Acting · Lyon, Rhône, France · Born January 17, 1971
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.
MovieCocorico 2
2026
as Nicole Martin
MovieLOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour
2026
as Sylvie
MovieWhere Souls Go
2025
as Stéphanie
MovieProust and Signs: On Chantal Akerman's "La Captive"
2025
as archive image
TVSur la dalle
2024
as Froissy
MovieThe Two of Them
2024
as Sandrine
MovieJíkuri. Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara
2024
as Mathilde
TVKnok
2024
as Blanche
MovieCocorico
2024
as Nicole Martin
MovieMarinette
2023
as Régine Pierre, Saint-Memmie coach
MovieDes mains en or
2023
as Rose
TVA Case for Kin
2023
as Capitaine Caroline Flament
MovieThe Grand Restaurant IV
2022
TVThe Unexpected Getaway
2022
as Self
TVClub Première
2022
as Self - Guest
MovieMaman, ne me laisse pas m'endormir
2022
as Sophie
MovieSimone: Woman of the Century
2022
as Marceline Rozenberg (1968 - 1979)
MovieTout le monde savait
2022
as Valérie Bacot
MovieChampagne !
2022
as Joanna
TVWhat Pauline Is Not Telling You
2022
as major de gendarmerie Marie Hermann
MovieFlashback
2021
as Olympe de Gouges
MovieL'Heureux Stratagème
2021
as La Comtesse
TVUn monde, un regard
2021
TVRunaway
2021
as Isabelle
MovieThe Grand Restaurant III
2021
as The nymphomaniac's friend
MovieI Love You Coiffure
2020
as Geneviève (segment "L'Addition")
TVFear by the Lake
2020
as Alice Wagner
MovieMeet the Malawas
2019
as Nathalie Dulac
TVKemps
2019
as Self
MovieDisclaimer
2019
as Maïté
TVEden
2019
as Hélène
MovieQuand sort la recluse
2019
as le lieutenant Froissy
TVQuand sort la recluse
2019
as le lieutenant Froissy
MovieWide Load
2019
as Jennifer
MovieDefiant Souls
2019
as Enriqueta Faber / Enrique Faber
TVDeutsch-Les-Landes
2018
as Odile
MovieSuspiria
2018
as Miss Griffith
MovieDeux gouttes d'eau
2018
as Valérie Laforge
Fan Club
2018
as Anna
MovieA New Girl in Paris!
2018
as Amandine
MovieKings for a Day
2018
as Val
MovieFinal Portrait
2017
as Annette Giacometti
MovieWedding Unplanned
2017
as Clarisse
TVMaximilian and Marie De Bourgogne
2017
as Charlotte de Savoye
MovieMörderische Stille
2017
as Elena
MovieTamara
2016
as Amandine
MovieThe Exchange Student
2016
as Eloïse
MovieThe Visitors: Bastille Day
2016
as Charlotte de Robespierre
MovieArrête ton cinéma !
2016
as Sybille
TVCapitaine Marleau
2015
as Salomé Revel
MovieToo Close to the Sun
2015
as Sophie Picard
MovieGad Elmaleh - Le Big Show
2015
as Self
MovieThanks to my Friends
2015
as Stéphane Brunge
MovieSpiderwebhouse
2015
as Sabine
MovieTwo Women
2014
as Elisaveta Bogdanovna
MovieCeux qui dansent sur la tête
2014
as Catherine
MoviePapa Was Not a Rolling Stone
2014
as Nadiège
MovieFrench Women
2014
as Sam
Movie24 Days
2014
as Brigitte Farell
Movie96 heures
2014
as Marion Reynaud
MovieÀ votre bon cœur, mesdames
2013
as Lolita
MovieMy Name Is Hmmm...
2013
as La mère de Céline
MovieLes Déferlantes
2013
as Louise
MovieFor a Woman
2013
as Anne
MovieA Song For Mama
2013
as Sylvie
MovieRoxana's Hands
2013
as Roxana Orlac
MovieMax
2013
as Nina
TVThe Unexpected Getaway
2012
as Self
TV28 minutes
2012
as Self
MovieRebellion
2011
as Chantal Legorjus
MovieThe Night Clerk
2011
as Sylvie Poncet
MovieL'Amour, la Mort, les Fringues
2011
MovieThe Rebel, Louise Michel
2010
as Louise Michel
MovieMumu
2010
as Mumu
MovieThe Round Up
2010
as Bella Zygler
MovieSentiments provisoires
2010
as Hélène
MovieSisters
2009
as Sybille adulte
MovieLucky Luke
2009
as Calamity Jane
MovieLourdes
2009
as Christine
TVC à vous
2009
as Self
MovieCan't Say No
2009
as Adèle
MovieVengeance
2009
as Irene Costello
MovieA Happy Man
2009
as Catherine
TVPanique dans l'oreillette
2008
as Self
MovieThe Idiot
2008
as Darya Alexeyevna
MovieSagan
2008
as Françoise Quoirez dite Sagan
MovieThe Vanishing Point
2007
as Lucie Audibert
MovieArthur Honegger - Jeanne D'Arc Au Bucher
2007
as Jeanne d'Arc
MovieLa France
2007
as Camille
MovieEat, for This Is My Body
2007
as Madame
MovieLa Vie en Rose
2007
as Simone 'Mômone' Berteaut
MovieLegacy
2006
as Patricia
TVOn n'est pas couché
2006
as Self - Guest
MovieLa vie est à nous !
2005
as Louise Delhomme
MovieWords in Blue
2005
as Clara
TVRendez-vous in an Unknown Land
2004
as Self
MovieVictoire
2004
as Victoire
MovieCause toujours !
2004
as Léa
MovieTout pour l'oseille
2004
as Prune
MovieTomorrow We Move
2004
as Charlotte
MovieMaking of Tomorrow We Move
2004
as Self / Charlotte
MovieLabyrinth
2003
as Claude
MovieDead Man's Memories
2003
as Das Mädchen
MovieOnly Girls
2003
as Tina
MovieFear and Trembling
2003
as Amélie
MovieA Loving Father
2002
as Virginia
MovieLife Kills Me
2002
as Myriam
MovieA Day in the Life of French Cinema
2002
as Self
Stolen Tangos
2002
as Alice / Paula
MovieWomen or Children First
2002
as Virginie
MovieA Moment of Happiness
2002
as L'institutrice
MovieEveryman's Feast
2002
as Sophie
MovieLes acteurs anonymes
2001
as Self (uncredited)
MovieI’m Going Home
2001
as Ariel
MovieThe Château
2001
as Isabelle
Julies Geist
2001
as Julia
MovieThe Dark Room
2000
as Azalaïs
MovieMurderous Maids
2000
as Christine Papin
MovieThe Captive
2000
as Ariane
MovieScénarios sur la drogue
2000
as Segment "Lucie"
MovieBad Connection
2000
as Laurence
MovieIn Heaven
1999
as Valeska
MovieAnnaluise & Anton
1999
as Laurence
MovieKarnaval
1999
as Béa
MovieMarée haute
1999
MovieThe Misadventures of Margaret
1998
as Young Nun
MovieSentimental Education
1998
as Julia
MovieFire in Paradise
1997
as Esther
MovieBeyond Silence
1996
as Lara
MovieThose Were the Days
1995
as Sylvie
Éternelles
1994
as Nathalie
MovieThe Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed
1994
as Girl at party offering food
MovieMarie's Song
1994
as Marie
German Film Award
1951
as Self
Tout un poème
