Eva Green aka Vesper Lynd

Green was born on July 5, 1980 in Paris, France to a French mother and a Swedish father and raised in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Her mother is the actress Marlène Jobert; her father, Walter Green, is a dentist, who appeared in the 1966 film Au hasard Balthazar - this was his first and only on-screen appearance. She has one sibling, a fraternal twin (non-identical) sister, Joy.

Green studied acting in Paris for three years, followed by a 10-week polishing course at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England, UK.

Career

Theatre
Eva began her professional career in 2001, when she performed in the play Jalousie En Trois Fax, playing the role of Iris - a performance that brought her critical acclaim and a nomination for Les Molières in the category Révélation Théâtrale Féminine. In 2002, she made her second stage appearance as the coquette in the play Turcaret.

Cinema
In 2003, Green made her feature film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's NC-17-rated film The Dreamers with Michael Pitt and Louis Garrel. She played the role of Isabelle and in addition to acting, also composed the score for the film. Described by Bertolucci as "so beautiful it's indecent", her performance brought her critical acclaim, as well as some notoriety for her explicit, extensive full frontal nudity. While filming Dreamers, Green was said to have found Bertolucci manipulative, though in a creative way that wasn't pushy. In comparison to her previous stage acting, she has said that acting in front of the camera makes you its "plaything."

She played the Countess, Clarisse de Dreux-Sobise in the 2004 French film, Arsène Lupin, directed by Jean-Paul Salomé and starring Romain Duris and Kristin Scott Thomas. In 2005, she portrayed Sibylla of Jerusalem in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, starring opposite Orlando Bloom as Balian.

Green has recently been cast as "Bond girl" Vesper Lynd in the upcoming James Bond film Casino Royale with new 007 actor Daniel Craig. She is the fourth French actress to portray a "Bond girl," and the first one born in the 1980s. Casino Royale will be released in theaters worldwide on November 17, 2006. In May of 2006, Maxim magazine named her #20 in its annual Hot 100 list.

Green has also joined the cast of New Line's His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, based on Phillip Pullman's novel, and directed by Chris Weitz. She will play Serafina Pekkala, the queen of witches who guides Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Richards) on her journey to a parallel universe. Green will join Daniel Craig (Lord Asriel), Adam Godley (Pantalaimon), and Nicole Kidman (Marisa Coulter) in the cast.

Personal life
Green speaks both French and English fluently and currently shares her time between her two residiences, one in Paris, France and one in London, England, UK. She has been in a relationship with Yann Claasen since the late-1990s.

The multi-lingual Green's name in Swedish is pronounced "grain" and comes from the Swedish word gren, which means (tree) branch.

Filmography
The Dreamers (2003)
Arsène Lupin (2004)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Casino Royale (2006)
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (2007)