Eva Green

Green appeared on stage in Jalousie en Trois Fax (2001) for which she was nominated for a Molière Award.[29] She also appeared in Turcaret (2002).

In 2002, Green had her film debut, when director Bernardo Bertolucci cast her for the role of Isabelle in The Dreamers (2003), which involved her in extensive full frontal nude scenes and graphic sex scenes. Green told The Guardian that her agent and her parents begged her not to take the role, concerned that the film would cause her career to "have the same destiny as Maria Schneider",[30] because of Schneider's traumatic experience during the filming of Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris.[25] Green said that with Bertolucci's guidance she felt comfortable during the filming of the nude and sex scenes[31] but was embarrassed when her family saw the film.[25] Her performance was well-received, and some compared her to Liv Tyler.[32] Green expressed surprise when a minute was cut from the film for the American market, stating, "[T]here is so much violence, both on the streets and on the screen. They think nothing of it. Yet I think they are frightened by sex."[25] Her next film was Arsène Lupin (2004), in which she portrayed Lupin's love interest. She enjoyed the light-hearted role, although she has stated that she generally prefers more complex characters.[29]

Her performance in The Dreamers led Ridley Scott to cast Green in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), a film about the Crusades where she played Sibylla of Jerusalem. Green performed six screen tests and was hired only a week before principal photography began.[16] Green found the atmosphere of coming onto a film so late tense and exciting, and she liked the film's ambiguity in approaching its subject matter.[28] To her disappointment, much of her screen time was cut.[16] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com praised her performance: "She doesn't quite know what to do with her character's stilted dialogue, but she carries herself so regally that you barely notice."[33] Nev Pierce of the BBC, however, called her character "limp".[34] Green was satisfied when her character's complex subplot was restored in the director's cut.[35] Total Film said the new scenes completed her performance: "In the theatrical cut, Princess Sibylla sleeps with Balian and then, more or less, loses her mind. Now we understand why. Not only does Sibylla have a young son, but when she realizes he's afflicted with leprosy just like her brother Baldwin, she decides to take his life shortly after he's been crowned king."[36]

Green at the 2007 BAFTA Awards

Green was considered for roles in The Constant Gardener (a role that went to Rachel Weisz) and The Black Dahlia.[25] She was cast at the last minute for the role of Vesper Lynd in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.[26] Green was approached in mid-2005 but turned it down.[35] Principal photography was already underway, and director Martin Campbell said casting the role was difficult because "we didn't have the final script and a Bond girl always had the connotation of tits 'n' ass." Campbell saw Green's performance in the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven,[37] and approached Green again. She read the script, and found the character of Vesper far deeper than most Bond girls.[35] Green's performance was well received: Entertainment Weekly called her the fourth-best Bond girl of all time;[38] IGN named her the best femme fatale, stating, "This is the girl that broke – and therefore made – James Bond";[39] and she won a BAFTA and an Empire award for her performance. Both awards were voted for by the British public.[40]

Green portrayed the witch Serafina Pekkala in the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass. Green hoped the religious themes of the book would be preserved,[35] but references to Catholicism were removed from the film.[41] Green next appeared in Franklyn, as the tormented artist Emilia,[42] (who Green compared to real-life figures Sophie Calle and Tracey Emin)[43] and the mysterious Sally, who she described as, "full of life, very witty, big sense of humor".[44] She also filmed Cracks, the directorial debut of Jordan Scott, Ridley Scott's daughter, where she plays a teacher at a girls' school named Miss G, who falls in love with one of her pupils. In March 2009, she appeared in Womb, where she plays a woman who clones her dead boyfriend. It is a collaboration between actor Matt Smith and director Benedek Fliegauf.[45]

She was considered for the role eventually played by Cécile de France in Un Secret (2007).[46] Additionally, she was initially approached for the female lead in Lars von Trier's controversial film Antichrist (2009). According to Trier, Green was positive about appearing in the film, but her agents refused to allow her. The unsuccessful casting attempt took two months of the film's pre-production process. Anglo-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg was subsequently cast in the role.[47] Green later said that she got along well with Trier, "but then we started talking about nudity and sex and so on. It got a bit too far ... It was my dream to work with him, but it’s a shame it was on that film that it nearly happened. I’m sure I would have been trashed doing that film".[48]

In 2011, Green signed with United Talent Agency in the US, remaining represented by Tavistock Wood in the UK.[49] Green then starred in the first season of Starz's series, Camelot, as the sorceress Morgan le Fay.[50] Green stated, "This is such an iconic story and you have 10 episodes to explore a character. It's not a girlfriend role that you could have in a movie. It's a real ballsy character. She has some guts."[51] In 2012, Green played a vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard whose curse turns Johnny Depp's character into a vampire in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows.

Green at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2014, she played Artemisia in the 300 sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire for which she received excellent reviews.[52] Rafer Guzman in his Newsday review stated, "The one bright spot is Eva Green as Xerxes' machinator, Artemesia, a raccoon-eyed warrior princess... Green plays a snarling, insatiable, self-hating femme fatale and completely steals the show."[53] Stephanie Zacharek writing for The Village Voice exclaimed, "Rise of an Empire might have been essentially more of the same, but for one distinction that makes it 300 times better than its predecessor: Mere mortals of Athens, Sparta, and every city from Mumbai to Minneapolis, behold the magnificent Eva Green, and tremble!"[54]

Between May 2014 and 2016, Green starred in the Showtime horror drama series Penny Dreadful as Vanessa Ives.[55] Her performance earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. She also played the titular role of Ava Lord in the Sin City sequel film, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014).[56]

In 2016, Green reunited with Tim Burton in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a film based on the 2011 novel by Ransom Riggs.[57] Green collaborated once more with Burton in Disney's 2019 live-action adaptation of Dumbo, co-starring with Colin Farrell and Michael Keaton.

In 2018, she was appointed as a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honorary award given by the French government.[58]

In 2019, she starred in the French drama film Proxima directed by Alice Winocour. Green's performance in the movie was met with critical acclaim and she was eventually nominated for the César Award for Best Actress.[59]

In 2020, she starred as Lydia Wells in the BBC Two miniseries The Luminaries, based on the 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton.[60]

In April 2018, it was announced that Green would star in the sci-fi thriller film A Patriot.[61] In August 2020, it was reported that the actress, who was also an executive producer on the project, was suing the production company, White Lantern Film, after refusing to pay her a £800,000 ($1.04 million) fee even though the project was abandoned, since she had agreed to a pay-or-play contract. In its own suit, White Lantern claims Green demanded that additional crew be hired that would have added up to the budget. The company also claims Green owes it more than £1 million ($1.3 million) after walking away from the project.[62]