Award-winning Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne has died at age 43.
Dequenne’s family and agent confirmed her death to French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, March 16. Dequenne died of a rare form of cancer in a hospital outside of Paris that night.
News of Dequenne’s death comes more than one year after she announced via Instagram in October 2023 that she was diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma — cancer of the adrenal glands.
“Since mid-August, when I underwent a major emergency operation, I continue to take care of myself,” she wrote in her announcement post, translated from French, at the time. “It’s not easy every day, but I’m determined to beat this rare cancer that has decided to turn my life upside down. I won’t let it happen, believe me!”
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She continued, “I am surrounded and overwhelmed by good vibes, positive thoughts and love. From my loved ones of course, and now, from you who are reading this message … I say that your thoughts towards me will be my strength.”
Dequenne made her film debut at age 17 in the 1999 drama Rosetta. Her breakout performance scored her a Best Actress win at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. The film’s codirector Luc Dardenne paid tribute to Dequenne in a Monday, March 17, interview with French radio station FranceInfo.
“It’s terrible, life is disgusting sometimes. It’s really too young, she still had so much to do,” Dardenne, 71, told the outlet.
Recalling her Rosetta audition, he continued, “She came in with pumps, heavy makeup, her hair very done up for the casting. For her, it was an event, she thought she had to be really well dressed. We started the scenes and we saw: she was magnificent, she was there, everything she did, we felt that the camera loved her.”
Dardenne went on to call Dequenne “extraordinary” in her other work, which included TV shows and films such as The Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Housekeeper, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Girl on the Train, The Missing, Inside and An Ordinary Man. “Filming was her life, she’s an actress who could have done lots of things and who people loved,” the director shared.
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Dequenne’s last credit before her death was the 2024 film TKT, in which she played the mother of a 16-year-old girl who ends up in a coma. The actress is survived by her husband, fellow actor Michel Ferracci, and daughter Milla Savarese, 22, whom she shared with ex Alexandre Savarese.
Dequenne celebrated World Cancer Day in one of her final Instagram posts before her death. “I almost forgot, because I was leaving the hospital today after 13 days … What a fierce battle!” she captioned her February 4 post, translated from French. “And you don’t choose … just writing these few words is an enormous effort.”
In addition to thanking her family and friends for their support, Dequenne went on to send “all my love to all those who are struggling like me against their will.” She ended her post on a hopeful note, writing, “Take care of yourselves.”
