Why Marion Cotillard Took a Break from Hollywood and What’s Drawing Her Back
Why Marion Cotillard Took a Break from Hollywood and What’s Drawing Her Back
Tommy McArdleFri, May 15, 2026 at 4:11 PM UTC
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Marion Cotillard on April 28, 2026 in Biarritz, France
Credit: Aurore Marechal/Getty
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Marion Cotillard is attending Cannes with two new films, Karma and Roma Elastica, after years in French cinema
Cotillard stepped back from Hollywood to focus on raising her two children with filmmaker Guillaume Canet, her former partner
She plans to take on more mainstream roles as her children grow older
Marion Cotillard is eyeing a return to Hollywood after taking time away from American films to raise her two children.
Cotillard, 50, is attending this year's Cannes Film Festival with two new movies: Karma and Roma Elastica. The Academy Award-winning actress has largely appeared in French-language movies in the last 10 years, aside from a notable role in the fourth season of Apple TV's The Morning Show and a voice role in the animated television comedy Sausage Party: Foodtopia in 2025.
Cotillard said in multiple interviews this week that she deliberately took time away from Hollywood to raise her two children — son Marcel, 15, and a daughter, 9 — whom she shares with French filmmaker Guillaume Canet.
Cotillard and Canet, 53, announced their separation in June 2025 after 18 years together. The pair continue to work together with Karma, their sixth collaboration as actor and filmmaker.
"Guillaume wrote the movie for me. I had a few years raising my kids and not finding anything strong enough for me to go away from them," she told Deadline in an interview published Thursday, May 14. "He said, ‘I really want to write a movie for you with a very, very strong character, with something different from what you did before.' "
"I had this period where I wanted to stay with my kids, and I had the luck to be able to do that. Now they're bigger and I want to do more movies," she added. "I have some amazing projects coming my way."
Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet on April 23, 2019
Credit: Sylvain Lefevre/Getty
Cotillard additionally shared in a May 13 interview with Variety that her passion to partially lose herself in "very deep and intense" acting parts “doesn't really fit the life of a child.”
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“I would think, ‘If I do this movie, every day I will tell myself I should be with my kids. If I don't do it, there's not a day when I won't think I should've done the movie.' But the choice was very easy to make," she told Variety. "For years I accepted supporting roles and local shoots, and it might have implied I didn't work that much. So, my kids were protected from me being crazy in another world.”
Cotillard additionally told Variety that she and her children have discussed her desire to return to larger roles in mainstream movies again. “I'm so close to them, and they understand today that I really want to do more movies again," she said.
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Marion Cotillard on April 28, 2026
Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty
As Cotillard told Deadline, her upcoming projects include an already-filmed movie titled Milo and another film titled Job, which she said she will film in early 2027.
Despite the end of Cotillard and Canet's romantic relationship, she emphasized how much she enjoys working with him while speaking with Deadline.
"He is one of my favorite directors. He's explored many genres, but always with a very intimate touch. He writes movies that, even if it's not his life, are always connected to his life. He's one of the best directors for actors I ever worked with, and I trust him with my life," she said. "He's passionate and precise. Watching him on set is something that I will never be tired of. So, yeah, I really hope we will continue working together."
The Cannes Film Festival runs through May 23.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
