Emilie Dequenne has sadly passed away at the age of 43 after battling a rare form of cancer. The Belgian actress died two years after being diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma, reports The Mirror.
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a type of cancer that affects the adrenal gland. In October 2023, Emilie shared that she had begun treatment. By April 2024, she announced the positive news that she was in remission. At the time, she expressed hope in a post: “I was close to forgetting because I was leaving the hospital today after 13 days… What a tough battle.”
However, tragically, the cancer returned at the end of last year. Speaking openly about her declining health, she told the French television show TF1: “I know I will not live as long as planned,” reports The Mirror.
Emilie is perhaps best known to BBC audiences for playing Laurence Relaud in The Missing, a widely acclaimed drama. She also starred in Rosetta, a film that earned her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to Rosetta, her filmography includes Wolf, Yes, But…, The Very Merry Widows, The Light, and Close. She also appeared in French-language films such as The Girl on the Train and Our Children, reports The Mirror.
Her final film, Survive, was filmed in late 2022. Reflecting on the experience, she later revealed that she was unaware of her illness at the time. Speaking to Action Elite, she said: “So I’m fighting cancer, which is something really strange when you look at Survive and me fighting against all the crabs. But I didn’t know I was sick by the time I was shooting the movie, and I got sick almost like six or eight months later. I’m still fighting,” reports The Mirror.
Emilie shared that her own journey into motherhood influenced her choice to take on the role. She explained: “I can’t explain, but when you became a mother, it’s like your strength and your power and your braveness completely changed. And you see life through another vision. And that’s what completely attracted me when I read the script, is that for me, it was really realistic, actually despite the fact that, of course, it’s dystopic and I love that.”
In The Missing, Emilie portrayed Laurence Relaud, a local police officer who supports Tony Hughes, played by James Nesbitt. The show follows Tony as he desperately searches for answers after his son Oliver goes missing in France, unable to move on without the truth, reports The Mirror.
Beyond The Missing, Emilie won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 for Rosetta, which also received the Palme d’Or. In 2012, she won the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress at Cannes for her role as Murielle in Our Children. Additionally, she earned a Magritte Award for the same role and was nominated for a Satellite Award.
Emilie is survived by her husband, Michel Ferracci, and her daughter, reports The Mirror.
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