| César de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role | |
| Awarded For: | Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Presenter: | Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma |
| Country: | France |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Holder: | Adèle Exarchopoulos for All Your Faces (2024) |
The César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (French: César de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding performance in a supporting role of an actress who has worked within the French film industry during the year preceding the ceremony. Nominees and winner are selected via a run-off voting by all the members of the Académie.
| Superlative | Best Actress | Best Supporting Actress | Overall (including Most Promising Actress) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actress with most awards | Isabelle Adjani | 5 | Dominique Blanc | 3 | Isabelle Adjani | 5 | |
| Actress with most nominations | Isabelle Huppert | 14 | Noémie Lvovsky | 7 | Isabelle Huppert | 16 | |
| Actress with most nominations without ever winning | Emmanuelle Béart Charlotte Gainsbourg Cécile de France | 5 | Noémie Lvovsky | 7 | Noémie Lvovsky | 7 | |
| Film with most nominations | Too Beautiful for You The Ceremony 8 Women Feelings Polisse In Safe Hands | 2 | The Crisis | 3 | Venus Beauty Institute 8 Women Polisse | 4 | |
| Oldest winner | Emmanuelle Riva | 85 | Suzanne Flon | 72 | Emmanuelle Riva | 85 | |
| Oldest nominee | Emmanuelle Riva | 85 | Claude Gensac | 87 | Claude Gensac | 87 | |
| Youngest winner | Sandrine Bonnaire | 18 | Déborah Lukumuena | 22 | Sandrine Bonnaire | 18 | |
| Youngest nominee | Charlotte Gainsbourg | 14 | Christine Pascal | 22 | Charlotte Gainsbourg | 14 | |
As of 2019, 137 actresses have been nominated in the category, with a total of 34 different winners. The average age at first nomination is 41 and the average age of winners at first win is 38.
With three wins (1991, 1993, 1999), Dominique Blanc holds the record of most César Award for Best Supporting Actress. Eight actresses have won the César twice: Marie-France Pisier (1976, 1977), Nathalie Baye (1981, 1982), Suzanne Flon (1984, 1990), Annie Girardot (1996, 2002), Valérie Lemercier (1994, 2007), Julie Depardieu (2004, 2008), Anne Alvaro (2001, 2011) and Karin Viard (2003, 2019).
Marie-France Pisier and Nathalie Baye have won their two awards in consecutive years. Along with Adèle Haenel, they are the only three performers to have won two competitive acting César in a row. Including her Best Actress César won in 1983, Nathalie Baye is also the only performer to have won an acting César in three consecutive years, in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Noémie Lvovsky and Karin Viard tie for the record of most nominations with 6, Lvovsky also holding the record of most nominations without ever winning the award. Stéphane Audran holds the record of most consecutive nominations with 3 (1982, 1983, 1984).
Nine women have won both the César Award for Best Supporting Actress and the César Award for Best Actress:
Nathalie Baye is the only actress with multiple wins in both categories.
Three films have received both accolades: One Deadly Summer in 1984 (Best Actress to Isabelle Adjani, Best Supporting Actress to Suzanne Flon), Indochine in 1993 (Best Actress to Catherine Deneuve, Best Supporting Actress to Dominique Blanc) and Queen Margot in 1995 (Best Actress to Isabelle Adjani, Best Supporting Actress to Virna Lisi).
Three women have won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress after previously winning the César Award for Most Promising Actress:
Both Cécile de France and Julie Depardieu have won their two awards with a same role: Isabelle, an Erasmus student, in The Spanish Apartment (Most Promising Actress) and its sequel Russian Dolls (Best Supporting Actress) for de France, and Jeanne-Marie in Little Lili (both awards) for Depardieu.
Therefore, Depardieu is the only individual to have won two acting César for the same performance. This achievement is no longer possible as the Académie has since modified nomination rules to ensure that no individual could be nominated in more than one acting category (Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Actor/Actress or Most Promising Actor/Actress) for the same film.
Three films has received both accolades: An Impudent Girl in 1986 (Best Supporting Actress to Bernadette Lafont, Most Promising Actress to Charlotte Gainsbourg), Life Is a Long Quiet River in 1989 (Best Supporting Actress to Hélène Vincent, Most Promising Actress to Catherine Jacob) and Little Lili in 2004 (both awards to Julie Depardieu).
Thirteen women have received nominations in the three competitive acting categories: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Actress. They are Emmanuelle Béart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dominique Blanc, Anne Brochet, Karin Viard, Sandrine Kiberlain, Emmanuelle Devos, Cécile de France, Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Emilie Dequenne, Sara Forestier and Adèle Haenel. So far, no actress has achieved to win the three awards.
To date, the most long-lived winner is Suzanne Flon, who died at 87, and the most short-lived is Valérie Benguigui, who died at 47. The oldest alive winner is Hélène Vincent, aged 75, and the earliest alive winner is Nicole Garcia (Le Cavaleur, 1980).
As the César Awards are centered on the French Cinema, the majority of recipients are French and performed in French language. However, the Best Supporting Actress César has been awarded five times to a non-French actress:
The Best Supporting Actress César has been awarded only once for a full foreign-language performance with Kristen Stewart's English-language performance. Nevertheless, Virna Lisi's and Carmen Maura's roles included some parts of Italian-language and Spanish-language, respectively.
International actresses who have received nominations are:
Following the AATC's practice, the films below are listed by year of ceremony, which corresponds to the year following the film's year of release. For example, the César for Best Supporting Actress of 2010 was awarded on February 27, 2010 for a performance in a film released between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.
Actresses are selected via a two-round vote: first round to choose the nominees, second round to designate the winner. All the members of the Académie, without regard to their branch, are eligible to vote on both rounds. Initially set to four, the number of nominees was expanded to five in 1984.
Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees in alphabetic order.
| Year | Winner and Nominees | Film | Original Title | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 (1st) | ||||
| Marie-France Pisier | Cousin Cousine | Karine | ||
| French Provincial | Souvenirs d'en France | Régina | ||
| Andréa Ferréol | Cookies | Les Galettes de Pont-Aven | Madame Licquois | |
| Isabelle Huppert | Aloïse | Young Aloïse | ||
| Christine Pascal | Let Joy Reign Supreme | Que la fête commence... | Emilie | |
| 1977 (2nd) | ||||
| Marie-France Pisier | Barocco | Nelly | ||
| Anny Duperey | Pardon Mon Affaire | Un Elephant ça trompe énormément | Charlotte | |
| Brigitte Fossey | The Good and the Bad | Le Bon et les méchants | Dominique Blanchot | |
| Francine Racette | Lumière | Julienne | ||
| 1978 (3rd) | ||||
| Marie Dubois | La Menace | Dominique Montlaur | ||
| Nelly Borgeaud | The Man Who Loved Women | L'Homme qui aimait les femmes | Delphine Grezel | |
| Hélène | ||||
| Florence Giorgetti | The Lacemaker | La Dentellière | Marylène Torrent | |
| Valérie Mairesse | Repérages | Esther | ||
| 1979 (4th) | ||||
| Stéphane Audran | Violette Nozière | Germaine Nozière | ||
| Arlette Bonnard | A Simple Story | Une Histoire simple | Gabrielle | |
| Éva Darlan | Anna | |||
| Nelly Borgeaud | Le Sucre | Hilda Courtois | ||
| Year | Winner and Nominees | Film | Original Title | Role(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 (5th) | Nicole Garcia | Le Cavaleur | Marie-France | ||
| Myriam Boyer | Série noire | Jeanne | |||
| Dominique Lavanant | Courage – Let's Run | Mathilda | |||
| Maria Schneider | Memoirs of a French Whore | La Dérobade | Maloup | ||
| 1981 (6th) | Nathalie Baye | Every Man for Himself (a.k.a. Slow Motion) | Sauve qui peut (la vie) | Denise Rimbaud | |
| Andréa Ferréol | The Last Metro | Le Dernier Métro | Arlette Guillaume | ||
| Claire Maurier | A Bad Son | Un mauvais fils | Madeleine | ||
| Delphine Seyrig | I Sent a Letter to My Love | Chère inconnue | Yvette | ||
| 1982 (7th) | Nathalie Baye | Strange Affair | Une étrange affaire | Nina Coline | |
| Stéphane Audran | Coup de torchon | Huguette Cordier | |||
| Sabine Haudepin | Hotel America | Hôtel des Amériques | Elise Tisserand | ||
| Véronique Silver | The Woman Next Door | La Femme d'à côté | Mathilde Bauchard | ||
| 1983 (8th) | Fanny Cottençon | L'Étoile du Nord | Sylvie Baron | ||
| Stéphane Audran | Paradis pour tous | Edith | |||
| Danielle Darrieux | Une chambre en ville | Margot Langlois | |||
| Denise Grey | La Boum 2 | Poupette | |||
| 1984 (9th) | Suzanne Flon | One Deadly Summer | L'Eté meurtrier | Cognata | |
