Virginie Efira (born 5 May 1977) is a Belgian and French actress. She had her first leading role in It Boy (2013), and subsequently received praise for In Bed with Victoria (2016), for which she received a Magritte Award for Best Actress and her first César Award for Best Actress nomination.
She also starred in the psychological thriller Elle (2016), the comedy drama Sibyl (2019), the black comedy Bye Bye Morons (2020) and the psychological drama Benedetta (2021). In 2023, she won the César Award for Best Actress for Paris Memories (2022). For her performance in the drama All of a Sudden (2026) she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
Early life Efira was born on 5 May 1977 in the Brugmann district of Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of Professor André Efira, a hemato-oncologist, and Carine Verelst. She has Greek-Jewish ancestry. Efira has three siblings. She grew up in Schaerbeek. Her parents divorced when she was 18 years old.
Efira studied Latin, maths, psychology and social sciences in Brussels. She moved to Paris at the age of 28.
Career 1998–2008: Television anchor
She was first hired by Club RTL (a Belgian TV channel in the RTL Group) to present a children's show called Mégamix. She went on to present other programmes in Belgium, including A la recherche de la nouvelle Star. In September 2002, she was offered the job of the presenter of Belgium's version of Star Academy.
After becoming a weather forecast presenter on the M6 channel in France, she soon became one of M6's main public faces, presenting shows such as Le Grand Zap, La saga des ..., Follement Gay, Absolument 80/90, Le Grand Piège and Drôles d'équipes. She was the host of Classé Confidentiel for one year, before replacing Benjamin Castaldi as the host of the popular musical reality show Nouvelle Star for the end of the show's fourth series. She also presented shows on RTL-TVi (a spin-off channel in the RTL Group).
2004–2015: Early roles and romantic parts Efira's film career began in 2004, appearing as Dr. Liz Wilson in the French-language version of Garfield: The Movie, as well as playing Piper in the French version of the 2005 film Robots. She also voiced the characters of Kitty Softpaws in Puss in Boots and Mavis in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015). Efira also guest-starred in two episodes of the highly successful French show Kaamelott.
In 2010, she participated in Rendez-vous en terre inconnue. Efira next had a supporting role as a social worker in the comedy drama My Worst Nightmare (2011) directed by Anne Fontaine, opposite Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Poelvoorde and André Dussollier. The following year, she won the Audience Award at the 2nd Magritte Awards.
In 2013, Efira starred alongside Pierre Niney in the romantic comedy It Boy, about a 38-year-old woman and her relationship with a teenage boy. The film was highly successful in France and received positive reviews. Variety wrote that she "has a particular talent for transmitting thoughts and eliciting laughs using facial expressions alone, a gift that gets another glorious workout here".
2016–2021: Expansion to dramatic roles In 2016, Efira starred in Justine Triet's romantic comedy-drama In Bed with Victoria, which premiered in the International Critics' Week section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Her performance received critical acclaim, with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as "vibrant" and "well-tuned", and earned her the Magritte Award for Best Actress as well as her first César Award for Best Actress nomination. That same year, she appeared alongside Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's psychological thriller Elle. Following the success of both films, Efira increasingly took on more ambitious dramatic roles.
In 2018, she starred in Catherine Corsini's drama An Impossible Love, portraying a woman over more than three decades of her life. Her performance was widely praised, earning Cesar Award, Globe de Cristal Award and Lumière Award nominations for Best Actress. That same year, Efira appeared in the ensemble comedy Sink or Swim, which was screened out of competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, earning her a César Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Efira continued her collaboration with acclaimed French auteurs in Sibyl, her second film with Justine Triet. Premiering in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the film further established her as one of France's leading dramatic actresses, with Variety describing her as "a first-class leading lady of consistently expanding range and elan". In 2020, Efira starred as a terminally ill hairdresser seeking to reunite with her long-lost child in Albert Dupontel's comedy-drama Bye Bye Morons. The film became a major commercial and critical success in France, winning seven César Awards, including Best Film, and earning Efira her third nomination for Best Actress.
In 2021, Efira reunited with Paul Verhoeven for the title role in the historical drama Benedetta, portraying the 17th-century Italian nun whose mystical visions and forbidden relationship with another nun challenge religious authority.
