Clementine Poidatz

Is Paris-born Clémentine Poidatz really an American? As a child, she idolized Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. She claims that she learned English before she even got around to her native French tongue. And her favorite things are cheeseburgers, working, and being in love. (Okay, the last one is pretty French; she swears she can’t even concentrate while watching movies when she’s in love.) Nevertheless, the 27-year-old actress has earned her French citizen card by appearing in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) and by playing Louis Garrel’s fiancée in his dad Philippe’s La frontière de l’aube (Frontier of Dawn). Poidatz splits her time between Paris and Brittany, and her conversation flits from stories of her parents taking her around the world before she could walk to explaining how she always knew she wouldn’t work behind a desk. Luckily, her fascination with movie cameras was reciprocal. “I was in love with Warren Beatty,” she admits. “I loved all these beautiful movies-more American movies than French ones. I discovered the oeuvre of Truffaut and Godard later.” Maybe she should defect to Hollywood? “I’d love to,” Poidatz says. “But I think America has so many good actresses that they don’t need me.” We beg to differ. -Kaleem Aftab