Nora Arnezeder

Born in Paris, NORA ARNEZEDER was only two years old when her parents settled in Aix-en-Provence. Twelve years later, they left to spend a year in Bali. Even as a very young child, she attended comedy classes and rehearsed with her sister. When her father introduced her to jazz, Arnezeder discovered that she loved to sing. Her musical references range from Stacey Kent and Quincy Jones to Katie Melua, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

Once she moved back to Paris, Arnezeder studied at L'Académie Internationale de Danse, de Chant et de Theatre and followed that with several training sessions with Jacques Walzer at the Studio Pygmalion, Cours Florent.

Arnezeder appeared with Benoît Poelvoorde in Daniel Cohen's feature film Les deux mondes, and then auditioned for Paris 36 at the Elysée Montmartre theater. Arnezeder was asked to sing and perform a comedic scene for the audition, and won the part of Douce, a character that is the voice of the musical portrait of a euphoric period (1930s Paris). The film was directed by Christophe Barratier and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song ("Loin de Paname"). For her work on the film, Arnezeder won the 2009 Lumiere Award for Most Promising Young Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin) and the 2009 Étoile d'Or Award for Best Female Newcomer (La révélation féminine).

Arnezeder was seen on the big screen in France in Pascale Pouzadoux's La croisière. Her television credits include a series regular role as Varvara Valadine on Xanadu and a guest- starring role on Commissaire Valence. She is also the face of Guerlain's fragrance Idylle and Dior's New Lock handbags.

Her film The Words was closing night film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

© 2012 Universal Pictures