# Sophie Nélisse

Marie-Sophie Nélisse (born March 27, 2000) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her Genie Award–winning performance in Monsieur Lazhar (2011). She also played Liesel Meminger in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Book Thief (2013) and Caroline in The Kid Detective (2020). She stars as young Shauna in Showtime's series Yellowjackets (2021-present).

## Early life

Marie-Sophie Nélisse was born in Windsor, Ontario, on March 27, 2000. She is of French descent. Her mother, Pauline Belhumeur, left her job as a schoolteacher in 2013 to act as a talent manager for both Sophie and her younger sister Isabelle, who is also an actress. Nélisse is fluent in both French and English. The family moved to Montreal when she was four.

## Career

She spent her early years training in gymnastics, aiming for the 2016 Olympics, and signed to a talent agency to make money to pay for the training, but after getting the part in The Book Thief (and subsequent accolades) she shifted her focus to acting. Additionally, Nélisse formed and still maintains a close friendship with her co-star from The Book Thief, Nico Liersch.
Besides her Genie Award for Monsieur Lazhar, she won a Jutra Award for her performance and a Young Artist Award nomination as Best Leading Young Actress in an International Feature Film. She held a recurring role the Québec sitcom Les Parents [fr] and she also starred in the title role of the 2015 film The Great Gilly Hopkins. In May 2016, Nélisse was present on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival for the first time to present Canadian thriller movie Mean Dreams.
In 2016, Nélisse was one of four actors selected by the Toronto International Film Festival, alongside Grace Glowicki, Jared Abrahamson, and Mylène Mackay for its "Rising Stars" programme, described as an "intensive professional development programme [that] immerses participants in a series of public events and industry meetings during the Festival." In June 2018, it was announced that she would be the face of Caroline Néron's Fall 2018 jewelry line.
After graduating high school in June 2017, Nélisse confirmed she wouldn't be enrolling in post-secondary education for the time being due to commitments shooting Close in London and Morocco. In a L'actualité series about "Being 18 years old in 2018", Nélisse spoke about entering adulthood in the era of the Weinstein effect, and deplored that when she announced she was looking for "more mature roles", she was quickly offered multiple roles where her characters would be raped and that scenarios she receives almost always include sexual elements. One of these instances was when she turned down the sexually-charged lead role in Fugueuse, in which Ludivine Reding was eventually cast as Fanny, the titular teenage runaway who ends up a sex trafficking victim.

## Personal life

Her sister Isabelle Nélisse is also an actress, best known for her roles in Mama and HBO's film The Tale; the sisters also acted together in Mirador [fr], Wait Till Helen Comes and Worst Case, We Get Married.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | Monsieur Lazhar | Alice L'Écuyer | Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actress in an International Feature Film |
| 2012 | Ésimésac | Marie Gélinas | Sequel to Babine, also directed by Luc Picard and written by Fred Pellerin, the Saint-Élie-de-Caxton storyteller |
| 2013 | The Book Thief | Liesel Meminger | Satellite Awards for Best Breakthrough Performance Hollywood Film Award Spotlight Award Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Performance by a Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role—Female Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Actor/Actress |
| 2014 | Pawn Sacrifice | Young Joan | Lily Rabe played the adult Joan Fischer |
| 2015 | Endorphine | Simone de Koninck | Shown in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival |
| 2015 | The Great Gilly Hopkins | Gilly Hopkins | |
| 2016 | Mean Dreams | Casey Caraway | Chosen for Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight |
| 2016 | 1:54 | Jen | First feature-length fiction film from Oscar-nominated director, producer and screenwriter Yan England |
| 2016 | Wait Till Helen Comes | Molly | Also stars her sister Isabelle Nélisse in the role of Molly's step-sister Heather |
| 2017 | The History of Love | Alma Singer | |
| 2017 | Exode | | Short film that premiered at Cannes Film Festival, in the Not Short on Talent section, a Telefilm Canada initiative. |
| 2017 | Worst Case, We Get Married (Et au pire, on se mariera) | Aïcha | Lea Pool movie adaptation of original novel by Sophie Bienvenu [fr], also starring Karine Vanasse. Winner of the VIFF "Vancouver Women in Film and Television Artistic Merit Award" |
| 2019 | Close | Zoe | Written and directed by Vicky Jewson and starring Noomi Rapace as the bodyguard of Nélisse's character, a rich young Bangkok heiress. |
| 2019 | 47 Meters Down: Uncaged | Mia | |
| 2019 | The Rest of Us | Aster | Independent Aisling Chin-Yee dramatic comedy film also starring Heather Graham. |
| 2020 | The Kid Detective | Caroline | Written and directed by Evan Morgan (The Dirties) and co-starring Adam Brody. |
| 2020 | Flashwood | Rose | French-language film. First feature length movie by Jean-Carl Boucher |
| 2023 | Irena's Vow | Irena Gut | Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival |
| 2025 | Two Women (Deux femmes en or) | Jessica | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Mirador [fr] | Jeune fille de Ralf | 1 episode |
| 2010 | Toute la Vérité [fr] | Fille de Violaine | 1 episode |
| 2011–2016 | Les Parent [fr] | Zoé | Recurring |
| 2012 | Vertige | Rosalie Roussel | Main cast |
| 2015–2016 | Les Dieux de la Danse | Herself (Dance competition) | Season 1: Withdrew after passing first elimination round Season 2: Eliminated after third round (semifinals) |
| 2017 | Accès Illimité [fr] | Herself (Docu-reality) | 1 episode |
| 2017 | Demain des hommes [fr] | Roxanne | Recurring |
| 2019–2020 | L'Échappée [fr] | Romy Lalonde | Recurring (Season 4-present) |
| 2020 | Amours d'occasion [fr] | Young Florence | 1 episode |
| 2021–present | Yellowjackets | Teenage Shauna Shipman | Main role |
| 2023 | Aller Simple | Fanny Lori | 6 episodes |

## Awards and nominations

Accolades for Sophie Nélisse :
| Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
| 2013 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Young Actress | Monsieur Lazhar | Nominated |
| 2014 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Young Actor/Actress | The Book Thief | Nominated |
| 2014 | Satellite Awards | Breakthrough Performance Award | The Book Thief | Won |
| 2014 | Young Artist Awards | Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film (tie) | The Book Thief | Won |