Her interests lay in primatology and biology, but she attended the Cours Florent acting school, and got into the film circuit. Her first television role was on the show La Vérité est un vilain défaut.

She won the 1998 award for best young actress in the 9th annual festival of young screen actors in Béziers. She became famous in France for her role in the 1999 film, Vénus Beauté, and the next year, won the César award for most promising female.

She gained worldwide recognition with the 2001 film, Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (English: Amélie). In France alone, her film drew 8 million persons.

Films:
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Les Poupées russes, 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles, 2004
Nowhere to Go But Up, 2003
Pas sur la bouche, 2003
Les Marins perdus, 2003
Dirty Pretty Things, 2002
L'Auberge espagnole, 2002
À la folie, pas du tout, 2002
Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite, 2001
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, 2001
Le Battement d'ailes du papillon, 2000
Le Libertin, 2000
Épouse-moi, 2000
Voyous, voyelles, 1999
Vénus Beauté, 1998
La Vieille barrière, 1998