Émilie Dequenne death: Award-winning Rosetta actor and The Missing star dies, aged 43

Belgian actor Émilie Dequenne has died aged 43.

The star revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare cancer of the adrenal gland (adrenocortical carcinoma), in 2023. She died in a hospital just outside of Paris on Sunday (16 March), her family and agent confirmed.

Dequenne first shot to fame as an 18-year-old for her role in Rosetta in 1999. The coming-of-age drama directed by the Dardenne Brothers earned her an award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the movie winning a Palm D’Or. She returned to the Festival last year to celebrate 25 years since the achievement.

The film was widely believed to have influenced the “Rosetta Law” prohibiting employers from under-paying young workers, however the directors confirmed that the law existed prior to the release, but had not been passed through at that point.

She was best known to British audiences for her performance as police officer Laurence Relaud in the BBC drama The Missing. Dequenne was also awarded for her work in French language films including The Girl on the Train (2009) and Our Children (2012).

Her final project was the English-language thriller, Survive, released last year. In one of her final interviews, she told The Action: “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, I’m still on chemo for now, but I’m okay, I’m okay.”

After being diagnosed with the cancer in 2023, she revealed she had been given the all-clear in April 2024 and hoped to return to normality after the ordeal. However, the cancer returned at the end of last year with Dequenne telling French TV: “'I know I will not live as long as planned”.

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Her last posts include passionate dedications thanking her husband Michel Ferracci for his support. The couple were married in 2014. Dequenne leaves behind a 22-year-old daughter, Milla Savarese, also an actor.

In one of her final posts, the star wrote about a “tough fight” as she shared: “Today is World Cancer Day. Almost forgot, as I was leaving the hospital today after 13 days. What a tough fight! And we don't choose.

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“Just writing these few words is an oversized effort. (By the way, sorry to those whose wishes I didn't answer, while it's February)THANK YOU again to my family (@michelferracci who had the worst night ever), my amazing parents, my friends.”