Tautou was born in the Puy-de-Dôme département of Auvergne, and was raised in Montluçon in the nearby Allier, still in Auvergne. Her father is a dental surgeon and her mother is a teacher. Even now, many of her trips and voyages abroad are influenced by her passions for monkeys and gorillas.[citation needed] In fact, after the premiere of the film Amélie (for which she received phenomenal Read more...

Tautou has said that Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Juliette Lewis, Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore are her acting idols. In 1998, Tautou participated in a Star Search-like competition sponsored by Canal+ called "Jeunes Premiers" (The Young Debut) and won Best Young Actress at the 9th Béziers Festival of Young Actors. Then, she came to the attention of Tonie Marshall, who gave her a role in the César-winning Read more...

Her favourite authors are Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde, Paul Auster, and Timothy Zahn; and her favourite poets are Charles Baudelaire and Tristan Tzara.

Tautou takes pictures of each reporter who interviews her and keeps them in a scrapbook. In France, many consider her as the "typical Occitan Auvergnate". She was brought up attending church, though she has now stated that she is "not officially" Read more...