Léa Drucker (; born 23 January 1972) is a French actress. She played Catherine Durand in the French-British television series War of the Worlds. She won two César Awards for Best Actress for portraying an abused woman in Custody (2017) and a dedicated IGPN investigator in Case 137 (2025).
Early life Born in Caen, Normandy, Drucker is the niece of television presenter Michel Drucker, and of ex-president of M6 Jean Drucker. Her father Jacques is a medical doctor, and her mother, Martine, an English teacher. She is the cousin of the journalist Marie Drucker. Her paternal grandfather was a Romanian Jewish immigrant.
Drucker studied acting at the École de la rue Blanche, the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT) in Paris.
Career Drucker's early career encompassed both classical theatre pieces like Le Misanthrope, and contemporary plays such as Blanc by Emmanuelle Marie.
Drucker has been twice nominated for the Molière Award for Best Female Revelation, in 2001 for her role in Danny et la grande bleue and in 2004 for 84 Charing Cross Road. In 2017, she starred in Xavier Legrand's domestic abuse drama Custody, which premiered in competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. For her performance, she won Best Actress at the 44th César Awards.
In 2019, Drucker began her first work in English-language television, starring as Catherine Durand in three seasons (24 episodes) of the StudioCanal French-British television series War of the Worlds (2019–2022), alongside Gabriel Byrne and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
In 2025, Drucker starred in Dominik Moll's crime drama Case 137, which premiered in competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. For her performance, she won her second César Award for Best Actress, and received a nomination for the European Film Award for Best Actress.
Personal life Drucker is in a relationship with director and screenwriter Julien Rambaldi. They have one daughter, born in July 2014.
Filmography
Films Year Title Role Director Notes 1991 La thune Edwige's friend Philippe Galland 1992 List of Merite Solange Charles Nemes 1993 Colis d'oseille Alice Yves Lafaye TV movie1995 Raï Girl at the party Thomas Gilou Ah les femmes Emmanuelle Nicolas Hourès Short1997 Assassin(s) Léa Mathieu Kassovitz Bouge! Nathalie Jérôme Cornuau 1998 L'annonce faite à Marius Brigitte Harmel Sbraire 1999 Peut-être Clotilde Cédric Klapisch Mes amis Gilda Michel Hazanavicius Un pur moment de rock'n roll Florence Manuel Boursinhac Fait d'hiver Robert Enrico La vie ne me fait pas peur Noémie Lvovsky 2001 Chaos Nicole Coline Serreau 2002 In My Skin Sandrine Marina de Van Hypnotized and Hysterical (Hairstylist Wanted) Coraline Claude Duty 3 zéros Debby Fabien Onteniente Papillons de nuit Roberta John Pepper Pourkoi... passkeu She Tristan Aurouet & Gilles Lellouche Short2003 Bienvenue au gîte Agnès Claude Duty Concours de circonstance The woman Mabrouk El Mechri Short2004 Narco The binoculars Tristan Aurouet & Gilles Lellouche À quoi ça sert de voter écolo ? Camille Aure Atika Short Illustre inconnue The hairdresser Marc Fitoussi Short Du bois pour l'hiver Paul's wife Olivier Jahan Short2005 Virgil Margot Mabrouk El Mechri Akoibon The tourist Édouard Baer Dans tes rêves Jenny Denis Thybaud 2006 The Man of My Life Frédérique Zabou Breitman The Tiger Brigades Léa Jérôme Cornuau 2 filles A girl Lola Doillon Short La blonde au bois dormant Estelle Fenelon Sébastien Grall TV movie2007 Tel père telle fille Alice Olivier De Plas Faits divers Marie Bill Barluet Short J'ai plein de projets The woman at the door Karim Adda Short Divine Émilie Émilie du Châtelet Arnaud Sélignac TV movie2008 Coluche: l'histoire d'un mec Véronique Colucci Antoine de Caunes Le bruit des gens autour Kate Diastème Animal singulier Suzanne Hélène Guétary Short 2009 Cyprien Héléna David Charhon 2010 Pièce montée Hélène Denys Granier-Deferre Les meilleurs amis du monde Mathilde Julien Rambaldi Pauline et François Catherine Renaud Fely A vos caisses! Marie-Jo Pierre Isoard TV movie 2011 Jeanne Devère Jeanne Devère Marcel Bluwal TV movie2012 Je me suis fait tout petit Ariane Cécilia Rouaud La vérité si je mens 3 Muriel Salomon Thomas Gilou Crapuleuses Pascale Magaly Richard-Serrano TV movie2013 The Big Bad Wolf Patricia Delcroix Nicolas & Bruno Je suis supporter du Standard Martine Riton Liebman Just Before Losing Everything Miriam Xavier Legrand ShortNominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film2014 The Blue Room Delphine Gahyde Mathieu Amalric Au nom des fils Odile