Let’s talk about the talented Zita Hanrot on the occasion of the release of the film “À mon seul désir,” in which she plays the leading role. A look back at a truly fascinating career!
Zita Hanrot, a French actress of Jamaican and French descent, is known for her passion for theater and her prolific film career.
A path chosen early
Born to a Jamaican mother and a French father from Reims, Zita Hanrot was deeply influenced by the performance Les Éphémères by Ariane Mnouchkine, which shaped her decision to become an actress. Although she studied art history to reassure her parents, she also performed in an amateur theater troupe before joining L’École du jeu – Delphine Eliet in Paris in 2009, followed by the drama conservatory with Daniel Mesguich and Gérard Desarthe in 2011, graduating in 2014. She cites Béatrice Dalle as a source of inspiration after discovering the actress in Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 37°2 le matin.
In 2012, Zita Hanrot was noticed for her performance in the film Radiostars, alongside Manu Payet and Clovis Cornillac.
In 2014, she played a restaurant waitress in the film Une nouvelle amie with Romain Duris. She also starred in Rose et le soldat alongside Fred Testot, where she portrayed Rose, a young schoolteacher stripped of her job by Vichy laws, torn between her political convictions and her budding love for a French soldier. That same year, she also played Anaïs in Mia Hansen-Løve’s film Eden.
The César Awards
In 2015, she won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role as Nesrine in Philippe Faucon’s film Fatima, which also won the César Award for Best Film. In the movie, she played a medical student, daughter of a Maghrebi immigrant struggling to master the French language, fighting against social determinism. She stated that working with Philippe Faucon was difficult because he demanded a performance free of artifice, requiring many takes.
In 2016, she filmed De sas en sas, a drama directed by Rachida Brakni about women visiting relatives in the visiting room of Fleury-Mérogis prison, while also working on the writing of a short film.
In 2018, she played the lead role in the Netflix-produced series Plan cœur.
In 2019, she played the role of Samia, a senior education advisor arriving at a suburban middle school, in the film La Vie scolaire.
Today, you can find Zita starring in the film À mon seul désir by Lucie Borleteau, alongside the talented Louise Chevillotte and Tokou, portraying young women working in Paris’s erotic entertainment world.
Nofi had the opportunity to speak with the film’s two leading actresses. You can watch the full 20-minute interview here:
