Maria de Medeiros

Actor: Maria de Medeiros

Occupation: Actor, Writer, Director
Active: '90s-2000s
Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
Career Highlights: Silvestre, A Divina Comedia, Henry & June
First Major Screen Credit: Silvestre (1981)

Biography

Tiny and fairy-like, dark-haired beauty Maria de Medeiros was born in Portugal, the sister of actress Inês de Medeiros. After studying philosophy and acting on the stage, she made her Portuguese film debut in Silvestre (1981) and her French film debut in Paris Seen By...20 Years After (1984). Finding a home for herself in France, she stayed there to play several more supporting roles in French TV movies, miniseries, and features. She started appearing in historical costume dramas with Sorceress and 1871 before making her international debut in the erotic costume drama Henry & June (1990), directed by Philip Kaufman. As her first U.S. production, she was ideally cast as author Anaïs Nin , who wrote the source novel detailing her relationship with American novelist Henry Miller (Fred Ward) and his wife, June (Uma Thurman). During this time, she also made her directorial debut with the hour-long drama The Prince's Death, based on the writings of Fernando Pessoa and originally performed on-stage. Now an international film star, she got several roles in Portugal (The Divine Comedy), France (The Man of My Life), and the U.K. (Meeting Venus). She even made a few films in Spain, Golden Balls and Detective of Death, both with Javier Bardem. In 1994, she appeared inQuentin Tarantino's big hit Pulp Fiction, her most recognizable performance to U.S. audiences. She played the small but memorable role of Fabienne, the girlfriend of boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). Rather than stay in Hollywood, she returned to Europe to make scores of films in Portugal, Germany, Spain, and mostly France. She won a Best Actress award at the 1994 Venice Film Festival for her role in the dark drama Três Irmãos, directed by Teresa Villaverde. In 2000, she made her feature-length debut as a writer, director, and star with the Capitães de Abril, a historical drama about the Portuguese coup d'état of 1974, winning several festival awards. After starring in the Italian comedy Honolulu Baby, she lined up several projects for 2003, including the French comedy I, Cesar and the Guy Maddin film The Saddest Music in the World. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

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Wikipedia: Maria de Medeiros

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Maria de Medeiros
Born	Maria de Medeiros Esteves Vitorino de Almeida August 19, 1965 (1965-08-19) (age 44) Lisbon, Portugal
Occupation	Actress/Director
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Agustí Camps

Maria de Medeiros Esteves Vitorino de Almeida, DamSE (born August 19, 1965), better known simply as Maria de Medeiros (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈɾiɐ dɨ mɨˈdɐiɾuʃ]), is a Portuguese actress and director who has been involved in both European and American film productions.

1 Life and career
2 Selected filmography
- 2.1 Director
- 2.2 Actress
3 References
4 External links

Life and career

She was born in Lisbon, Portugal, the daughter of musician and composer António Vitorino de Almeida. Among Medeiros' most memorable film appearances are three early 1990s roles. Her considerable resemblance to Anaïs Nin landed her the primary role in Henry & June (1990) in which she played the author. In 1990, she played the role of Maria in Ken McMullen's film about the rise of the Paris Commune 1871 and, in 1994, Medeiros appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, playing Butch Coolidge's (Bruce Willis) girlfriend Fabienne.

In 2000 she directed the film April Captains about the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

In 2003, she appeared as a hairdresser in the movie My Life Without Me starring Sarah Polley.

She has starred in the Canadian movie The Saddest Music in the World (2004) directed by Guy Maddin, costarring with Isabella Rossellini and Mark McKinney.

In 2007, she released an album, A Little More Blue, in which she performs songs by Brazilian musicians, including Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Ivan Lins and Dolores Duran. On the album, she sings in French ("Joana Francesa" by Chico Buarque), Portuguese and English ("A Little More Blue" by Caetano Veloso).

de Medeiros was on the front cover of issue two of London fanzine "The Freaky Jason". In 2008, de Medeiros was nominated UNESCO Artist for peace

In 2009 she sung These Boots Are Made for Walkin' in The Legendary Tigerman' CD, Femina.

Selected filmography

Director

Sévérine C. (1987)
Fragmento II (1988)
A Morte do Príncipe (1991)
Capitães de Abril (2000)
Mathilde au matin (2004)
Je t'aime moi non plus (2004)

Actress

1871 (1990)
Henry & June (1990)
Meeting Venus (1991)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Go for gold (1997)
Honolulu Baby (2001)
Stranded: Náufragos (2002)
My Life Without Me (2003)
The Saddest Music in the World (2004)
Midsummer Madness (2007)
Riparo (aka Shelter Me) (2007)
My Stars (2008)

References

^ "Festival de Cannes: April Captains". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/5154/year/2000.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.

External links

v • d • e Cinema of Portugal

	Films A–Z • Films by year: 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s Actors • Directors • Cinematographers • Editors • Producers • Production companies • Score composers • Screenwriters

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