Rising to teenage idol status as the star of the hit romantic comedy La Boum (1980) and its sequel La Boum 2 (1982), Sophie Marceau has since managed to become more than "just another pretty face." She developed her dramatic skills in the romantic epic Fort Saganne (1984) and, most notably, in three films directed by her long-time companion, Polish/French director Andrzej Zulawski. As her career progressed during the early '90s, Marceau preferred to appear in such lighter fare as the romantic comedy Fanfan (1993), a huge hit in France, or the swashbuckler La Fille de D'Artagnan (1994). Meanwhile, her stage debut in Jean Anouilh's Euridyce in 1991 brought Marceau a Moliere award for Most Promising Newcomer. She also starred as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion at the Theatre des Arts Hebertot. In 1995, Marceau rose to international film stardom playing Princess Isabelle in Mel Gibson's epic Braveheart; that same year, she made her directorial debut with a nine-minute film, L'Aube à l'envers, which opened "Un Certain Regard" at the Cannes Film Festival. Marceau's international profile continued to grow throughout the decade thanks to her increasing appearances in both British and American productions, particularly A Midsummer Night's Dream and the 19th James Bond outing, The World Is Not Enough (both 1999). She stepped in front of the camera for Zulawski again the following year as the star of his La Fidélité.

Sophie has two children, Vincent (b. 1995) with director Andrzej Zulawski, and Juliette (b. 2002) with producer Jim Lemley.