Isabelle Huppert: 5 things to know about the Oscar nominee

Isabelle Huppert has already taken home the Golden Globe for her performance.

ByABC News
February 24, 2017, 10:31 AM

— -- Isabelle Huppert has already swooped up the Golden Globe for her performance in the psychological thriller “Elle” and is nominated for an Oscar.

Huppert appeared recently on “Popcorn with Peter Travers” and shed some light on her life and career.

Here are five things to know about the actress.

1. She's widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses in the world

“It’s hard to believe actually,” Huppert said when asked about her list of acting achievements. “On one hand, you want your work to be recognized. And you are happy when people get what you do. But on the other hand, it’s always such a surprise when it happens.”

2. She’s poised to be the upset winner for the Oscar for best actress

In “Elle,” Huppert plays the role of businesswoman Michèle Leblanc, who is brutally attacked in her own home by a masked man. She decides to take matters into her own hands after the attack, with surprising results. Both fans and critics have raved about Huppert's performance.

“This is one of those categories that can really result in an Oscar surprise,” Travers said of Huppert. “I say that if [Oscar nominee] Emma Stone has a problem, it’s going to be with Isabelle Huppert."

3. She is known as the “Meryl Streep of France”

Huppert has starred in over 100 films and is known to take risks in her roles.

“Even if I do a great, great variety of work, strangely enough I always feel myself in all these films," Huppert said. "Perhaps because those are very, very central characters. And most of them, the story really evolves completely, so it’s a complete portrait of a woman’s destiny’s most of the time. So it allows me to be so complete and to be completely myself. So I don’t really feel I do different things actually."

4. She received no direction for her role in 'Elle'

Huppert teamed up with director Paul Verhoeven for "Elle." Verhoeven is best known for his films "Total Recall," "RoboCop" and "Basic Instinct." Huppert says Verhoeven gave her complete freedom in how she would portray the role.

“We never said a word about the work, never,” said Huppert. “We never said one word that was an explanation about the character."

Instead, Huppert compared Verhoeven's direction to sculpting.

"It's like taking acting as a piece of sculpture that you will shape the way you want. And he really gave me that big piece of work like an unshaped form. And he let me shape it the way I wanted all the way through. And that gave me such freedom and such confidence and such creativity and such imagination. And if you have someone in the way all the time saying, 'Oh no, maybe you should do a bit of this or a little bit of that,' that wouldn’t be nice for me," Huppert said.

5. She’s married with three children

When Travers asked how Huppert balances life as a wife, mother and actress, she said she's found a nice balance.

“It’s not so difficult in doing movies. Stage work is a little bit different. It’s really a physical experience and it’s a lot more difficult. But doing movies for me is quite easy and it’s my breathing."

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