Léa Seydoux was born in 1985 in Paris, France, to Valérie Schlumberger, a philanthropist, and Henri Seydoux, a businessman. Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is the chairman of Pathé, and her father is a great-grandson of businessman and inventor Marcel Schlumberger. Her mother also descends from the Schlumberger family, and both parents are of mixed French and Alsatian German descent, with more distant Venezuelan roots on her father's side.
Léa began her acting career in French cinema, appearing in films such as The Last Mistress and On War. She received her first César Award nomination for her performance in The Beautiful Person and won the Trophée Chopard at the Cannes Film Festival. She has since appeared in major Hollywood films including Inglourious Basterds, Robin Hood, Midnight in Paris, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
In French cinema, she was nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in Belle Épine and was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress for her role in Farewell, My Queen. In 2013, she was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival along with Adèle Exarchopoulos and director Abdellatif Kechiche for their involvement in the critically acclaimed film Blue Is the Warmest Colour. She also received the Lumières Award for Best Actress for her role in Grand Central and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