2022–present: Established career In 2023, Efira won her first César Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the film Paris Memories (2022), in which she played a woman who is struggling with the lingering mental health effects of having survived a terrorist attack in Paris, a role originally intended for Nicole Kidman. Her performance in Rebecca Zlotowski's drama Other People's Children (2022) earned her high praise from critics. The Hollywood Reporter called it "a career-best turn" and "her best work yet as a woman who, compared to the usual Parisian narcissists and neurotics, is a model of selflessness." Also in 2023, Efira continued to work with female French filmmakers and had two films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival: the psychological drama Just the Two of Us, for which she earned her sixth César Award for Best Actress nomination, and the drama All to Play For.
Efira starred in two films selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival: Asghar Farhadi's Parallel Tales and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden. In the latter, she portrayed the director of a nursing home seeking to implement the Humanitude approach to elderly care, whose convictions are challenged after meeting a terminally ill Japanese playwright. The film received widespread critical acclaim and her performance earned her the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
Personal life Efira married comedian and actor Patrick Ridremont in 2002. They separated in 2005, and filed for divorce in February 2009. From 2012 to 2017, Efira dated director and actor Mabrouk El Mechri, with whom she has a daughter, born in 2013.
In 2016, Efira obtained French citizenship, becoming a dual citizen, for which she later cited her desire to vote in France as the reason. Since 2017, Efira has been in a relationship with actor Niels Schneider, her co-star in the films An Impossible Love (2018) and Sibyl (2019), with whom she has a son, born in 2023. The couple live in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
Filmography
Feature films Year Title Role Director(s) Notes 2005 Africains poids-moyens Short film 2009 The Barons 2010 Le Siffleur L'amour c'est mieux à deux & Arnaud Lemort Kill Me Please 2011La Chance de ma vie My Worst Nightmare 2012 Hénaut Président Dead Man Talking 2013 Cookie It Boy Les Invincibles Turning Tide 2015 Caprice Une famille à louer The Sense of Wonder 2016 Et ta sœur Up for Love Elle In Bed with Victoria 2017 Pris de court 2018 Sink or Swim An Impossible Love Keep Going 2019 Sibyl 2020 Night Shift Bye Bye Morons 2021 Benedetta Madeleine Collins Waiting for Bojangles Camille Fouquet 2022 Paris Memories Mia Don Juan Julie Other People's Children Rachel 2023 Just the Two of Us Blanche All to Play For 2025 A Private Life Paula Cohen-Solal Les Braises 2026Parallel TalesAnna / Nita Asghar FarhadiAll of a Sudden Marie-Lou Fontaine Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Television Year Title Role Director Notes 2006–2009 Kaamelott Berlewen, Bohort's wife Television series, 2 episodes 2007 Un amour de fantôme Anna Television film 2007 Off Prime Herself Television series 2010 En chantier, monsieur Tanner The Banker Television film 2011 À la maison pour Noël Sarah 2016 La Folle Soirée du Palmashow 3 Herself Television series 2017 Call My Agent! Television series, 1 episode
Dubbing Year Title Role Director(s) Notes 2004 Garfield: The Movie French voice 2005 Robots & 2006 Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties 2008 Max & Co & 2011 Puss in Boots French voice 2012 Hotel Transylvania 2015 Hotel Transylvania 2 2017 Tall Tales from the Magical Garden of Antoon Krings &
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result 2011Magritte Awards Audience Awards Herself Best Supporting Actress Kill Me Please 2016 Elle Best ActressIn Bed with Victoria 2017 Lumière Awards Best Actress César Awards Best Actress Globes de Cristal Awards Best Actress Up for Love 2019An Impossible Love Lumière Awards Best Actress César Awards Best Actress Best Supporting Actress Sink or Swim 2021 Lumière Awards Best ActressBye Bye Morons César Awards Best Actress Magritte Awards Best Actress 2022 César Awards Best ActressBenedetta Lumière AwardsBest Actress 2023 Other People's Children César AwardsBest Actress Paris Memories 2024 Lumière AwardsBest Actress All to Play For César AwardsBest Actress Just the Two of Us 2026Locarno Film FestivalLeopard Club AwardHerself Mill Valley Film Festival Screen Artistry AwardAll of a Sudden Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Performance
References
External links