Biography

Graduated from the CNSAD (National Conservatory of Dramatic Art of Paris).

Her father was a lawyer.

Made her acting debut on stage in Claude Sainval's "La Valse des toréadors" with Louis de Funès in 1974.

Was a close friend of the photographer Robert Doisneau.

She was married to Michel Lengliney, a theater writer.

For as long as I can remember, I've always acted. As a child, I'd invent stories, write them down, distribute the roles to my school friends or, at home, to my two little sisters. I'd build sets from whatever I could get my hands on, and make costumes from scraps of fabric. I spent my life putting on shows. I charged the audience, in other words, my family. I've always felt like a sheep that's escaped from the herd, and at the same time I love coming together with people. I've always wanted to put life on stage; I find it more interesting that way. Acting isn't necessarily being an actor, it's a way of being in the world, of wanting to surprise others. It could be, for example, hiding behind a tree to surprise someone and make them jump.

[on cinema] It's my whole life! My place, meeting people, doing the job with people like André Dussollier, Thierry Lhermitte....I also like the cinema because it's a day's work. I enjoy getting up early, I'm a morning person. And shoots make us travel, meet people I'd otherwise never have known. I love travelling, discovering. Cinema enables this.

I like to take my time. I've never been able to go from one interview to another, from one meeting to another, from one film to another....it has to be a pleasure, not a chore. It's my character. There are actors who can shoot one film in the morning, another in the afternoon: I just can't do that! If two projects are offered at the same time, I'll only take one of them. Because I wouldn't be at my best, I'd start to fret and rush and I wouldn't be able to give what's needed for the part.

Everyone has their own style as an actor, it's not a question of talent but of personality. My own personality in the cinema or in the theatre, as in life, is to go elsewhere, to surprise. I play a certain type of role and bam, I want to show something else, a style nobody expects. In Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983) I play a young, innocent, shy girl, a sort of angel, and after that there was A Sunday in the Country (1984). Tavernier had seen me in Alain Resnais's film, he gave me the script, I read it and I knew that it was made for me. Sometimes there are roles one hesitates about. But I was sure about that one. And I thought I was going to be hired, but no! He took an endless amount of time to offer me the part. He asked me, "Will you have the liveliness? You know, I need an actress like Danielle Darrieux!" I felt exasperated, I said to myself that if he couldn't see that I was Irène, then I wasn't going to do the dance of the seven veils. Finally, I went to see him and said, "I'm not going to do the film because I'm not Danelle Darrieux and I never will be. I am Sabine Azéma. It's over. It's not me that you want, goodbye." Well, I signed my contract that same day. He said, "That's it, the character! It's Irène!" I have to say I was vehement. I was angry for real, I wasn't putting on an act.

[2022 interview] The other evening, I was watching the last scenes of Mélo (1986) at the Cinémathèque for the Alain Resnais retrospective, just before going back into the theatre for the discussion. I saw myself on the giant screen with my two pals, Pierre Arditi and André Dussollier, and I said to myself: "We made that. One day, we're going to die, but this film is going to stay for 100, 200, 500 years?" That makes me happy. It's a job which is great when we have admiration for people, for directors, for collaborators.