| Karine Vanasse | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character | Margaux LeMarchal |
| Season(s) | 3 - 4 |
| Date of Birth | November 24, 1983 |
| Birthplace | Drummondville, Québec, Canada |
| IMDb profile | |
Karine Vanasse (born 24 November 1983) is a French Canadian actress, most famous in Quebec for her award winning roles in films such as Polytechnique, Séraphin: un homme et son péché and Emporte-moi. Internationally she is currently most well known for playing the role of Colette Valois in the US television series, Pan Am.
Life and Career[]
Vanasse was born in Drummondville, Quebec, the daughter of council worker Conrad Vanasse and Renée Gamache, who was her manager at the beginning of her career. At the age of nine, Vanasse expressed her desire to sing or to act and she fulfilled that wish when she appeared in the teen show Club des 100 watts after winning a "lip sync" competition. It was then, with the help of her mother, that she began to audition for, and take part in, TV commercials and to play minor and supporting roles in various French Canadian TV movies.
In 1998, what is now known as the Motion International production company asked Vanasse to co-host the once-popular Québec-based children's science show, Les Débrouillards, in an attempt to re-brand its "comeback" with a new, friendlier image. Producer Lorraine Richard and director Léa Pool spotted her there, and offered Vanasse her first big break in the role of Hanna in Emporte-moi (1999), a story of a teenager trying to find her identity in a tormented family environment. The film was presented at forty festivals, and shown in twenty countries. Her performance was highly acclaimed both nationally and internationally and earned her the Jutra Award for 'Best Actress' in 2000.
Vanasse then played Lucie (the teenage love interest of Benoit Langlais's main character, Zac) in the controversial Québec TV series Deux Frères (1999). Her character became much prominent in 2000–2001, and the debate stirred by the violent realism led her to become, together with Langlais, a spokesperson for the government-funded TV program Parler, c'est grandir, a broadcast aimed at youngsters from unstable backgrounds.
Even as her teen roles began to stick, she ran the risk of becoming typecast by accepting the main role for the feature film Du pic au coeur (2001), a trendy production by Céline Baril on the intricacies of today's youngsters' love lives. In the spring of 2001, Vanasse applied for the ITHAKA program and took a six-month break in Greece to devote herself to travel and academic work. After that interlude, she broke from the role of the rebellious teenager by playing the beautiful star-crossed lover Donalda in Charles Binamé's epic, Séraphin: un homme et son péché (2002), with actor Roy Dupuis. She was cast as an FLQ terrorist in the 2006 miniseries October 1970 on CBC's English network. Vanasse has also appeared in assorted other Canadian productions in both French and English, including Sans Elle, Ma fille, mon ange and the Canadian/American/British mini-series Killer Wave.
In 2009, Vanasse was a producer and a cast member of the film Polytechnique, which portrays the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montréal. She won the Genie Award for Best Actress for her performance.
In 2011 Vanasse was cast as the French stewardess, Colette Valois in the American-produced television series Pan Am, which was later cancelled by ABC in 2012. During 2012 and 2013, Vanasse filmed the movies All The Wrong Reasons (with Cory Monteith, Kevin Zegers and Emily Hampshire), Buddha's Little Finger and En solitaire (English title: Turning Tide) which are due for release in late 2013. In January 2013 she began a 60 episode stretch in the popular Quebec television series 30 Vies which ended in April. In July 2013 Deadline.com announced that Vanasse has joined the cast of ABC's Revenge for a recurring role as French businesswoman Margaux LeMarchal in the third season of the popular drama, due to premiere on September 29th 2013.
Vanasse has been in a relationship with Quebec businessman Maxime Rémillard since 2006.