Chasseuil Christian Faure TV movie Des Roses en Hiver Elsa Lorenzo Gabriele TV movie2015 Stop Me Here Louise Lablache Gilles Bannier Pierre Brossolette ou les passagers de la lune Gilberte Coline Serreau TV movie 2016 News from Planet Mars Myriam Dominik Moll 2017 The Teacher Caroline Olivier Ayache-Vidal La Consolation Gigi Magaly Richard-Serrano TV movie Custody Miriam Besson Xavier Legrand 2018 Place publique Nathalie Agnès Jaoui 2019 Roxane Anne-Marie Leroux Mélanie Auffret Synonyms French Teacher Nadav Lapid Je promets d'être sage Sybille Dermaux Ronan Le Page La sainte famille Marie Louis-Do de Lencquesaing Two of Us Anne Filippo Meneghetti Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 2020 Vulnérables Elsa Arnaud Sélignac TV movie C'est la vie Manon Laval Julien Rambaldi 2021 Petite Solange Aurélia Maserati Axelle Ropert Chère Léa Harriet Jérôme Bonnell Adieu Paris L'auxiliaire de vie d'Alain Édouard Baer 2022 Incredible but True Marie Duval Quentin Dupieux Le monde d'hier Isabelle de Raincy Diastème Close Nathalie Lukas Dhont Nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film Les femmes du square Hélène Julien Rambaldi Couleurs de l'incendie Madeleine Péricourt Clovis Cornillac 2023 Last Summer Anne Catherine Breillat Mars Express Aline Ruby Jérémie Périn Voice 2024 Bettina Pascal Bonitzer 2025 Case 137 Stéphanie Bertrand Dominik Moll Adam's Interest Lucy Laura Wandel 2026 A Woman's Life Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
TV series Year Title Role Director Notes1992 Chien et chat The cashier Philippe Galland 1 episode 1995-1998 Anne Le Guen Louise Le Guen Stéphane Kurc 4 episodes1995 L'histoire du samedi Lil Christiane Spiero 1 episode2000 Duelles Adriane Roux Laurence Katrian 1 episode Avocats & associés Martine Mérieux / Lawyer Castor Denis Amar & Philippe Triboit 2 episodes2001 Fabien Cosma Valérie Franck Apprederis 1 episode2005 Kaamelott Morgan le Fay Alexandre Astier and François Guérin 2 episodes2009 Suite noire Nora Claire Devers 1 episode 2015-2017 The Bureau Dr Laurène Balmes Mathieu Demy, Laïla Marrakchi, ... 19 episodes2016 Blaise Carole Jean-Paul Guigue & Camillelvis Théry Short, 30 episodes 2019-2022 War of the Worlds Catherine Durand Richard Clark & Gilles Coulier 24 episodes2023 Sous contrôle (En. Under Control) Marie Teissier - Miniseries
Director / Writer Year Title Notes 2013 Jeudi 15 h Short
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Work Result César Awards 2019 Best Actress Custody 2024 Last Summer 2026 Case 137 El Gouna Film Festival 2025 Best Actress Adam's Interest Ensor Awards 2023 Best Performance in a Supporting Role Close European Film Awards 2026 European Actress Case 137 Globe de Cristal Awards 2007 Best Actress The Man of My Life 2019 Custody Lumière Awards 2019 Best Actress 2024 Last Summer 2026 Case 137 Molière Awards 2001 Best Female Revelation Danny et la grande bleue 2004 84 Charing Cross Road 2016 Best Actress Un amour qui ne finit pas 2020 La Dame de chez Maxim
Theatre Year Title Author Director1994 The Misanthrope Molière Roger Hanin Lysistrata Aristophanes Samuel Serreau-Labib1995 The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest Tirso de Molina Jean-Louis Jacopin Le Mot Victor Hugo Xavier Marcheschi Le Projet Gilles Dyrek, Frédéric Hulné, ... Gilles Dyrek1996 Les Vilains Ruzzante Marjorie Nakache Plaidoyer pour un boxeur Marcia Romano Serge Brincat 2000 Extrême Nudité Christiane Liou Hans Peter Cloos 2000-2001 Danny and the Deep Blue Sea John Patrick Shanley John R. Pepper 2002-03 Mangeront-ils Victor Hugo Benno Besson 2003 84 Charing Cross Road Helene Hanff Serge Hazanavicius 2004 Three Days of Rain Richard Greenberg Jean-Marie Besset & Gilbert Desveaux 2006 Blanc Emmanuelle Marie Zabou Breitman 2006-2007 La folle et véritable vie de Luigi Prizzoti Édouard Baer Édouard Baer 2007 Le Système Ribadier Georges Feydeau Christian Bujeau 2008-10 Blackbird David Harrower Claudia Stavisky 2009 Miam Miam Édouard Baer Édouard Baer 2010 The Lover Harold Pinter Didier Long2011 Mer Tino Caspanello Jean-Louis Benoît Jeux de scène Victor Haïm Zabou Breitman 2012 Lúcido Rafael Spregelburd Marcial Di Fonzo Bo2012-13 Demain il fera jour Henry de Montherlant Michel Fau À la française Édouard Baer Édouard Baer 2015-16 Un amour qui ne finit pas André Roussin Michel Fau 2016 La Porte à côté Fabrice Roger-Lacan Bernard Murat2017 Cuisine et dépendances & Un air de famille Jean-Pierre Bacri & Agnès Jaoui Agnès Jaoui La Vraie vie Fabrice Roger-Lacan Bernard Murat
References
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