Camille Cottin is a French actress born on 1 December 1978 in Boulogne-Billancourt, in the Hauts-de-Seine département. She first came to public attention in 2013 with the series “Connasse”, broadcast on Canal Plus, and rose to fame in 2015 playing the character of Andréa Martel in the series “10 pour cent”, broadcast on France Télévision. At the same time, the actress confirmed her acting talents in the cinema with the release of the film “Connasse, princesse des cœurs”, directed by the duo Noémie Saglio and Eloïse Lang. In 2021, Camille Cottin will also embark on an acting career in Hollywood, playing alongside some of America’s biggest stars, including Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Adam Driver. In this article, we take a look at the atypical career of this world-famous French actress, as well as her greatest collaborations in film and television.
The beginnings of the actress
Camille Cottin spent most of her teenage years in England, at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, which enabled her to obtain a master’s degree in English and teach Shakespeare’s language on her return from London. At the same time, the young actress took drama classes at the Jean Perimony drama school in Paris. For almost 15 years, Camille played one small role after another in the theatre, and also appeared in film productions and television series. In 2009, she joined comedian Pierre Palmade’s troupe, a sort of café-théâtre where around thirty actors write their sketches before performing them on stage. That same year, the young actress appeared in an advert for a mobile phone, alongside the American actor Brad Pitt. In 2013, Camille Cottin joined the cast of PEP’S, a mini-series broadcast every evening on TF1, but it was her performance in the series “Connasse”, broadcast daily on Canal Plus, that would definitively accelerate the fame and career of the young actress.
Camille Cottin and the series Connasse
The series Connasse, created by directors Noémie Saglio and Eloïse Lang, is broadcast every evening during the cult Canal Plus programme “Le Grand Journal”, as well as on the YouTube channel dedicated to the series. Filmed on hidden camera in multiple worlds where the characters are unaware that she is an actress, the series features a snobbish, insufferable Parisian played by Camille Cottin. The arrogant behaviour of the French actress, who makes a series of shocking and absurd remarks, confirms her talent for comedy and the success of the series. Between 2013 and 2015, 70 episodes, each lasting 2 minutes, were broadcast on the encrypted channel. The mini-series was then adapted for the cinema with the release of the film “Connasse, princesse des cœurs”, which attracted nearly 1.2 million spectators in cinemas. This success enabled the young actress to make a string of comedies and appear in a number of French films, including “Les gazelles”, “toute première fois”, “no futur” and “les gorilles”, but alas, these cinematic productions were not as successful as expected. It was in 2015, when she played the main character in the Cédric Klapisch-produced series “10 pour cent”, that the actress returned to fame.
Call my agent and the Netflix platform
This French series, originally broadcast on France Télévision, consists of 24 episodes divided into 4 seasons. It tells the story of a prestigious actors’ agency in the aftermath of the death of its founder. The concept of the series lies in the fact that in each new episode, a celebrity plays his or her own role, with a certain amount of self-mockery. Actors such as Jean Dujardin and Line Renaud, as well as a host of French personalities and journalists (Muriel Robin, Michel Drucker, Thomas Sotto, etc.) will be taking part in the series. Some episodes of “call my agent” are written without knowing the guest, allowing the scriptwriters to adapt the synopsis to the actor who has agreed to take part in the project. Camille Cottin plays Andréa Martel, an agent and partner in the ASK talent agency. When the series was launched, a number of celebrities such as Sophie Marceau refused to play themselves, and the title “call my agent” refers to the percentage of a star’s fee paid to her agent. Hailed by the international press, the fourth season of the series will land on Netflix in January 2021, and in the wake of its worldwide release, a co-production with the American platform is being considered. As a reward, in 2014 the actress received the Crystal Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for her performance in the series.
