Marion Cotillard was chosen by director Olivier Dahan to portray the French singer Édith Piaf in the biopic "La Vie en Rose" (2007) before he had even met her, saying that he noticed a similarity between Piaf's and Cotillard's eyes. Producer Alain Goldman accepted and defended the choice even though distributors TFM reduced the money they gave to finance the film thinking Cotillard wasn't "bankable" enough an actress, preferring Audrey Tautou, hot from appearing in "Amélie" (2001) to play Piaf. Dahan was willing to reduce his budget by $5 million to get Cotillard.
To help portray Piaf, Cotillard shaved back her hairline and shaved off her eyebrows, which were later penciled in, to better resemble the singer. She shrank her body from its petite 5'6" frame to Piaf's minuscule 4'11" stature by crippling and curling her form. When Cotillard played the older Édith Piaf, make-up could take up to five hours.
"I couldn't leave the character on 'La Vie En Rose.' It was weird because I used to kind of judge actors who would stay in character on set or who would have a hard time leaving the character behind when the movie was done. I had this very dumb idea that "Okay, it's a big part of your life but it's your job. Go home and go back to yourself." It turns out it's not that easy. In the process I was in character almost all the time. Even when I went home, there was something that was not entirely me."
Cotillard's performance earned her several accolades including the Academy Award for Best Actress — marking the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role — the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the César Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, the BAFTA Award for Best Makeup, Costume Design, Film Music, four additional César Awards and grossed $86.3 million worldwide...
