Sophie Nélisse

Marie-Sophie Nélisse (born March 27, 2000) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her Genie Award–winning performance in Monsieur Lazhar, as Liesel Meminger in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, and as Caroline in The Kid Detective. She stars as young Shauna in Showtime's series Yellowjackets.

Sophie Nélisse
Nélisse in 2019
Born	Marie-Sophie Nélisse[1] (2000-03-27) March 27, 2000 (age 24)[2] Windsor, Ontario, Canada[3]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2010–present
Relatives	Isabelle Nélisse (sister)

Early life

Nélisse discusses The Book Thief in 2013

Marie-Sophie Nélisse was born in Windsor, Ontario, on March 27, 2000. She is of French descent. Her mother, Pauline Belhumeur, left her job as a schoolteacher in 2013 to act as a talent manager for both Sophie and her younger sister Isabelle, who is also an actress.^[4][5] Nélisse is fluent in both French and English. The family moved to Montreal when she was four.^[6][7]

Career

She spent her early years training in gymnastics, aiming for the 2016 Olympics, and signed to a talent agency to make money to pay for the training, but after getting the part in The Book Thief (and subsequent accolades) she shifted her focus to acting.^[8][9] Additionally, Nélisse formed and still maintains a close friendship with her co-star from The Book Thief, Nico Liersch.

Nélisse at the premiere of The Rest of Us at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival

Besides her Genie Award for Monsieur Lazhar, she won a Jutra Award for her performance and a Young Artist Award nomination as Best Leading Young Actress in an International Feature Film.^[10] She held a recurring role the Québec sitcom Les Parents [fr] and she also starred in the title role of the 2015 film The Great Gilly Hopkins. In May 2016, Nélisse was present on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival for the first time to present Canadian thriller movie Mean Dreams.^[11][12][13]

In 2016, Nélisse was one of four actors selected by the Toronto International Film Festival, alongside Grace Glowicki, Jared Abrahamson, and Mylène Mackay for its "Rising Stars" programme, described as an "intensive professional development programme [that] immerses participants in a series of public events and industry meetings during the Festival."^[3][14] In June 2018, it was announced that she would be the face of Caroline Néron's Fall 2018 jewelry line.^[15]

After graduating high school in June 2017,^[16] Nélisse confirmed she wouldn't be enrolling in post-secondary education for the time being due to commitments shooting Close in London and Morocco.^[17] In a L'actualité series about "Being 18 years old in 2018", Nélisse spoke about entering adulthood in the era of the Weinstein effect, and deplored that when she announced she was looking for "more mature roles", she was quickly offered multiple roles where her characters would be raped and that scenarios she receives almost always include sexual elements.^[18] One of these instances was when she turned down the sexually-charged lead role in Fugueuse, in which Ludivine Reding was eventually cast as Fanny, the titular teenage runaway who ends up a sex trafficking victim.^[19]

