Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Sometimes it takes a while for a star to emerge from an extremely wealthy family. For Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, it took nearly 40 years before she emerged from the shadow of her successful musical parents and her model/musician half-sister Carla Bruni. After close to two decades of acting, Bruni Tedeschi made the transition to writing and directing, beginning with "It's Easier for a Camel..."

Bruni Tedeschi was born in Turin, Italy in 1964 to composer Alberto Bruni Tedeschi and pianist Marisa Bruni Tedeschi. Facing death threats from the communist Red Brigades, her family moved to Paris, France in 1975 to be closer to her mother's family. At the age of 22, her acting career took off, mostly in supporting roles in a variety of French movies and TV shows.

It wasn't until the mid-1990s that Bruni Tedeschi's acting career ascended to prominent leading roles. She won a César Award for Most Promising Actress for the film "Les gens normaux n'ont rien d'exceptionnel" (1993), and followed that up with a number of roles in well-received French films. Her directorial career kicked off with "It's Easier for a Camel..." (2004), co-written by her with creative partners Noémie Lvovsky and Agnes de Sacy.

The film, which she also starred in, resembled her own life to the point that her mother played the role of her character's mother. "It's Easier for a Camel..." wound up winning a number of awards, including two at the Tribeca Film Festival. After nearly two decades of acting, Bruni Tedeschi made her English debut in Steven Spielberg's "Munich" (2005).

Emboldened by her acting, writing, and directing successes, she followed with her second feature, "Actrices" (2007), which she once again co-wrote, directed, and starred in. She took "Actrices" to Cannes, taking home a Special Jury Prize. She also began dating Louis Garrel, a French actor featured in "Actrices" who was 19 years younger than her. In 2009, Garrel and Bruni Tedeschi adopted a 6-month-old Senegalese baby named Celine.

For her third feature "A Castle in Italy" (2013), Bruni Tedeschi once again drew from her family's issues, this time dealing with her relationship with Garrel (who played his own analog), her mother, and her late father and brother. By the time it debuted in Cannes, Garrel and Bruni Tedeschi had split, making the subject matter even more poignant. "A Castle in Italy" was well received and nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.