Happy Birthday Eva Green

French actress Eva Green first caught the world's attention as the Bond girl in Casino Royale. As the pretty actress turns a year older we bring you her life in pics.

She is the daughter of Algerian-born French actress Marlène Jobert and Swedish dentist Walter Green. Her aunt is the French actress Marika Green. Eva was born by Caesarean section at the St Vincent de Paul hospital in Paris on July 5, 1980.

Eva has a non-identical twin sister Joy, who is married to an Italian count and lives in Normandy. According to her mother Marlène, Joy Green "was never attracted by the lure of the cinema and devotes all her spare time to her horses."

She left school to take up acting. Her schooldays were far from happy, she admitted in a later interview: "I was a very good student, but I was a perfectionist. I wanted to be perfect in French, English, maths, everything. It was too much. In my school, there was no real relationship with the teacher, and I was very shy, just eyeing the walls. You couldn't bloom as an individual. So I decided to stop school one night, when I was 16."

Eva spent her early childhood in France and then moved to London where she studied at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

Before her entry into films, Eva acted on stage. Her performance in plays like Didier Long's Jalousie En Trois Fax and Gerard Deshartes' Turcaret won her both critical acclaim and award nominations. (Photo Courtesy: Glamour magazine)

She also worked in several French TV shows like Tout le monde en parle (in 2001) and Comme au cinema (in 2003).

Interestingly her mother never wanted Eva to face the pressures of life as an actress. Eva ignored her advice to play Isabelle in Bernardo Bertolucci The Dreamers in 2002.

The Dreamers was controversial for some scenes that demanded full frontal nudity and a sexual frankness that most actresses would never dare approach. However Eva did not shy away from the challenge. This is what she said later about the role: "It's not gratuitous. It's very pure, and not sick. We are like animals, pure animals - young puppies that are free".

Her performance in The Dreamers received mixed reviews and there were some comparisons to actress Liv Tyler.

In 2004 she became the star of Jean-Paul Salomé's adaptation of Maurice Leblanc's novel, Arsène Lupin.

A year later Green made her Hollywood debut opposite Orlando Bloom as the exotic Sybilla in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. She reportedly had to go through six screen tests to bag the role. But it ended in somewhat of a disappointment for the actress because Scott was forced to edit out a large part of her role due to the length of the film.

She had to miss out Rache Weisz's Oscar-winning role in the The Constant Gardener and Hilary Swank's part in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia because of her commitment to the Kingdom of Heaven

2006 proved to be a real turning point for the actress. Casino Royale introduced to the world a new Bond, Daniel Craig, and a new Bond girl, Eva Green.

Reports suggest that Eva was first approached to play Vesper Lynd in 2005 but she refused, fearing that she would be typecast 'as that sex girl from The Dreamers. She eventually signed on for Casino Royale after reading the script. Eva was impressed by the complexity of Vesper Lynd's character and the love story between Vesper and Bond.

Her performance as Vesper Lynd was appreciated and in fact she was called the fourth best Bond girl of all time.

Eva went on to win a BAFTA and an Empire award for her performance in Casino Royale.

She portrayed the witch Serafina Pekkala in The Golden Compass.

In 2009 Eva was then seen in Franklyn where she played the role of a schizophrenic woman.

The same year she starred in Cracks, as boarding school headmistress Miss G who develops a fascination with one her teenage pupils. According to her, the relationship was not depicted graphically enough on screen: "The love scene is soft - I wanted to go even further. In the book, she's more sexual."

She has finished shooting for Womb, a futuristic drama about a distraught widow who decides to clone her deceased husband.

Besides films, Eva has also modelled for Breil Jewels, Emporio Armani, Lancome, Heineken and Midnight Poison perfume by Christian Dior.

Giorgio Armani was so impressed after seeing Eva in The Dreamers that he based his Spring collection of 2005 around her. In 2007, Green became the face of the house of Dior by John Galliano.

