Zita Hanrot


Zita Hanrot is a French actress. She received widespread critical acclaim and later won the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2016 for her role in the film, Fatima. From 2018 to 2022, she starred in three seasons of the Netflix original French-language comedy, Plan Coeur. In 2024, she starred in the television series, La Maison and the biopic, ''The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire.''

Early life

Zita Hanrot was born in 1989, to an English mother of Jamaican descent and a French father. Her father is a graphic designer and her mother is an illustrator and graphic designer. Many of her father's relatives are set designers, landscapers, or architects. She grew up with an interest in artistic careers and took classes in classical dance as a child.
After graduating from high school in Marseille, Hanrot enrolled in art history classes, originally intending to pursue a career similar to her parents. However, she disliked the courses and later dropped out after studying for three months. Instead, she enrolled in private theatre classes at the Ecole D'Art Dramatique Sylvia Roche in Marseille with the intention of leaving her hometown to pursue acting professionally. She successfully auditioned for a place at École du Jeu in Paris at age 20. She lived in an 8 sq. m. apartment and worked evening shifts at a café. In 2011, she was accepted into the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, France's national drama school, in Paris. She graduated in 2014.

Career

Hanrot appeared in commercials such as the French army campaign alongside the French actor Karl E. Landler. She has cited the actress Béatrice Dalle as an inspiration, particularly for her role in the 1986 film Betty Blue.
Before graduating from the Conservatory, she was cast in her first film role in 2012 in Radiostars, directed by Romain Lévy, in which she plays the younger sister of Manu Payet. She subsequently played minor roles in The New Girlfriend in 2013, and Eden in 2014. Her breakthrough role came in 2015's Fatima, for which she was awarded the César Award for Most Promising Actress. In the film, directed by Philippe Faucon, she plays Nesrine, a medical student and the daughter of a north-African immigrant, determined to improve her position in life.
Following the success of Fatima, Hanrot filmed a role in Marie Garel Weiss's directorial debut film called, La Fête est finie in 2016. The movie was released in 2017. In June 2019, she began filming the ecological whistleblower drama, Red Soil. Hanrot plays an occupational nurse who uncovers corruption at the chemical factory where she works. The movie was later released in the UK for streaming services on 16 August 2021.
From 2018 to 2022, she starred in three seasons of the Netflix original French-language comedy, Plan Coeur. A special lockdown episode was filmed in France in 2020 and highlighted the changes in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, she was among ten actors selected for the European Film Promotion's European Shooting Star award, which highlights up-and-coming film talent across Europe.
In 2024, Harper's Bazaar Australia praised her work in the French fashion drama television series, La Maison, which streamed worldwide on AppleTV+. Hanrot stated that her character in the series, "Paloma", a Berlin-based fashion designer, was inspired by British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen. To prepare for the role, she watched documentaries on fashion history with a specific focus on McQueen's career; Hanrot is a fan of McQueen. La Maison has been compared to the Max drama, Succession, with critics dubbing it, "The French Succession".
In 2024, she starred in the biopic, The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, as the titular character; the film was screened at Toronto International Film Festival in Canada and at the Lincoln Center in New York City in the autumn of 2024.

Personal life

Her brother, Idrissa Hanrot, is also an actor, starring notably in the 2016 film Five. In April 2022, Hanrot revealed on her personal Instagram account that she was expecting her first child.
In an interview with Chanel, she said that she enjoys reading and cited works by French philosopher and psychoanalyst, Anne Dufourmantelle, as some of her favourite books. In that same interview, she revealed that her father's garden in Marseille is one of her favourite places to read and expressed that she would like to play Haruki Murakami's character, "Aomame", from his 1Q84 trilogy or "Nora" from Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play, A Doll's House. Hanrot previously studied Ibsen while attending drama school in Paris during her early 20s. She cites Edward Scissorhands as a film that frightened her as a child and her favourite director is Danish filmmaker, Lars von Trier.
Hanrot is fluent in English. She lived in Marseille until she was 20 and resides in Paris as of 2024.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2004Le TuteurMalikaTV series
2012RadiostarsJenniferFilm debut
2013RunDouniaShort film
2014EdenAnaïs
2014The New GirlfriendRestaurant waitress
2014ErranceThe girl on the trainShort film
2015Rose et le soldatRoseTelefilm
2015Nuit/BétonMorganeShort film
2015ChefsNadiaTV mini-series
2015FatimaNesrineCésar Award for Most Promising Actress
2015Chez VictoireIrisTelefilm
2015Point du JourSabrinaShort film
2016Le Gang des AntillaisLinda
2016De sas en sas
2016T.A.N.K.Zoé10 episodes; television series
2017La fête est finieSihemFrench film
2017K.O.DinaFrench film
2018Paul Sanchez est revenu!MarionFrench film
2018-2022The Hook Up PlanElsaNetflix original series - 21 Episodes
2019The Swallows of KabulZunaira
2020School LifeSamiaNetflix Original
2020Red SoilNour HamadiFilm; known as Rouge in French-language markets
2021Love, Death & RobotsHiraldSeason 2, episode "Snow in the Desert"
2022Angry AnnieHélèneFrench film
2023'MiaFrench film
2023Lee-
2024'Paloma CastelAppleTV+ original series
2024The Ballad of Suzanne CésaireSuzanne CésaireTitular role/Lead
2025Ad VitamManonNetflix original film