Key Points
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French actress Nadia Farès has died at the age of 57.
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The star of several films by Romuald Boulanger and Claude Lelouch was discovered unconscious in a Paris swimming pool on April 12, and later died in a hospital on April 17.
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Farès’ daughter, Cylia Chasman, wrote in tribute following her mother’s death, “It pains me to say goodbye but mama I will make you so proud.”
The celebrated French actress Nadia Farès has died at the age of 57.
Farès was discovered unconscious in a swimming pool at the Blanche sports complex in Paris on April 12, according to multiple French outlets, including newspaper Le Figaro. The actress suffered cardiac arrest while paddling in the pool, Cylia and Shana Chasman, Farés’ daughters with American producer Steve Chasman, said in a statement given to the French news agency AFP (per Le Monde) on Sunday. Farès was underwater for several minutes before being rescued.
She was placed into a coma at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital shortly after her rescue, and died on April 17.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the death this Friday of Nadia Farès. France has lost a great artist, but for us, it is above all a mother that we have just lost,” Farès’ daughters wrote.
Nadia Farès at Paris Fashion Week in 2025
Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty
Farès underwent brain surgery to remove a “small aneurysm” in 2007, she revealed In her final interview, given to the French outlet Gala in January. She called it “a ticking time bomb that needed to be treated urgently,” adding that “in four years, I underwent three heart surgeries.”
Officials told Le Monde that an investigation has been opened into Farès’ death, but no wrongdoing has been established.
Cylia Chasman mourned her mother in an emotional Instagram post shared on Saturday, which featured childhood photobooth shots of mother and daughter.
“Mama. This is a heartbreak I will never get over. Everyday I wake up and pray this is a nightmare and that you’re still with us,” she wrote. “It pains me to say goodbye but mama I will make you so proud.”
Farès was acclaimed for her versatility and emotional force as an actress in her home country. The French-Moroccan star was also gearing up to direct her first movie, based off a screenplay she authored, she told Gala.
“I’ve been writing screenplays for years, and until now, I hadn’t managed to get any projects signed. Finally, through hard work, self-reflection, and persistence, I’ve found a great team; we’re working together on an action comedy with [Studio TF1],” she shared.
The French production and distribution hub is behind popular series like the Canal+ hit Versailles, and films like 2023’s family comedy Funny Birds, starring Andrea Riseborough and Catherine Deneuve.
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Farès was best known for her breakout role, the mysterious dual part of Fanny Ferreira and Judith Hérault in the gritty, 2000 crime thriller The Crimson Rivers. She also appeared in several films by directors Romuald Boulanger and Claude Lelouch, including On the Line, starring Mel Gibson, and the ensemble drama Everyone’s Life.
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