Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (born 26 May 1986) is a French-

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

actress and model. She is best known for playing Suzanne in '' The Sea Wall'', the mermaid Syrena in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' and Sofi in ''

I Origins ''I Origins'' is a 2014 American science fiction romantic drama film written and directed by Mike Cahill. The independent production premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on , 2014. It is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and open ...

''. She also played the Mage in '' King Arthur: Legend of the Sword''. She received the

Prix Suzanne Bianchetti The Prix Suzanne Bianchetti is an award in French cinema given annually since 1937 to the most promising young film actress.Colin Crisp. ''French Cinema—A Critical Filmography: Volume 2, 1940–1958'', p. 315 (Indiana University Press; 2015) ...

in 2009 and the Trophée Chopard Award for Female Revelation of the Year at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...

and a nomination at the 2016 David di Donatello in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Early life

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, to a

father and a French-American mother. She is the eldest among three daughters. Following her parents' divorce when she was 2 years old, she moved to southwestern France when she was 5. She was raised in a small town near

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, where she acted in school plays as a hobby, but never saw acting as a possible career path as the countryside where she lived was very different from the movie industry, describing how she thought acting was "not a profession; it was something abstract". Her father later moved to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, where she spent five summers working as a waitress. At age 17, she moved to Paris by herself to pursue a career in

osteopathy Osteopathy () is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths. Osteopathic manipulation is the core set of techniques in ...

, but found herself moving around a lot, without knowing anybody in the area. Shortly after, her father died at age 46. Due to the incident, she describes realizing that life is too short and that her true ambition was acting. After graduation, she went straight to

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

. She is fluent in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

, French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. She started learning

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

for her role in ''Pirates of the Caribbean''.

Career

She made her acting debut in 2007 on French television. In 2008, she made her feature début in the film '' The Sea Wall''. She began modeling in 2010, fronting

French Connection The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and ...

's spring/summer and autumn/winter campaigns. Bergès-Frisbey made her English-language debut in 2011 ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', earning the role of the

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

Syrena, after a whirlwind of auditions in France, Hollywood, and the UK. She had to learn to speak English for the role. During filming in Hawaii, she was restricted from going out in daylight to keep her skin pale. In 2012, Bergès-Frisbey starred in the Spanish film ''

El sexo de los ángeles ''Angels of Sex'' ( es, El Sexo de los Ángeles) is a Spanish film by Xavier Villaverde starring Álvaro Cervantes, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, and Llorenç González. It was released in 2012 (the UK release title is ''The Sex of Angels''). Plot Br ...

''. The following year she played the titular role in the coming-of-age French film ''Juliette'' (2013). After that, she appeared in her second English-speaking feature film as Sofi in ''

'' (2014). She learned to speak Italian for the movie ''

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

'' (2015), which earned her a nomination for the

David di Donatello for Best Actress The David di Donatello Award for Best Actress ( it, David di Donatello per la migliore attrice protagonista) is a film award presented annually by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (ACI, ''Academy of Italian Cinema'') to recognize the outstandin ...

. In 2017, she had a supporting role in '' King Arthur: Legend of the Sword''. In 2020, she received the award for Best Actress at the

Taormina Film Fest Taormina Film Fest (TFF) is a film festival that began in 1955 under the name Rassegna Cinematografica Internazionale di Messina e Taormina. The exhibition, which moved permanently to Taormina in 1971, has hosted over the years many stars of inter ...

for her performance in L'Autre. Bergès-Frisbey currently serves as a brand ambassador for

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

Filmography

Stage

* '' Equus'' (2008), as Jill Mason

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berges-Frisbey, Astrid 1986 births 21st-century French actresses Living people French film actresses French television actresses French Roman Catholics Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish film actresses Spanish television actresses French people of Catalan descent French people of Spanish descent French people of American descent Spanish people of French descent Spanish people of American descent Actresses from Barcelona