Marie Gillain was born on 18 June 1975 in the village of Rocourt, close to Liège, in the French speaking region of Belgium. From an early age she showed a keen interest in the world of entertainment and along with her young sister Céline and the children of her village, would dress up and organise small shows in the attic of her home. As a teenager she took part in theatre workshops for young people and was by now dreaming of becoming an actress.

At the age of 14 she saw an advertisement in a Belgian weekly newspaper for the film L'Amant (The Lover) which was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. She decided to send in an audio tape on which she read an extract from a novel by Marguerite Duras, and as a result of this was asked to attend an audition. Unfortunately, she was not selected for the film, the role eventually going to the English actress Jane March. The experience was not wasted  because the following year the same casting director contacted her for a major part in what was to become her first feature film Mon Père, Ce Héros. She played the role of Véronique, the teenage daughter of Gérard Depardieu. The film became an international success and was remade by Hollywood a few years later under the English title My Father The Hero. An inferior film to the original, Marie made a wise decision not to appear in the new version, although Gérard Depardieu reprised his role as the father.

Whilst she completed her secondary education at the Saint-Louis College in Liège, Marie continued to make films both for the cinema and television. Her second  feature, a Belgian film, was called Marie and this was followed by Un Homme à la Mer (A Man At Sea) directed by Jacques Doillon for French television. She then attended the "École du Cirque" (Circus School) in Brussels for a period of four months where her classes included singing, dancing, drama and acrobatics. During this period she made her third feature film L'Appât (The Bait) which was directed by Bertrand Tavernier, one of the top film makers in France. The film was a critical success and Marie gave one of her best performances to date. In an interview on Belgian television in February 1996 Tavernier described Marie as a sublime actress. They would work together again in 2002 on the film Laissez-Passer (Safe Conduct). Another feature by this director entitled Holy Lola (2004) originally included Marie in the cast, but she had to withdraw from the project when she became pregnant with her first child.

THEATRE DEBUT

Having established herself as a film actress Marie began to work in the theatre. She made her debut in 1995 in the play Le Journal d'Anne Frank (The Diary Of Anne Frank). After fifty performances in Lyon the production moved to Paris where it became a huge success; a tour of Belgium followed. Les Affinités Électives (The Elective Affinities) was her next film which was made in Tuscany. It was directed by the Taviani brothers and shown out of competition at the 49th Cannes Film Festival.

After shooting  Un Air Si Pur (An Air So Pure) in Poland in 1996 Marie took part in L'Orchestre à la Portée des Enfants with the Philharmonic Orchestra of  Liège. This was a series of concerts organised by the Musical Youth of Liège and Brussels with the intention of helping children discover and appreciate the world of classical music. She was the narrator in La Boîte à Joujoux (The Toy Box) by Claude Debussy, L'Histoire de Babar (The Story Of Babar) by Francis Poulenc and Pierre et Le Loup (Peter and The Wolf) by Serge Prokofiev. Marie repeated her role the following year with Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker) by Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky, L'Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) by Paul Dukas and Ma Mère L'Oye (Mother Goose) by Maurice Ravel.

Her next two films were made by established directors. In 1997 Phillipe de Broca made Le Bossu, a big budget swashbuckling movie which did well at the international box office. It was released in several countries with the title of On Guard! Then came a small part in an Italian drama Le Dîner directed by Ettore Scola. Marie played the lead role in Ferzan Ozpetek's Le Dernier Harem (Harem Suare), which was presented in the section "Un Certain Regard" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.

MODEL ACTRESS

Since 1998 Marie has been one of the faces for the cosmetics firm Lancôme. This contract provides the financial security which has allowed her to be selective in choosing new scripts. Having made films with established directors, she was keen to work with new and less experienced film makers. This resulted in Laissons Lucie Faire! (Leave It To Lucie!) by Emmanuel Mouret and Barnie et Ses Petites Contrarietes (Barnie and His Minor Annoyances) by Bruno Chiche. She then built on her reputation as a fine comedy actress by starring in Absolument Fabuleux directed by Gabriel Aghion. This film was a French adaptation of the cult British television series.

In June 2002 Marie played the part of narrator in a concert entitled Bach au Feminin which was organised by the Festival of Wallonie in Brussels. It was a  selection of classical music and songs, performed by various musicians including the Belgian singer Maurane. In September 2002 Marie took to the stage again, appearing in the play Hysteria which was directed by the American actor John Malkovich. Adapted from the award winning British production it was a huge success in Paris, running for five months. A tour of France, Switzerland and Belgium followed, sadly without Marie.

In media interviews she has let it be known that she would like to work with directors such as Emir Kusturica, Woody Allen, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rob Reiner, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Jaco van Dormael. After letting slip the name of Cédric Klapisch on several occasions she finally got the opportunity to work with him in the crime drama, Ni Pour, Ni Contre (Bien au Contraire) (Not For or Against, Quite the Contrary). Her next film was the comedy Tout Le Plaisir Est Pour Moi (The Pleasure Is All Mine) directed by Isabelle Broué, her first full length feature.

FUTURE PLANS

On 12 April 2004 Marie gave birth to her first child, a daughter called Dune. Since then she has completed her next film, L'Enfer directed by Danis Tanovic, who previously made the award winning No Man's Land. The film which also stars Carole Bouquet, Emmanuelle Beart and Karin Viard is due to open in France in the summer 2005. She is also making  Le Fântome de L'Opera for France television. This production is directed by Volker Schlöndorff and also stars the British actor Jeremy Irons.