Eva Green

With an ethereal beauty and emotional complexity, French actress Eva Green made an international breakthrough with her very first film, "The Dreamers" (2003), a controversial erotic drama that propelled her from unknown to sought-after actress. One of the first Hollywood directors to take notice of her daring performance was Ridley Scott, who cast her in the leading female role for his historical epic "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), though her scenes were substantially reduced in the editing room.

From there, she played Bond villainess Vesper Lynd in "Casino Royale" (2006) and was the witch queen in "The Golden Compass" (2007). But instead of continuing to play major roles in studio blockbusters, Green left Hollywood for Europe, where she made several smaller foreign films like "Franklyn" (2008), "Cracks" (2009) and "Womb" (2010). Making her television debut, she was the ruthless and ambitious Morgan on the short-lived "Camelot" (Starz, 2011), which gave a revisionist spin on the Arthurian tale.

Eventually, she co-starred in Tim Burton's feature adaptation of the cult 1960s series "Dark Shadows" (2012), which marked Green's return to the Hollywood fold. Whether in small indies or major studio films, Green was a star whose talent and allure were unmistakable from the start.

Born on July 5, 1980 in Paris, France, Green was raised with her sororal twin sister, Joy, by her Swedish father, Walter, a dentist, and her French mother, Marlene Jobert, an actress. Though a shy and sensitive child, she took an early interest in acting despite attempts by her mother to dissuade her. Undeterred, Green graduated from the English-speaking American School of Paris and at 17 enrolled at the Eva St. Paul Drama School for three years, before spending 10 weeks at London's Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts.

It was while honing her craft at the Douglas Academy in 2002 that Green came to the attention of director Bernardo Bertolucci, who saw in her the elusive and mysterious qualities he was looking to display in his controversial erotic drama, "The Dreamers" (2003). Green was cast as the imperious Isabelle, a young Parisian living in the politically active late 1960s who - along with her twin brother (Louis Garre) - befriends an American (Michael Pitt), as all bond over cinema and a ménage a trois. Though warned of actress Maria Schneider's traumatic experience on Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" (1972), Green nonetheless dove into the role and delivered a critically lauded debut performance.

Green followed up "The Dreamers" with the filmed adaptation of Maurice Leblanc's "Arsène Lupin" (2004), in which she played Clarisse, the long-suffering girlfriend of the film's titular hero (Romain Duris). But it was the critical adulation bestowed upon her following "The Dreamers" that led director Ridley Scott to audition and eventually cast her as the female lead in "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), his CGI-laden historical epic set during the Crusades of the 12th century. Green played Princess Sibylla, the sister of leprosy-afflicted King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton) who marries the menacing Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas), only to find herself enchanted by Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith who finds his courage as a knight. Though initially a substantial role, Scott whittled down her performance to consist of little more than mere looks and mannerisms, leaving the actress disappointed following a grueling casting and filming process.

She next landed a major role as the alluring double agent, Vesper Lynd, in "Casino Royale" (2006), Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond. Green beat out the likes of Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie and Thandie Newton to play Lynd, an MI6 agent assigned to work with Bond, while also doubling as an agent for the criminal organization Quantum.

Working with Craig again, Green co-starred as the witch queen Serafina Pekkala in the fantasy adventure "The Golden Compass" (2007), which focused on a 12-year-old girl (Dakota Blue Richards) who embarks on a dangerous journey to a land of shape-shifting creatures in order to save her best friend (Ben Walker). From there, Green turned away from studio blockbusters to focus on smaller foreign films like the British-made psychological sci-fi drama, "Franklyn" (2008), playing a cynically depressed artist, and "Cracks" (2009), where she portrayed a non-conformist private school teacher in 1930s England. In the sci-fi drama "Womb" (2010), she played a woman given the chance to reunite with her dead lover (Matt Smith) by giving birth to his genetic clone, only to find herself developing maternal love for him.

After starring opposite Ewan McGregor in the romantic drama "Perfect Sense" (2011), Green made her small screen debut as the ruthlessly ambitious Morgan on "Camelot" (Starz, 2011), a short-lived fantasy series based on the Arthurian legend starring Joseph Fiennes as Merlin and Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur. Despite positive critical reviews, the show was canceled after one season. Green moved on to co-star opposite Johnny Depp as the vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard in "Dark Shadows" (2012), director Tim Burton's critically maligned adaptation of the quirky 1960s horror series of the same name.

By Shawn Dwyer