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Whether in film, music or literature, there are many celebrities who stand out for other talents unrelated to their profession. For example, some Hollywood celebrities like Jodie Foster or Salma Hayek, in addition to their native language, also speak other foreign languages. Below is a list of celebrities who can speak French.
About the French language
French is one of the Romance languages that stem from Latin. It is native to northern France and the official language of this country. In addition, it is one of the official languages of countries such as Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
In other parts of the world, some of the French dialects are spoken, such as Cajun, in Louisiana, United States, and Acadian, in Haiti.
French is also spoken in Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and other African countries that were French or Belgian colonies. Even French is one of the official languages of international organizations such as NATO, the UN and the European Union.
Old French was consolidated around the 11th century AD. C. The current French derives from the influences that Old French received from other languages, especially from German.
Currently, the French alphabet uses the letters of the Latin alphabet, diacritics, and two ligatures. It is considered as one of the most attractive and romantic languages and has more than 300 million speakers.
French-speaking celebrities
French is a language that captivates many people around the world who decide to learn a new language. And among them are many celebrities who are fluent in French, despite not being native speakers of the language.
10 famous actors who speak French
Some of the most famous French-speaking actors include:
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster is one of the most talented American actresses in Hollywood. In addition to having an extensive film career, with box office hits like The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Anna and the King (1999) and Panic Room (2002), Jodie is also fluent in French, at the same level than a native of the language, with an almost imperceptible English accent.
He studied this language at the French Lyceum, an exclusive school in Los Angeles, United States. Additionally, Jodie Foster starred in French-language films and even did her own dubbing in the French versions of her films. She also speaks Italian and understands Spanish and German.
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is another of the most popular American actors who stands out for his command of French, as he has shown in different interviews. He studied French at Georgetown University and perfected the language when he was part of a six-month student exchange in the city of Aix-en-Provence, France. There he lived with a host family and was completely immersed in the language.
Bradley is recognized for his roles in the films Avengers : Infinity War (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and the Hangover trilogy (2009-2013), among others.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is an American actor and musician with a great career in film. He starred in some of the most iconic films of recent decades such as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Don Juan DeMarco (1994), The Mexican (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and the Pirates in the Caribbean saga (2003-2017), among others.
Apart from his talents as a musician, Johnny Depp has also been noted for his fluent French in various interviews. The actor was in a relationship with the French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis for fourteen years. At that time he also lived between Hollywood and the south of France.
Hugh grant
Hugh Grant is an English actor, famous for several film hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994); Sense and Sensibility (1995); Notting Hill (1999); the Bridget Jones Saga (2001-2004) and Really Love (2003), among others.
Hugh Grant’s mother was a teacher of French and Latin. However, Hugh learned French during a student exchange in Paris, when he was 14 years old, and later during his trips to France. He is currently fluent in French, with an English accent.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow is an American actress who rose to fame in 1998 for her role in the film Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which she also received an Oscar. Ella gwyneth also participated in the Iron Man (2008-2013) and Avengers (2015-2019) sagas.
Gwyneth has a great aptitude for foreign languages, being fluent in Spanish and French. When she was fifteen she was an exchange student in Toledo, Spain, where she perfected her Spanish. During her trips to France she also learned French and, years later, she began to study this language again.
john malkovich
American actor John Malkovich also speaks French. He lived and worked in a theater in the south of France for almost ten years and it is there that he learned this language. In addition to expressing himself perfectly in French, John has also directed French stage plays and film adaptations.
John Malkovich is known for several movies, in many of which he played the villain. Some of his most famous feature films are Dangerous Liaisons (1988); In the line of fire (1993), Rounders (1998); and Black Tide (2016), among others.
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen is another American actor with an extensive career in Hollywood. His first film was Sole witness (1985). He also acted in the famous films Portrait of a Lady (1996); Psycho (1998); and The Perfect Murder (1998), alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Douglas. Although he participated in numerous film successes, Viggo Mortensen gained international popularity for his leading role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003).
