According to her family and agent, 43-year-old Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne passed away on Sunday from a particularly uncommon type of cancer. She passed away in Villejuif, on the outskirts of Paris, at the Gustave Roussy hospital.
At the age of 17, she landed her first role in the Dardenne brothers’ film Rosetta, which began her career and earned her the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress prize.
For Les Choses qu’on dit, les Choses qu’on fait by Emmanuel Mouret, the actress also took home the 2021 César for Best Supporting Actress.
In October 2023, she disclosed that she had an adrenal gland cancer called adrenocortical carcinoma. Scientists estimate that there are one to two cases of this disease per million people annually.
Her profoundly poignant performances in strong roles left a lasting impression on all of us. Culture Minister Rachida Dati posted on X that “French cinema has lost, too soon, a talented actress who still had so much to offer” and sent her condolences to the family of Émilie Dequenne.
The actress, who “perfectly donned the firefighter’s uniform alongside Roschdy Zem in 2017’s Men of Fire, was also honoured on X by the French firefighter’s community.
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