ! (2022)
as Joanna
The Grand Restaurant III (2021)
as The nymphomaniac's friend
Can't Say No (2009)
as Adèle
Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone (2014)
as Nadiège
Arthur Honegger - Jeanne D'Arc Au Bucher (2007)
as Jeanne d'Arc
Defiant Souls (2019)
as Enriqueta Faber / Enrique Faber
Women or Children First (2002)
as Virginie
The Idiot (2008)
as Darya Alexeyevna
The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed (1994)
as Girl at party offering food
Marée haute (1999)
Actor
Éternelles (1994)
as Nathalie