Camille Cottin conquering Hollywood
In 2020, Camille landed a role in the third season of the drama series “Killing Eve” created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She plays Hélène, one of the members of the group that orders assassinations around the world. At the same time, the actress was announced to play the rival of singer and actress Lady Gaga in Ridley Scott’s film “House of Gucci”. The latter has already worked with French actors such as Marion Cotillard in “Une grande année” and Gérard Depardieu in “Christophe Colomb”. In this Hollywood blockbuster, the French actress stars alongside Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek. A few weeks later, the actress was also announced as a cast member in Tom McCarthy’s new film Stillwater, starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin. In this film, she plays the role of a theatre actress who helps a man and his daughter who have been unjustly accused of murder. In France, Stillwater will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, in the “out of competition” category. That same year, Camille Cottin dubs the French version of the soulful “22” alongside Omar Sy in the animated film “Soul”. At the end of 2020, Dominique Besnehard, creator of “call my agent”, announced a fifth season for the series, as well as a film to be shot in New York. In 2021, the French actress will represent two films at the Cannes Film Festival: “Stillwater” (out of competition) and “Mon Légionnaire”, by director Rachel Lang.
New Nespresso ambassador
In 2022, following the success of the series “10 per cent” on the Netflix platform, Camille Cottin joins Jean Dujardin and Georges Clooney in the prestigious cast of the new Nespresso television campaign. The commercial for the famous coffee brand, directed by Grant Heslov, was shot in a beautiful Parisian building overlooking the Eiffel Tower. This new campaign, which focuses on ecology and the marketing of capsules that can now be recycled, sees the young woman become the face of the brand alongside its historic ambassadors, Jean Dujardin and Georges Clooney, for the past 8 years.
Camille Cottin’s filmography
- 2011 : Il était une fois, une fois de Christian Merret-Palmair : La mère de Juliette
- 2014 : Les Gazelles de Mona Achache : Émilie
- 2015 : Toute Première Fois de Maxime Govare et Noémie Saglio : Clémence
- 2015 : Connasse, princesse des cœurs de Noémie Saglio et Éloïse Lang : Camilla, la Connasse
- 2015 : Les Gorilles de Tristan Aurouet : Émilie
- 2015 : Nos futurs de Rémi Bezançon : Géraldine
- 2016 : Iris de Jalil Lespert : Capitaine Nathalie Vasseur
- 2016 : Cigarettes et Chocolat chaud de Sophie Reine : Séverine
- 2016 : Alliés (Allied) de Robert Zemeckis : Monique
- 2016 : Ballerina d’Éric Summer et Eric Warin : Félicie (voix française)
- 2017 : Telle mère, telle fille de Noémie Saglio : Avril
- 2018 : Larguées d’Éloïse Lang : Rose
- 2018 : Photo de famille de Cécilia Rouaud : Elsa
- 2019 : Premières Vacances de Patrick Cassir : Fleur
- 2019 : Les Fauves de Vincent Mariette : Inspecteur Camus
- 2019 : Le Mystère Henri Pick de Rémi Bezançon : Joséphine Pick
- 2019 : Chambre 212 de Christophe Honoré : Irène jeune
- 2019 : Deux Moi de Cédric Klapisch : la psy de Mélanie
- 2019 : Les Éblouis de Sarah Suco : Christine Lourmel
- 2020 : Petit Vampire de Joann Sfar : Pandora, la mère de Petit Vampire (voix)
- 2020 : Soul de Pete Docter et Kemp Powers : 2239 (voix française)
- 2021 : Stillwater de Thomas McCarthy : Virginie
- 2021 : House of Gucci de Ridley Scott : Paola Franchi
- 2021 : Mon légionnaire de Rachel Lang : Céline
- 2022 : Coeurs vaillants de Mona Achache : Rose
- 2022 : Icare de Carlo Vogele : Ariane (voix)
- 2023 : L’Empire de Bruno Dumont
- 2023 : Toni, en famille de Nathan Ambrosioni : Toni
- 2023 : Mystère à Venise (A Haunting in Venice) de Kenneth Branagh : Olga Seminoff
- 2023 : Golda de Guy Nattiv : Lou Kaddar