She appeared at Dior's 30th Anniversary show in Versailles wearing a shocking pink kimono, a goth-geisha look designed by John Galliano himself.

She is also supporting UNICEF and wants to one day return to her first love theatre.

Eva will also be seen in a 10-part series, Camelot, as sorceress Morgana.

She is the international brand ambassador for German jewellery and watch maker Montblanc.

Eva was in a relationship with actor/director Yann Claassen who was several years her senior. After splitting from him, she began dating New Zealand actor Marton Csokas, again 14 years elder to her. She has enjoyed a steady relationship with Csokas whom she met on the sets of Kingdom of Heaven.

She is currently working in David Mackenzie's The Last Word alongside Ewan McGregor. The film is reportedly a love story set in a city where people are slowly losing their sensory perception.

Eva has said she won't mind stripping again if the role demands.

About going nude, the actress said this in an interview: "I like to show emotions and if that mean being naked and it's not gratuitous I might do it. I won't mind doing the act if the role demands." (Photo Courtesy: Max magazine)

Eva Trivia: Eva's favourite film is Cries and Whispers.

Eva Trivia: The most treasured item in her wardrobe is her black velvet Jean Paul Gaultier jacket.

Eva Trivia: Her favourite actresses are Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Jeanne Moreau, Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche and Helena Bonham Carter.

Eva Trivia: She says Cate Blanchett and Kirsten Dunst are her fashion influences.

Eva Trivia: Eva's dream is to star in a new version of My Fair Lady (1964). She took singing lessons and is an accomplished pianist.

Eva Trivia: She was chosen by Empire magazine in 2007 as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history and ranked #16 on Maxim's hot list 2006.

Eva Trivia: Her natural hair color is brownish blonde.

Eva Trivia: Eva received a letter from author Philip Pullman, in which he praised her for the performance in The Golden Compass, based on his novel.

Eva Trivia: She decided to use a body double for all her action scene in Casino Royale. (Photo Courtesy: Satoshi Saikusa)

Eva Trivia: She never travels without her contact lenses and a good book.

Eva Speaks: "The problem with Hollywood is that the studios are super powerful, they have far more power than the directors. My ambition at this moment is just to find a good script." (Photo Courtesy: Satoshi Saikusa)

Eva speaks: "When people first meet me, they find me very cold. I keep myself at a distance, and I think that's why I'm so drawn to acting. It allows me to wear a mask."

Eva Speaks: "I am a very shy person in life, very reserved, but you know, it's Bertolucci. I've seen Last Tango and it's not pornographic, it's not vulgar, it's not sick, so I trusted him. He's a master of love and eroticism, but it's good because I stopped being self-conscious. I felt like I was on drugs or anaesthetised because you have to be. You have to let yourself slip away and forget everything, forget the sound and all that."

Eva Speaks: "I am aware of the whole sexy French girl thing. You become a product and people typecast you. It is very stressful because you take it personally if you are not right for a part and you question yourself a lot."

Eva Speaks: "It must be very shocking for the American people, but what I don't understand is why they are so crazy about that. I don't understand why you can't see naked people on screen but we can see a baby being killed. It's quite strange. They're too puritan, too uptight." (Photo Courtesy: Arena magazine)

Eva Speaks: "I'd rather be thought as an international actress rather than a French one. Because I don't know what's coming up for me, my ambition is not to be typecast. So I'm working on my English accent, as well as my American one. I don't want to be like 'Okay, I'm French, and I want to succeed in Hollywood!' Juliette Binoche has set a good example of what I want to do, because she works all over the world, and that's what I want to do as well."

Eva Speaks: "I don't have a problem with someone having plastic surgery, but I think it's crazy for everyone to have the same body."

Eva Speaks: "I feel sick if I have to do something for the money. I can't breathe. I'm not proud of myself."

Eva Speaks: "It's hard to start out with Bertolucci and Scott. I'm spoiled. Who knows, maybe in ten years I will have stopped acting and be living in a castle in Ireland with a pack of dogs."