| Victoria Abril | Moon in the Gutter | La Lune dans le caniveau | Bella | ||
| Stéphane Audran | Deadly Circuit | Mortelle Randonnée | Germaine | ||
| Sabine Azéma | Life Is a Bed of Roses | La Vie est un roman | Elisabeth Rousseau | ||
| Agnès Soral | So Long, Stooge | Tchao Pantin | Lola | ||
| 1985 (10th) | Caroline Cellier | Year of the Jellyfish | L'Année des méduses | Claude | |
| Victoria Abril | L'Addition | Patty | |||
| Carole Bouquet | Rive droite, rive gauche | Babée Senanques | |||
| Élizabeth Bourgine | La Septième Cible | Laura | |||
| Maruschka Detmers | The Pirate | La Pirate | Carole | ||
| 1986 (11th) | Bernadette Lafont | An Impudent Girl | L'Effrontée | Léone | |
| Anémone | Death in a French Garden | Péril en la demeure | Edwige Ledieu | ||
| Macha Méril | Vagabond | Sans Toit ni loi | Madame Landier | ||
| Catherine Frot | Escalier C | Béatrice | |||
| Dominique Lavanant | Three Men and a Cradle | Trois Hommes et un couffin | Madame Rapons | ||
| 1987 (12th) | Emmanuelle Béart | Manon des Sources | Manon | ||
| Clémentine Célarié | Betty Blue | 37°2 le matin | Annie | ||
| Danielle Darrieux | Scene of the Crime | Le Lieu du crime | The Grandmother | ||
| Marie Dubois | Descent Into Hell | Descente aux enfers | Lucette | ||
| Jeanne Moreau | Le Paltoquet | The Bartender | |||
| 1988 (13th) | Dominique Lavanant | Agent trouble | Catherine "Karen" Dariller | ||
| Sylvie Joly | The Miracle | Le Miraculé | Madame Fox Terrier | ||
| Anna Karina | Cayenne Palace | Lola | |||
| Marie Laforêt | Fucking Fernand | Lotte | |||
| Bernadette Lafont | Masks | Masques | Patricia Marquet | ||
| 1989 (14th) | Hélène Vincent | Life Is a Long Quiet River | La Vie est un long fleuve tranquille | Marielle Le Quesnoy | |
| María Casares | The Reader | La Lectrice | The General's widow | ||
| Françoise Fabian | Three Seats for the 26th | Trois places pour le 26 | Marie-Hélène | ||
| Dominique Lavanant | Quelques jours avec moi | Irène Frontin | |||
| Marie Trintignant | Story of Women | Une Affaire de femmes | Lucie | ||
| Year | Winners and nominees | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 (15th) | Suzanne Flon | La Vouivre | Louise Muselier | |
| Clémentine Célarié | Indian Nocturne | Nocturne indien | Christine | |
| Sabine Haudepin | Force majeure | Jeanne | ||
| Ludmila Mikaël | White Wedding | Noce blanche | Catherine Hainaut | |
| Micheline Presle | I Want to Go Home | Isabelle Gauthier | ||
| 1991 (16th) | Dominique Blanc | Milou in May | Milou en mai | Claire |
| Catherine Jacob | Tatie Danielle | Catherine Billard | ||
| Odette Laure | Daddy Nostalgie | Miche | ||
| Danièle Lebrun | Uranus | Mrs. Archambaud | ||
| Thérèse Liotard | My Father's Glory | La Gloire de mon père | Aunt Rose | |
| My Mother's Castle | Le Château de ma mère | |||
| 1992 (17th) | Anne Brochet | All the Mornings of the World | Tous les matins du monde | Madeleine |
| Jane Birkin | The Beautiful Troublemaker | La Belle Noiseuse | Liz Frenhofer | |
| Catherine Jacob | Thank You Life | Merci la vie | Evangéline Pelleveau | |
| Valérie Lemercier | L'Opération Corned-Beef | Marie-Laurence Granianski | ||
| Hélène Vincent | I Don't Kiss | J'embrasse pas | Evelyne | |
| 1993 (18th) | Dominique Blanc | Indochine | Yvette | |
| Brigitte Catillon | A Heart in Winter | Un cœur en hiver | Regine | |
| Michèle Laroque | The Crisis | La Crise | Martine | |
| Maria Pacôme | Mrs. Barelle | |||
| Zabou Breitman | Isa Barelle | |||
| 1994 (19th) | Valérie Lemercier | The Visitors | Les Visiteurs | Frénégonde de Pouille / Béatrice de Montmirail |
| Myriam Boyer | 1, 2, 3, Sun | Un, deux, trois, soleil | Daniela Laspada | |
| Judith Henry | Germinal | Catherine Maheu | ||
| Marie Trintignant | Les Marmottes | Lucie | ||
| Marthe Villalonga | My Favourite Season | Ma saison préférée | Berthe | |
| 1995 (20th) | Virna Lisi | Queen Margot | La Reine Margot | Catherine de' Medici |
| Dominique Blanc | Queen Margot | La Reine Margot | Henriette de Nevers | |
| Catherine Jacob | Neuf mois | Dominique | ||
| Michèle Moretti | Wild Reeds | Les Roseaux sauvages | Madame Alvarez | |
