Sophie Nélisse
Actress
Sophie (Marie-Sophie) Nélisse was born in Windsor on March 27, 2000 into a family of French-Canadian descent. When she was 4 years old, the Nélisse family moved to Montreal, where they still reside.
At one time Sophie’s biggest passion was gymnastics, and her dream was to be an Olympian. She rigorously trained to be in contention for the 2016 Rio Olympics. To financially support her extensive training, she signed with a talent agency and began acting in commercials at age 7.
Fluent in both English and French, she landed a recurring role in the Quebec sitcom “Les Parents” (2008). Nelisse’s acting career has soared since she made a splash in the Oscar nominated movie “Monsieur Lazahr” in 2011. Her performance in the movie landed Sophie a Juno and Jutra Award. She also received a Young Artist Nomination as “Best Leading Young Actress” in an International Feature Film.
After an outstanding audition, she landed a lead role in “The Book Thief, (2013) an adaptation of the Marcus Zusak’s novel of the same title. After the movie’s great success, Sophie’s focus shifted from gymnastics to acting.
In 2014 Sophie starred in the movies “Pawn sacrifice”, “The Great Gilly Hopkins” (2015), and the thriller “Mean Dreams” which was shown during the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, and also screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Her latest projects include “The History of Love” and “Wait Till Helen Comes” (2016).
At the TIFF Sophie was recognized as one of 4 new, young actors chosen for the annual Rising Star Program.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4563869
windsorstar.com › Arts › Movies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Nélisse
http://www.mtv.com/news/1717078/book-thief-movie-sophie-nelisse/
http://www.tribute.ca/people/sophie-nelisse/38856