Birth Name: Ariane Bourgoin
Age: 29
Birth Date: November 28 1981
Birth Place: Vannes, Bretagne, France
Nationality: French
Hair: Dark blonde
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 1m80 (5’11″)

Louise Bourgoin was born Ariane Bourgoin in Vannes, France, a city in the region of Bretagne (Brittany.) Her father had a PhD in Philosophy and her mother in Psychiatry, and so they wished their daughter, too, would find a stable job, but she chose to go to school for the arts instead. She attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, France with hopes of becoming a professor of visual arts after graduation. While in school, she did some modeling work for fellow students, most notably for photographer Ian Sanderson.

After graduating, Ariane wanted a job where she could make money quickly and she turned to TV, picking up a presenter’s gig in 2004 with young girls’ TV station Filles TV on a program called “Kawaï”. After two years, she had a brief appearance on Direct 8 as well, but the most important job of her career was still to come, when Michel Denisot of CanalPlus decided he wanted her for chat show Le Grand Journal. She joined the team as weather girl, and it was here that Ariane Bourgoin became Louise Bourgoin: Le Grand Journal already had an Ariane in Ariane Massenet and wanted to avoid confusion. She initially chose the pseudonym Salomé, but this was rejected by CanalPlus, so she chose Louise instead, as tribute to her favorite sculptor Louise Bourgeois.

Louise’s turn as Le Grand Journal’s “Miss Météo” was an extremely popular mélange of humor and sexiness. Her role on the program eventually expanded with the edition of “Lu à la TV”, a weekly segment where she presented the latest books and then parodied popular figures in pre-filmed sketches. These parodies, which included people like Carla Bruni, Ségloène Royal, Jean Sarkozy, and Sarah Palin, were her first foray into acting, but not her last.

Actor Fabrice Lucchini recommended Louise based on her Grand Journal appearances to director Anne Fontaine for her upcoming 2008 film “La Fille de Monaco” (The Girl From Monaco), and she accepted the part. The role — a ditzy, sexually liberal weather girl — earned her a nomination for Meilleur espoir féminin (Best Female Hope) at the 2009 César Awards, as well as a foot in the door in the world of cinema.

World famous director Luc Besson offered Louise the main role in his film adaptation of the comics “Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec” (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec) without a single reading or audition. Adèle, an intrepid Victorian era adventurer and novelist, was the role that introduced Louise to the international stage upon its release in 2010.

Her versatility as an actress was not under question, however. Also in 2010, Louise participated in Gilles Marchand’s techno-thriller “L’Autre monde” (Black Heaven) as a bleached blonde femme fatale, a character as far as can be from “La Fille de Monaco.” The film premiered on the biggest stage possible, at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. She was an ubiquitous presence on the screen that year, with “Adèle Blanc-Sec” and “L’Autre monde” premiering, as well as smaller parts in “Blanc comme neige” (White Snow) and Sweet Valentine.

The future looks bright for this beautiful ex weather girl: coming up later in 2011 is a leading role in Rémi Bezançon’s “Un heureux evénément” (A Happy Event), followed by an adaptation of novel “L’Amour dure trois ans” (Love Lasts Three Years) in early 2012. And even though she’s busy with films, photoshoots, fashion shows, and all the other trappings of fame, Louise still finds time to return to her art school roots and paint.