Mathilda May

May was born in Paris, France. Her father, the playwright,^[9] screenwriter, and actor Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish (Greek and Turkish) descent. Her mother is the Swedish ballet teacher and choreographer Margareta Hanson.^[10] May studied under Christiane Vaussard at the Conservatoire de Paris, graduating at age 16.^[11]

May's film work is primarily in French and made for the European market. She was the recipient of the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 1988^[3] and the Prix Romy Schneider in 1989. Non-French films she has appeared in include Naked Tango (1990), Becoming Colette (1991), and The Tit and the Moon (1994). In the United States, she is best-known for her role as an alien vampire in the Tobe Hooper science fiction/horror-film Lifeforce (1985), in which she is naked for most of her performance. She also appeared in the 1996 space adventure game Privateer 2: The Darkening. She played Isabella in The Jackal, a 1997 action film.

May recorded an album in 1992 called Joy of Love.^[4][5]

May was the writer and director for the theater show Open Space, which was performed in the Théâtre Jean-Vilar in the commune of Suresnes, the Théâtre du Rond-Point, and the Théâtre de Paris from 2013 to 2015.^[6][7][8] Open Space was a show without words; the story was presented by movement, music, and sound. May said of the show "[i]t will be choreographed without it being dance, and musical without an instrument".^[12]

May has been married four times. Her first husband was Paul Powell. Her second husband was Gérard Darmon, with whom she has two children, a daughter and a son. Her third husband was Philippe Kelly. Her fourth husband was Sly Johnson.

• The César Award (the national film award of France): 1988 Best Young Female Newcomer for The Cry of the Owl
• The 1989 Romy Schneider Award
• The 2019 Molliere for Best Director of a Public Theatre Show for The Wedding Banquet^[13]
• The 2020 Molliere for Best Solo Performance for her production of Monsieur X starring Pierre Richard at the Théâtre de l’Atelier.^[14]
• The 2020 SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) for Best Director^[15]