Personal life

Her sister Isabelle Nélisse is also an actress, best known for her roles in Mama and HBO's controversial film The Tale;^[20] the sisters also acted together in Mirador [fr], Wait Till Helen Comes and Worst Case, We Get Married.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Monsieur Lazhar	Alice L'Écuyer	Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actress in an International Feature Film
2012	Ésimésac	Marie Gélinas	Sequel to Babine, also directed by Luc Picard and written by Fred Pellerin, the Saint-Élie-de-Caxton storyteller
2013	The Book Thief	Liesel Meminger	Satellite Awards for Best Breakthrough Performance Hollywood Film Award Spotlight Award Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Performance by a Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role—Female Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film[21] Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actor/Actress
2014	Pawn Sacrifice	Young Joan	Lily Rabe played the adult Joan Fischer
2015	Endorphine	Simone de Koninck	Shown in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
	The Great Gilly Hopkins	Gilly Hopkins
2016	Mean Dreams	Casey Caraway	Chosen for Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight
	1:54	Jen	First feature-length fiction film from Oscar-nominated director, producer and screenwriter Yan England[22][23][24]
	Wait Till Helen Comes[25]	Molly	Also stars her sister Isabelle Nélisse in the role of Molly's step-sister Heather
2017	The History of Love	Alma Singer
	Exode		Short film that premiered at Cannes Film Festival,[26] in the Not Short on Talent section, a Telefilm Canada initiative.[27]
	Worst Case, We Get Married (Et au pire, on se mariera)	Aïcha	Lea Pool movie adaptation of original novel by Sophie Bienvenu [fr], also starring Karine Vanasse.[28][29][30] Winner of the VIFF "Vancouver Women in Film and Television Artistic Merit Award"[31]
2019	Close	Zoe	Written and directed by Vicky Jewson and starring Noomi Rapace as the bodyguard of Nélisse's character, a rich young Bangkok heiress.[32][17][33]
	47 Meters Down: Uncaged	Mia
	The Rest of Us	Aster	Independent Aisling Chin-Yee dramatic comedy film also starring Heather Graham.[34][35]
2020	The Kid Detective	Caroline	Written and directed by Evan Morgan (The Dirties) and co-starring Adam Brody.[36][37][38][39]
	Flashwood	Rose	French-language film. First feature length movie by Jean-Carl Boucher
2023	Irena's Vow	Irena Gut	Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival[40]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Mirador [fr]	Jeune fille de Ralf	1 episode
	Toute la Vérité [fr]	Fille de Violaine	1 episode
2011–2016	Les Parent [fr]	Zoé	Recurring
2012	Vertige	Rosalie Roussel	Main cast
2015–2016	Les Dieux de la Danse	Herself (Dance competition)	Season 1: Withdrew after passing first elimination round Season 2: Eliminated after third round (semifinals)
2017	Accès Illimité [fr]	Herself (Docu-reality)	1 episode
	Demain des hommes [fr]	Roxanne	Recurring[41][42][43]
2019–2020	L'Échappée [fr]	Romy Lalonde	Recurring (Season 4-present)
2020	Amours d'occasion [fr]	Young Florence	1 episode
2021–present	Yellowjackets	Teenage Shauna Shipman	Main role

Awards and nominations

Accolades for Sophie Nélisse

Year	Organisation	Award	Work	Result
2013	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Young Actress[44]	Monsieur Lazhar	Nominated
2014	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Young Actor/Actress[45]	The Book Thief	Nominated
2014	Satellite Awards	Breakthrough Performance Award [46]	The Book Thief	Won
2014	Young Artist Awards	Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film (tie)[47]	The Book Thief	Won

