Bérénice Marlohe gets the last laugh with French acting roles

Actress Bérénice Marlohe, who is of mixed French, Chinese and Cambodian ancestry, has revealed to GQ magazine that she was constantly turned down for roles telling her she had the wrong look.

“Even people who saw me in acting workshops and wanted to introduce me to people – when those people considered my picture, they said, ‘No, she will never work in France’. I was not in the mould. Then Sam Mendes told me when he first imagined the role, he imagined someone looking like me. So I was very happy.”

Mendes said: “She has that thing that many of the classic Bond girls have, which is that she’s a real woman with a mature sexuality. But also there’s a real mystery to her. She has this Asian heritage which for us in the story – her part of it takes place in Shanghai, Macau and out in the South China Sea – was perfect. In some lights she’s Western, in some lights she’s very exotic.”

Marlohe only had to attend two auditions before she landed her "Skyfall" role.

Now she has joined the ranks of famous Bond Girls, the future looks very different and the opportunities will be rolling in. But she said she would not be taking work in the country that didn't want her before 007 called: “I’ve given up on everyone [in France]. Nobody wanted me in France before and now everyone wants me.”

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