| Line Renaud | I Can't Sleep | J'ai pas sommeil | Ninon | |
| 1996 (21st) | Annie Girardot | Les Misérables | Madame Thénardier | |
| Jacqueline Bisset | The Ceremony | La Cérémonie | Catherine Lelièvre | |
| Clotilde Courau | Élisa | Solange | ||
| Carmen Maura | Happiness Is in the Field | Le Bonheur est dans le pré | Dolores Thivart | |
| Claire Nadeau | Nelly and Mr. Arnaud | Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud | Jacqueline | |
| 1997 (22nd) | Catherine Frot | Family Resemblances | Un air de famille | Yolande Ménard |
| Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | My Man | Mon homme | Sanguine | |
| Agnès Jaoui | Family Resemblances | Un air de famille | Betty Ménard | |
| Sandrine Kiberlain | A Self Made Hero | Un héros très discret | Yvette | |
| Michèle Laroque | Pédale douce | Marie Hagutte | ||
| 1998 (23rd) | Agnès Jaoui | Same Old Song | On connaît la chanson | Camille Lalande |
| Pascale Roberts | Marius and Jeannette | Marius et Jeannette | Caroline | |
| Mathilde Seigner | Dry Cleaning | Nettoyage à sec | Marylin | |
| Marie Trintignant | The Cousin | Le Cousin | Judge Lambert | |
| Karin Viard | Hikers | Les Randonneurs | Coralie | |
| 1999 (24th) | Dominique Blanc | Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train | Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train | Catherine |
| Anémone | Lautrec | Countess Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec | ||
| Arielle Dombasle | Boredom | L'Ennui | Sophie | |
| Catherine Frot | The Dinner Game | Le Dîner de Cons | Marlène Sasseur | |
| Emmanuelle Seigner | Place Vendôme | Nathalie | ||
| Year | Winner and nominees | English title | Original title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (45th) | Fanny Ardant | La Belle Époque | Marianne Drumond | |
| Josiane Balasko | By the Grace of God | Grâce à Dieu | Irène Thomassin | |
| Laure Calamy | Only the Animals | Seules les bêtes | Alice | |
| Sara Forestier | Oh Mercy! | Roubaix, une lumière | Marie | |
| Hélène Vincent | The Specials | Hors normes | Hélène | |
| 2021 (46th) [1] | Émilie Dequenne | Love Affair(s) | Les Choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait | Louise |
| Fanny Ardant | DNA | ADN | Caroline | |
| Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | Summer of 85 | Été 85 | David's mother | |
| Noémie Lvovsky | How to Be a Good Wife | La bonne épouse | Marie-Thérèse | |
| Yolande Moreau | Gilberte Van der Beck | |||
| 2022 (47th) [2] | Aïssatou Diallo Sagna | The Divide | La fracture | Kim |
| Lost Illusions | Illusions perdues | Marquise d'Espard | ||
| Louise de Bargeton | ||||
| Mandibles | Mandibules | Agnès | ||
| Aline | Sylvette Dieu | |||
| 2023 (48th) [3] | Noémie Merlant | The Innocent | L'innocent | Clemence |
| Judith Chemla | The Sixth Child | Le Sixième Enfant | Meriem | |
| Anaïs Demoustier | November | Novembre | Ines | |
| Anouk Grinberg | The Innocent | L'innocent | Sylvie | |
| Lyna Khoudri | November | Novembre | Samia | |
| 2024 (49th) [4] | Adèle Exarchopoulos | All Your Faces | Je verrai toujours vos visages | Chloé Delarme |
| All Your Faces | Je verrai toujours vos visages | Nawelle | ||
| Junkyard Dog | Chien de la casse | Elsa | ||
| All Your Faces | Je verrai toujours vos visages | Judith | ||
| Sabine | ||||
| 2025(50th) | Élodie Bouchez | Beating Hearts | L'Amour ouf | Clotaire's mother |
| Anaïs Demoustier | The Count of Monte Cristo | Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | Mercédès Herrera | |
| Catherine Frot | Misericordia | Miséricorde | Martine Rigal | |
| Nina Meurisse | Souleymane's Story | L'Histoire de Souleymane | OFPRA agent | |
| Sarah Suco | The Marching Band | En Fanfare | Sabrina | |
The following individuals received two or more Best Supporting Actress awards:
| Wins | Actress |
|---|---|
| 3 | Dominique Blanc |
| 2 | Karin Viard |
| Nathalie Baye | |
| Julie Depardieu | |
| Annie Girardot | |
| Valérie Lemercier | |
| Anne Alvaro | |
| Suzanne Flon | |
| Marie-France Pisier | |
The following individuals received three or more Best Supporting Actress nominations: