This French actress, known for her striking dark hair, began her acting career with a supporting role in Louis Malle's 1987 film "Aurevoir, les enfants", where she played a piano teacher. She received her education in London and Geneva before moving to Paris at the age of 18.
Following her success in "Aurevoir, les enfants", Jacob landed another small role in Jacques Rivette's 1989 film "La bande des quatre/The Gang of Four". However, it was her dual role in Krzysztof Kieslowski's 1991 psychological drama "The Double Life of Veronique" that brought her widespread recognition and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award.
The actress then ventured to the US to star in the romantic comedy "Trusting Beatrice" (1991),a fitting choice given the film's theme of a young French woman's arrival in America. She continued to appear in small French films, including "The Van Gogh Wake" (1993) and "The Secret Garden" (1993),in which she played the ill-fated mother.
However, it was her reunion with Kieslowski that truly jump-started Jacob's career. In his 1994 film "Red/Rouge", the final segment of his "Three Colors" trilogy, she starred as a Swiss fashion model who forms a connection with a cynical aging ex-judge (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant). In the film, she served as an emotional and spiritual curative for the old man.
Jacob went on to appear in several more foreign-made films, including Michaelangelo Antonioni's episodic "Beyond the Clouds/Par-dela les nuages" (1995),where she played a religious devotee. She also ventured to England to star in an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Othello" alongside Laurence Fishburne.
The actress has several unreleased films in the can, including "Victory" (1994),"Fugueuses/Runaway", and "All Men Are Mortal" (1995),in which she plays a French actress in 1948 who befriends a mysterious tramp (played by Stephen Rea).
