Marianne Fortier

A precociously talented young actress, Marianne Fortier earned comparisons to Dakota Fanning in terms of her mature-beyond-her-years screen presence. Born Nov. 2, 1993 in Québec, Canada, Marianne Fortier made her debut at age nine on the teen sitcom "Une grenade avec ça?" ("A Grenade with That?") (VRAK.TV, 2002-2011). The rising star broke through the following year when she beat out 11,000 other actresses to land the title role in "Aurore" (2005), the heartbreaking biopic of Aurore Gagnon, the child martyr who died after being abused by her father and stepmother, only to become a Québec folk heroine. Nominated for a Genie, Fortier dazzled audiences and critics for her powerful work. Her talent only deepened with age, and she won a Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award, as well as another Genie nomination for her starring role as a resourceful 1960s teen struggling to keep her family together after their mother abandons them in "Maman est chez le coiffeur" ("Mommy is at the Hairdresser's") (Arte, 2008). Fortier continued to come into her own, booking a guest spot on "Trauma" (Radio-Canada, 2010- ), appearing in the short "Reflexions" (2012), and recurring on the popular series "La galère" (Radio-Canada, 2007- ), the ongoing saga of four thirty-something women who pack up their families and move in together, sharing many laughs, tears and learning experiences along the way.