emilie Dequenne, the Belgian actor who won a top Cannes Film Festival prize for her breakout role in "Rosetta," has died, a news report says. She was 43.
Her family and agent told the news agency Agence France-Presse that Dequenne died Sunday of a rare cancer in a hospital outside of Paris. In 2023, Dequenne revealed she had been diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma. Representatives for Dequenne did not immediately respond to inquires from The Associated Press on Monday.
Dequenne was only 18 when she was selected as best actress at Cannes in 1999. In "Rosetta," from Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, she portrayed a teenager trying to escape her difficult life in a caravan park with an alcoholic mother. The film also won the Palme d'Or that year.
Born in Belil, Belgium, in 1981, Dequenne had a performance streak from a young age. She studied drama at the Academie de Musique de Baudour.
She became well-known in France after starring alongside Catherine Deneuve in "The Girl on the Train," in 2009, based on the true story of a woman who falsely claimed she was the victim of an antisemitic attack. Dequenne also portrayed police officer Laurence Renauld on the French series "The Missing."