References

1. "Sophie Nélisse". Windsor Public Library. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2022. Sophie (Marie-Sophie) Nélisse was born in Windsor on March 27, 2000 into a family of French-Canadian descent.
2. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1209/1210. June 1–9, 2012. p. 35.
3. Victoria Ahearn (September 3, 2016). "Windsor-born Sophie Nelisse a Rising Star at TIFF and beyond". Windsor Star. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
4. Boivin, Catherine-Chantal (November 22, 2011). "Sophie Nélisse: Activités familiales pour les vacances des fêtes: jouer en famille" [Sophie Nélisse: Family activities for the holidays: playing among family]. Voir. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
5. Pilon-Larose, Hugo (April 6, 2015). "Sophie Nélisse et sa mère Pauline Belhumeur, la double vie d'une maman gérante" [Sophie Nélisse and her mother Pauline Belhumeur, the double life of a manager mother]. La Presse (in French). Archived from the original on December 28, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
6. Plasket, Kelli (November 27, 2013). "Meet Sophie Nélisse". Time for Kids. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
7. Szklarski, Cassandra (March 6, 2012). "Sophie Nelisse of 'Monsieur Lazhar' takes Genie nomination in stride". Canadian Press. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
8. Lewis, Casey (March 11, 2014). "How Sophie Nélisse Went From Olympic-Bound Gymnast to 'Book Thief' Star in Two Seconds Flat". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
9. Wilkinson, Amy (November 7, 2013). "Why Sophie Nelisse Gave Up Her Olympic Dream For 'Book Thief'". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
10. "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
11. "Sophie Nélisse à Cannes dimanche avec Mean Dreams - Festival de Cannes". La Presse. May 15, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
12. ""Mean Dreams" dans lequel joue Sophie Nélisse, présenté à Cannes". May 15, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
13. "Quebecers to watch at Cannes 2016". Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
14. "TIFF RISING STARS REVEALED FOR 2016 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL" (PDF) (Press release). Toronto International Film Festival. August 3, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
15. HollywoodPQ (July 17, 2018). "Sophie Nélisse sera le visage des bijoux Caroline Néron cet automne". HollywoodPQ. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
16. "Découvrez la robe de bal de finissants de Sophie Nélisse". En Vedette. June 23, 2017. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017.
17. Duchesne, André (August 22, 2017). "Sophie Nélisse tourne avec Noomi Rapace". La Presse. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via Cyberpresse.
18. Mercier, Noémie (December 8, 2017). "Passer à l'âge adulte en temps troublés" [Entering adulthood in troubled times]. L'actualité. Being 18 years old in 2018 (French: Avoir 18 ans en 2018) (in French). Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017. Quand je me suis mise à dire que je voulais des rôles plus « matures », je pense que j'ai reçu cinq scénarios où je me faisais violer. C'est rare, les scénarios où il ne faut pas que je couche avec quelqu'un ou que j'embrasse quelqu'un.
19. "Sophie Nélisse aurait refusé le rôle de Fanny dans Fugueuse pour cette raison". Showbizz.net. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
20. "The Most Intense Movie Of The Year Is About Child Sexual Abuse — And It's Nothing Like You'd Expect". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
21. "35th Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
22. Demers, Maxime (September 22, 2016). "Le film 1:54 sortira en France". Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
23. "Bel accueil pour le film de Yan England au FVCQ". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
24. "La bande-annonce frénétique du premier film de Yan England". July 27, 2016. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
25. Also known as Little Girl's Secret
26. "Festival de Cannes". moncompte.festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
27. "Lou-Pascal Tremblay s'en va à Cannes". En Vedette. May 17, 2017. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017.
28. "Karine Vanasse et Sophie Nélisse joueront dans le prochain film de Léa Pool". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
29. Lapointe, Josée (August 29, 2016). "Un tournage intime pour Et au pire, on se mariera - Josée Lapointe - Cinéma québécois". La Presse. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
30. Montigny, Vanessa de (May 29, 2017). "Karine Vanasse joue la mère de Sophie Nélisse dans l'époustouflante bande-annonce de Et au pire, on se mariera". Le Journal de Montréal. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
31. "Indian Horse Wins Coveted VIFF Super Channel People's Choice Award". archive.viff.org. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
32. Mitchell, Robert (May 15, 2017). "Cannes: Noomi Rapace to Headline WestEnd Films Action Thriller 'Close'". Variety. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
33. Tauer, Kristen (August 18, 2017). "The Seven Lives of Noomi Rapace". Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
34. McNary, Dave (June 18, 2018). "Heather Graham, Jodi Balfour to Star in Drama 'The Rest of Us'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
35. "Sophie Nélisse tourne un film anglophone avec une actrice hollywoodienne!". Vrak. June 20, 2018. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018.
36. McNary, Dave (January 18, 2017). "Berlin: Adam Brody, Sophie Nelisse to Star in 'The Kid Detective'". Variety. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
37. Busch, Anita (January 18, 2017). "Adam Brody & Sophie Nelisse Find 'The Kid Detective' For Brightlight And Myriad Pictures". Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
38. "The Kid Detective". August 19, 2019. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
39. "Adam Brody to Executive Produce, Star in 'The Kid Detective'". Variety. August 21, 2019. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
40. "Irena's Vow Louise Archambault WORLD PREMIERE". tiff. September 10, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
41. "DEMAIN DES HOMMES : une série dramatique originale dans l'univers du hockey junior sur ICI TOU.TV EXTRA". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
42. ""Demain des hommes" : une nouvelle série de hockey à Radio-Canada". HuffPost Québec. November 13, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
43. "Une série sur le hockey signée Guillaume Vigneault". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
44. "2013 NOMINATIONS". Young Artist Awards. May 5, 2013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
45. "Complete list of winners for the 19th Critics' Choice Movie Awards". LA Times. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
46. "2013 Award Categories". International Press Academy. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
47. "2014 NOMINATIONS & RESULTS". Young Artist Awards. May 4, 2014. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2017.

External links

• Sophie Nélisse at IMDb