Mylène Jampanoï (; born Lena Jam-Panoï; 12 July 1980) is a French actress,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, and visual artist. Her first leading role was in the drama film '' The Chinese Botanist's Daughters'' (2006). She subsequently garnered international attention for her role in Pascal Laugier's controversial horror film ''

Martyrs A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

'' (2008). She later had a supporting role in

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

's '' Hereafter'' (2010), and starred as Bambou in the

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

biopic, '' Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life'' (also 2010). Other film credits include the American animated film ''

Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...

'' (2008), the Canadian drama '' Laurence Anyways'' (2012), and the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

-produced ''

Madame Claude Fernande Grudet (6 July 1923 – 15 December 2015), also known as Madame Claude, was a French brothel keeper. In the 1960s, she was the head of a French network of call girls who worked especially for dignitaries and civil servants. Biogra ...

'' (2021). In addition to her acting and modeling career, Jampanoï is a painter whose works have been exhibited at Paris's Galerie Sobering.

Early life

Mylène Jampanoï was born as Lena Jam-Panoï on 12 July, 1980 in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

department of the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region of

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, to a Vietnamese-Chinese father and a French-Breton mother. Her father, who immigrated to France from China through Vietnam, abandoned the family when she was three years old, and later established a prosperous textile business in Canada. Jampanoï was raised by her mother, who worked as a

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the c ...

at the food retaile
Rallye
As a teenager, Jampanoï fled her family home due to her mother's severe depression, and lived with her boyfriend in a Paris squat. She eventually returned to her family home in Aix-en-Provence to complete her education, earning a scientific

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

at age 17. While still a teenager, she was taken under the wing of a 35-year-old male attorney in Aix-en-Provence, who became her

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

. After she earned her baccalauréat, he urged her to pursue a career in law, but she instead relocated again to Paris to pursue acting and modeling.

Career

After appearing in the French television series ''

Sous le soleil ''Sous le soleil'' (''Under the sun''; ) is a French soap opera broadcast on French major channel TF1 from 1996 to 2008. A spin-off, ''Sous le soleil de Saint-Tropez'' has been broadcast in French channel TMC since 2013. Broadcast It has been a ...

'', Jampanoï had a minor part in the action thriller '' Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse'' (2004), followed by a supporting role in '' 36th Precinct'' (also 2004), a crime thriller starring

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

and

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

. She was then cast in the independent drama film '' Valley of Flowers'' (2006). Next, Jampanoï starred in the drama '' The Chinese Botanist's Daughters'' (2006), a role which necessitated her to phonetically learn Chinese. In 2007, she became the face of

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...

Snow cosmetics in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

for

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...

and travelled to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

to represent the brand. She subsequently appeared on the cover of Asian ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' magazine. Jampanoï gained international attention for her role in Pascal Laugier's controversial horror film ''

'' (2008), which was filmed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Jampanoï took the role against the advice of her agent, and later stated that making the film was emotionally difficult due to its extreme content: "Every night when I went back to my room, I just cried, because I was so physically and psychologically tired. All my scenes

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

violent." Also in 2008, she had a minor voice role in the American animated comedy film ''

'' as Maître Vipère. Next, she appeared in the French

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

film '' The Ball of Actresses'' (2009), directed by

Maïwenn Maïwenn Aurélia Nedjma Le Besco (; born 17 April 1976), known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker. Early life Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, the daughter of artist Cather ...

, and in 2010, had a supporting role in

's drama '' Hereafter'', playing a news reporter. The same year, she starred in the

biopic '' Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life'', portraying actress Bambou. In 2017, Jampanoï guest-starred on the

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

-UK series ''Kill Skills'', and reprised her role in the film sequel of the series, ''Kill Skills 2'' (2018). She subsequently had a central role in ''Made in China'' (2019), a comedy film about a French-Chinese family preparing for a wedding, directed by Julien Abraham. She then had a supporting role in the

-released ''

'' (2021), a biopic about French brothel owner

. In addition to acting, Jampanoï is also a visual artist, whose paintings were exhibited in the spring of 2022 at the Paris Galerie Sobering, as part of the ''Athènes n'est pas en Grèce'' ( English: ''Athens is not in Greece'') show.

Personal life

Jampanoï married

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

supermodel A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model who has a worldwide reputation and background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term became popular in the 1990s. Supermodels usually work for prominent fashion designers and clothin ...

and actor, Milind Soman in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

in 2006. They met during the shooting of their film '' Valley of Flowers''. The two divorced in 2009. In the summer of 2014, she gave birth to a son, Andrèas Vassily, with her longtime partner, Greek producer Dimitri Stephanides. Jampanoï is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and was baptised in the church in 2015, though she has expressed criticism of the church's

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because thes ...

policies. She also stated her support of the legalization of

same-sex marriage in France Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since 18 May 2013, making France the Legal status of same-sex marriage, thirteenth country in the world and the ninth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry. The legislation applies to metropolita ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jampanoi, Mylene 1980 births French film actresses French female models French people of Chinese descent French people of Breton descent French Roman Catholics French television actresses Living people Actors from Aix-en-Provence Actresses from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 21st-century French actresses 21st-century French painters 21st-century French women painters Models from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur