Marie Paquim was born into a family tradition in the arts, her father a professional dancer, and her mother, Lisette, a celebrated Portuguese Fado singer who toured throughout Europe. Born in Paris, Marie split her time growing up between France and Portugal, becoming fluent in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English.
Discovered by legendary French pop singer Sylvie Vartan, Marie began her career as a baby actor in a Johnson's Shampoo commercial, then transitioned to becoming a versatile dancer, including flamenco, and a film actress, acting alongside legends like Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve.
Marie's film debut won the Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and she took a break from her budding film career to receive her Masters degree at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, where she mastered classical Latin and Greek, and then her Doctorate in Classical Theatre at Coimbra University in Portugal.
Moving to America, Marie worked on the production side of the Tom Cruise vehicle "Vanilla Sky" and was told by director Cameron Crowe that she belonged in front of the camera, not behind it. She was quickly improvised a scene to obtain her SAG card, and then joined Tom Robbins' prestigious theatre company "The Actor's Gang" by performing a monologue in four languages.
Marie's unique talents led her to be the lead in the independent film "Caravaggio and My Mother the Pope", speaking Latin from the Middle Ages, and she recently appeared in the final episode of television's popular drama "Revenge" as an inmate desperately trying to escape a fire.
As someone who wants to do it all, Marie started her own production company, Utopia Lumiere Films, in 2009. She is the main writer, lead actress, and creative producer for the company's current project, "Land of the Free, Except for Me", an action thriller drama based on a true story, which has already received much attention in the press and garnered her an exclusive interview on CNN's "Sin Limites", not to mention U.S. and Worldwide distribution, even before a day of filming has begun.
