Who was Émilie Dequenne married to? Personal life explored as Cannes Best Actress winner passes away at 43

Rosetta star Émilie Dequenne, 43, unexpectedly passed away on March 16, 2025. The actress’ agent Danielle Gain first confirmed the news while speaking to AFP, saying that she was hospitalized outside Paris and had been battling a form of cancer called adrenocortical carcinoma for around two years.

Émilie started her career at a young age and became popular for the characters she portrayed. She was additionally known for her work on stage plays such as Lysistrata and got nominated for various awards after her appearance on projects such as Our Children and Not My Type.

Apart from being active in the acting industry, Émilie Dequenne had a daughter named Milla, born from her marriage to Michel Ferracci, as per The Pinnacle Gazette. She was previously in a relationship with Alexandre Savarese.

Émilie played the lead in the drama film Rosetta when she was just 17 years old, a role that earned her the prestigious Best Actress award at the Cannes Festival. Émilie Dequenne opened up on how she felt about winning an award for her first film while speaking to Festival De Cannes in 2023, saying that it motivated her to stay focused on her work.

She added:

“I come from a very down-to-earth family, I was very well surrounded. When I expressed my desire to do this job, my parents pushed me to take classes, to do as many things as possible related to my passion, while reminding me that it was important to continue school.”

Dequenne additionally addressed her attraction to “dramatic roles”, saying that she does not choose any character that does not touch her. She further stated that she opts to maintain a distance from comedy.

Coming to Émilie’s career on the small screen, she was known for playing Laurence Relaud in The Missing. Dequenne also had many television films in her credits, including Jean Moulin, Charlotte Corday, Obsession, La traversee, and Souviens-toi.

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Émilie Dequenne’s husband: Personal life and more

As mentioned, the Beloeil, Wallonia native was married to Michel Ferracci for more than 10 years. According to the latter’s IMDb bio, he has also been active in the acting industry like his wife, and gained recognition for his work on projects like Inside, Comme les cinq doigts de la main, and On aurait du alle ren Grece.

Notably, the duo has been spotted together on different occasions for all these years. As per Ecostylia magazine, Émilie and Michel also attended the Cannes Film Festival last year and the latter was still battling her cancer at the time.

Back in 2015, Émilie Dequenne opened up about her relationship as she spoke to So Film magazine, saying that she and Michel Ferracci had worked together at an events venue called Cercle Wagram.

“Michel was the director of the Cercle Wagram, where I sometimes played. But he’s an actor now. He’s completely stopped. In fact, he left the Cercle to be an actor at least three years before the trouble started.”

Although Émilie and Michel had a child together, Dequenne was also a mother of two sons born from Ferracci’s previous relationship, as per Tele-Loisirs. Ferracci was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, and was mostly known for being featured in a show titled Mafiosa.

Émilie Dequenne was also in the headlines after she announced her cancer diagnosis in October 2023 and the situation took a different turn when she had a relapse a year later. Émilie was last seen as Odile in a comedy-drama film, Mr. Blake at Your Service!, which received a positive response.