Léa Seydoux is a French actress known for her award-winning turn in Blue Is the Warmest Color, two Bond movies… and many frock flicks! Let’s run down her historical roles:
The Last Mistress (2007)
As Olivia, housekeeper and lover to the title character, La Vellini (Asia Argento), in this 1830s-set drama.
That’s a beautiful gown, if a VERY droopy neckline.
I had to turn off Google’s SafeSearch to find images of this film!
Loving those little curls!
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
As “Charlotte LaPadite” in this alternate-history World War II film.
Clearly she’s not the femme fatale.
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
I’ve wanted to watch this for a while, and I can only let Wikipedia summarize it for you: “The plot of Mysteries of Lisbon is rich with coincidences, plot twists, multiple narrators, disguises, and flashbacks-within-flashbacks. Every major character possesses at least two identities, and the story—which hopscotches around Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries—is set against the Napoleonic Wars and includes pirates, a woman hellbent on avenging the death of her twin brother, and at least four different love triangles. Above all, Mysteries of Lisbon is about the mechanics of storytelling and imagination.” Seydoux plays Blanche de Montfort, who is involved in a love triangle.
Collars! Lapels!
Trim! Hat!
Robin Hood (2010)
As Isabella of Angoulême, queen of England via her marriage to King John from 1200-16.
I don’t know medieval, but I have a lot of suspicions about all of this…
Especially the hair!
I scarily may need to rewatch this because of My Boyfriend(TM) Oscar Isaac.
Roses à crédit (2010)
As a wife caught up by consumerism in post-WWII Paris.
Farewell, My Queen (2012)
As French Queen Marie-Antoinette’s fictional reader in this story about the last few days that the monarchs were in the Palace of Versailles.
Yeah, so Seydoux’s costumes aren’t great.
But Rose Bertin!
And a REALLY interesting look at how Versailles operated as a society.
Beauty and the Beast (2014)
Yes, it’s fantasy, so we probably will never review it, but I can’t not include it because HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THESE COSTUMES! Seydoux plays Belle, of course.
That sleeve detail!!
Love the pale color on her. (Also, creepy doll)
GREEN SO GOOD TRIM FABRIC NECKLACE CROWN OMG
Saint Laurent (2014)
As real-life fashion muse/designer Loulou de la Falaise in this biopic about designer Yves Saint Laurent.
Clearly she’s Team Boho!
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Seydoux plays a maid at the hotel — I can’t remember whether her role has substance?
Cute little cap and marcel waves!
Diary of a Chambermaid (2015)
Seydoux plays a bitter (for decent reasons) French housemaid who reflects on the whole concept of domestic service in late 1890s Normandy.
Cute little hat, great fur collar.
This jacket is MY EVERYTHING, and I don’t usually get very excited about this period!
Even the working wear is well-thought-out.
The French Dispatch (2021)
She plays the prison guard and muse to an incarcerated artist in Wes Anderson’s latest film.
The Story of My Wife (2021)
During the 1920s, a sea captain makes a bet to marry the first woman (Seydoux) who walks into a café.
I’m ALL kinds of dubious about the 1920s-ness of things here. They both look super modern.
This hair is ALL kinds of meh.
How many of Léa Seydoux’s historical films have you seen?
The beauty and the beast film is set in the Regency era but the beast’s castle is trapped in a time bubble. So it’s historical fantasy.
That shiny garment Oscar is wearing looks like he’s trying, and failing, to be in drag in a woman’s gown and didn’t bother with fake boobs. AND he is wearing, badly, a woman’s stole.
I quite like her – engaging actress and classically pretty. I did forget she was in the 2010 Robin Hood but then again maybe my brain is slowly willing itself to forget that movie altogether.
My favorite role of hers is not a period piece; it’s La vie d’Adèle ( Blue Is the Warmest Colour ) (2013). Much has been made of its salacious scenes, and how the director extracted them, but it was the most convincing and rewarding love story I’ve seen in years. The naturalism, in both the dialogue and story, makes you honestly feel like you’re spying on real people. And you really root for their relationship.
I’ve seen three of these films–Inglorious Basterds, Robin Hood, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Of those three, The Grand Budapest Hotel is my favorite, but honestly, I forgot she was in any of those. Like Al Don above, my fave of her roles is from Blue is the Warmest Color. And I agree with his assessment of the film, too. On top of being beautiful, she has such an interesting face with chameleon qualities–something very few beautiful people can pull off. Sometimes she looks so sad–like a person who’s NEVER known joy in her life. Other times she looks like a complete ice-cold bitch. Other times she looks incredibly warm an compassionate. We all express moods but her face is such that when she’s in one mood it doesn’t seem like she would/could ever have access to another! Anyway, she’s an incredibly talented actress, and I’ll look for more of her FrockFlick roles. Mysteries of Lisbon sounds like it will be incredibly fun and interesting or absolutely horrible. Thanks for this WCW!
She’s terrible in Bond, although I’m not sure it is her fault. She has zero chemistry with Craig and he comes across as creepy and perverted kissing her since she looks thirty years younger. Not to mention her character comes across as limp. But she was glorious in Beauty and the Beast. She has an enigmatic presence and a captivating look. She should stick to period pieces. Modern stories are not deserving of her.
I loved her in Diary of a Chambermaid. She deserves such roles with some depth. She was perfect for me as the queen in “Robin Hood” although the whole film was such a stupid film – I had almost to bang my head when I saw it in the cinema. Typical Ridley Scott film (the riders of Rohan in the 13th century and the evil enemy played by Mark Strong without hair…).
I was surprised how bad “Les adieux à la reine” was. So many aspects wrong and even the details like Lea’s modern bag… Even the society in Versailles was represented so wrongly. They even could not find all the costumes from “Jefferson in Paris” (Livrée du Roi, uniforms of the Gardes Francaises…). Such a poor work!
Robin Hood, Beauty, and Basterds