Viggo learned Spanish during his childhood, when he lived in Argentina. Later, he also decided to learn French and other languages to support his film career. In addition, he had the chance to expand his knowledge of French and learn the Algerian dialect when he starred in the movie Far from Men (2014). He currently has a large vocabulary and excellent pronunciation, with just a small accent. He also speaks Danish, Italian and Norwegian.
Joseph Gordon Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an American actor who speaks French very well. He studied French poetry at Columbia University.
In addition to declaring himself a Francophile, Joseph also appeared speaking French in some of his movies like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and even played a French character named Philippe Petit in the movie The Challenge (2015).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also known for his leading role in Mayhem (2005), 500 Days of Together (2009), GI Joe (2009), and Inception (2010).
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Chalamet is one of the most popular American actors in recent times. He learned French from a young age, since his mother is a language teacher and his father is French. Timothée also spent several summers at his paternal grandparents’ house in the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, near Lyon, France.
Some of his most important films are: Interstellar (2014), Call me by your name (2017), Little Women (2019) and Dune (2021).
Tom Hiddleston
Tom Hiddleston is an English actor, famous for playing the Norse god Loki in the Thor saga (2011-2017) and the Avengers saga (2012-2019) films .
Tom discovered his interest in learning languages during his teenage years. He began studying French and Spanish and later also learned Greek at Cambridge University. Currently Tom speaks French fluently and with a very good pronunciation.
Other actors who speak French
In addition to the actors mentioned above, there are other celebrities who stand out for being fluent in the French language. Some of them are:
- Kate Beckinsale: is an English actress and model. She learned to speak French, Russian and German at Oxford University.
- Penélope Cruz: is a Spanish actress, who in addition to her native language, Spanish, also speaks Italian, English and French.
- Salma Hayek: is a Mexican actress who knows English, Arabic, Portuguese, and learned French when she moved to France after marrying a businessman from that country.
Hugh Laurie: He is an English actor who learned French, German and Spanish in high school and later in college. - Jaime Camil: is a Mexican actor who speaks English, French and Portuguese.
- Astrid Bergès-Frisbey: is a Spanish actress who speaks French, Catalan and English. Her mother is French.
- Eduardo Noriega: This Spanish actor learned French so he could play his first character in his French film debut.
Other famous people who speak French
In addition to actors, there are also celebrities from other fields, such as literature and sports, who stand out for their knowledge of French. Some of them are:
- Angela Davis: is an American writer and activist.
- JK Rowling: is a British writer, author of the Harry Potter saga .
- Linda Evangelista: She is a former Canadian model who learned French in Paris while she was married to a French businessman.
- Elle MacPherson: is an Australian model who learned French during her marriage to a Swiss banker.
- Michelle Obama: The former American first lady learned French by taking private lessons.
- Queen Elizabeth II of England: She learned French, Spanish, Italian, Greek and other languages from a very young age.
- Serena Williams: This American tennis player learned French to be able to communicate with her audience during tennis tournaments in French-speaking countries like Roland Garros.
- José Mourinho: This Portuguese soccer manager speaks French, Spanish, English, and Italian.
- Shakira: This Colombian singer speaks English, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, and French.
- Phil Collins: is a British singer who, in addition to French, speaks German, Italian and Spanish.
- Julio Iglesias: is a Spanish singer who learned several languages during his tours, including French, English, German and Japanese.
- Mick Jagger: is a British musician who learned French in his youth, during the trips he made to France.
- Madonna: This American singer began learning French in order to understand the conversation between her children who were fluent in French.
Bibliography
- frames. (2014, January 2). The 10… Spanish actors who have worked the most in French cinema. Available at: https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/g526821/los-10-interpretes-espanoles-que-mas-han-trabajado-en-el-cine-frances/?slide=1
- Amézquita Pino, C. (2018, January 14). Celebrities who speak more than two languages. People. Available at: https://peopleenespanol.com/celebridades/celebridades-que-hablan-muchas-lenguas/
