Émilie Dequenne, a Belgian actress who won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, died in Paris on March 16 from adrenal cancer.
The Belgian star died in a hospital outside Paris on Sunday evening, her representative confirmed, according to The Guardian. Émilie Dequenne had been battling a rare form of adrenal cancer for several years. She first revealed her diagnosis in October 2023 and frequently shared her battle with the disease on Instagram.
Staying positive throughout her difficult journey, Émilie shared a smiling selfie on February 4th on World Cancer Day with the caption: "It's a fight! We have no choice. Sending my love to those who are struggling like me. Take care of yourself!".
Émilie Dequenne was born on August 29th, 1981, in Belgium, and began studying acting at the age of 12 and joined the La Relève theater troupe. She made her film debut at the age of 17 in Rosetta and achieved unexpected success. Her performance as a young woman living in a trailer with her alcoholic mother, struggling to escape poverty, won Émilie the Best Actress award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. That year, the 18-year-old girl beat out talented competitors such as Penelope Cruz, Gong Li, Catherine Deneuve, Sissy Spacek, Elaine Cassidy and Toni Colette. The film Rosetta, directed by brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, also won the Palme d'Or.
After her early success, Émilie Dequenne became a star in many Belgian and French films. She participated in famous works such as the historical thriller The Brotherhood of the Wolf, the drama The Girl on the Train and the historical film The Bridge of San Luis Rey with Gabriel Byrne, Robert de Niro and Cathy Bates... In 2012, Émilie made a splash with the family drama Our Children, receiving the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival along with many other prestigious awards. In 2022, her film Close was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Throughout her career, Émilie Dequenne has stood out for her psychologically profound roles, especially strong but vulnerable female characters. She is considered a talented actress with a genuine, emotional acting style. The actress has made her mark in both art and commercial films. She was last seen on the big screen last fall in the Belgian film The Mother of a High School Bullying Victim.