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.[4][5] Nélisse is fluent in both French and English. The family moved to Montreal when she was four.[6][7]
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.[8][9] Additionally, Nélisse formed and still maintains a close friendship with her co-star from The Book Thief, Nico Liersch.
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."[3][14] In June 2018, it was announced that she would be the face of Caroline Néron's Fall 2018 jewelry line.[15]
After graduating high school in June 2017,[16] Nélisse confirmed she wouldn't be enrolling in post-secondary education for the time being due to commitments shooting Close in London and Morocco.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]
^"Sophie Nélisse". Windsor Public Library. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2022. Sophie (Marie-Sophie) Nélisse was born in Windsor on March 27, 2000 into a family of French-Canadian descent.
^Mercier, Noémie (December 8, 2017). "Passer à l'âge adulte en temps troublés" [Entering adulthood in troubled times]. L'actualité. Being 18 years old in 2018 (French: Avoir 18 ans en 2018) (in French). Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017. Quand je me suis mise à dire que je voulais des rôles plus « matures », je pense que j'ai reçu cinq scénarios où je me faisais violer. C'est rare, les scénarios où il ne faut pas que je couche avec quelqu'un ou que j'embrasse quelqu'un.
Canadian Film Awards 1968-1978, Genie Awards 1980-2011, Canadian Screen Awards 2012-present. Separate awards were presented by gender prior to 2022; ungendered awards for best performance regardless have been presented since.