Mélanie Laurent

Laurent was born on 21 February 1983 in Paris, France the daughter of Annick (a ballerina) and Pierre Laurent (a voiceover actor, who dubs the character Ned Flanders in the French version of The Simpsons). She is Jewish, of both Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish-Jewish) and Sephardic Jewish (Tunisian-Jewish) descent. Her grandfather was deported from Poland during the Nazi occupation, but survived. Her maternal grandparents were film poster editors.

She grew up in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

Laurent visited the set of Asterix and Obelix with her friend and the latter's father. Her acting career began when actor Gérard Depardieu, seeing Laurent there, asked her if she wanted to be in films. Laurent replied, "Why not?". He strongly advised her not to take acting classes because he believed she already had the necessary skills. When Laurent was 16, Depardieu gave her a part in The Bridge, a drama he starred in and co-directed with Frédéric Auburtin. Laurent played the role of Lisbeth Daboval, the daughter of one of the protagonists of the film, Claire Daboval. Laurent also worked as a voiceover actor, dubbing the character Satsuki in the French version of My Neighbour Totoro, as well as the younger version of Madame de Fleurville in an animated adaptation of Sophie's Misfortunes.