Melissa Mars
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in Marseilles, France, Melissa Mars began acting at the age of thirteen, at the Chocolat theater. Two years later, she began taking singing lessons.At age of sixteen, she moved to Paris, and earned a baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
in sciences at the Louis-Le-Grand high school
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
twelve months later. Despite this accomplishment, she ended her studies, but continued to study Spanish, English, piano, and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. She wrote short scripts and read modern theatrical works (Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
, Obaldia
René de Obaldia
René de Obaldia is a French playwright and poet. He was elected to the Académie française June 24, 1999.He grew up in Paris, studying at the Lycée Condorcet before being mobilised for the army in 1940. Taken prisoner, he was sent to Stalag VIII C...
, Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
, Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, and others).
In 1998, her agent arranged for her to dine with André Téchiné
André Téchiné
André Téchiné , is a French screenwriter and film director. He has had a long and distinguished career that places him among the best post-New Wave French film directors....
and François Bernheim. However, the dinner didn't work out as planned: According to Mars, "the meal progressed, but the interaction did not." François Bernheim asked to hear her sing. With her mother's help, she wrote her first song, "Papa m'aime pas." Five others followed. Having performed under the stage names Melissa Sefrani and Melissa Maylee, she ultimately adopted the last name Mars, a reference to the planet Mars and her penchant for dreams.
Mars was also cast in several film and television roles (Un aller simple and "Garonne," amongst others), and her first album, Et Alors!, released in March 2003, marked the real start of her career. Lacking widespread media distribution, the singles that followed were never released. The title song Et Alors! was made into a music video, filmed in Brussels, but this was not the case for the song Quelqu'un.
At the beginning of 2005, Mars released the album La Reine des abeilles, with its first track entitled "And … I Hate You." For this album, which had a folk-music style to it, she was accompanied by Franck Langolff. During the same period, she appeared on Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French, Italian and English....
's album 9 in the song "Les Homéricains." Not long after that, while her song "Dans Ma Bulle Antisismique" was being sent to the media promotionally, she replaced Carla Bruni
Carla Bruni
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is an Italian-French songwriter, singer, actress, and former model...
in appearances with Louis Bertignac
Louis Bertignac
Louis Bertignac is a French guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. An ex Shakin' Street member and a founding member in 1976 of the rock band Téléphone, he formed Bertignac et les Visiteurs after Téléphone split in 1986...
in scenes and live television on the show "Les Frôleuses."
In 2006, for her first round of concerts at the Théâtre des Déchargeurs, her album La Reine des abeilles was re-released, with a remix of "And … I Hate You," a previously unreleased duet entitled "Chaperon rouge," with Irmavep, and a new version of "Apocalips." Shortly thereafter, she appeared on Pascal Obispo
Pascal Obispo
Pascal Michel Obispo is a French singer/songwriter.Pascal Obispo started singing in 1980. He got his first record deal in 1990, Le long du fleuve. With his second album, Plus que tout au monde, selling over 2 million albums, his songs became a popular success...
's new album on two tracks, "La Machine" and "1980," released as a single in September 2006. Later she became the model for the new autumn-winter collection of Naf Naf clothing.
In May 2007, the single "Love Machine" was released on the Internet as a teaser
Teaser
A teaser is a type of gambling bet that allows the bettor to combine his bets on two different games. The bettor can adjust the point spreads for the two games, but realizes a lower return on the bets in the event of a win....
for Mars' album À la recherche de l'amour perdu,
which followed in release four months later. Not long before this, an extended-play version of "Love Machine" was released, with four remixes and an English version. The concert tour that was to follow was canceled, apart from one concert on 10 December 2007 at La Cigale
La Cigale
La Cigale is a theater at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex that is connected to Le Trabendo and the Boule Noire. The hall can accommodate 1389 people or 954 people...
in Paris.
Mars joined the cast of the musical Mozart, l'opéra rock
Mozart, l'opéra rock
Mozart, l'opéra rock is a French musical directed by Olivier Dahan and produced by Dove Attia and Albert Cohen. The show uses both pop-rock compositions and music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Productions:...
(produced by Dove Attia et Olivier Dahan) in September 2009. She appears in the role of Aloysia Weber
Aloysia Weber
Maria Aloysia Louise Antonia Weber was a German soprano, remembered primarily for her association with the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Biography:...
, Mozart's first love and his greatest romantic disappointment.
Studio albums
- 2003 : Et alors! (#104 France)
- 2005 / 2006 : La Reine des abeilles
- 2007 : À la recherche de l'amour perdu (#93 France)
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "T'am – Tam" | (none) |
| 2000 | "Qu'elles aillent se faire voir" | (none) |
| 2003 | "Papa m'aime pas" (#70 France) | Et alors! |
| 2003 | "Et alors!" | Et alors! |
| 2003 | "Quelqu'un" | Et alors! |
| 2005 | "And … I Hate You" | La Reine des abeilles |
| 2005 | "Dans ma bulle antisismique" | La Reine des abeilles |
| 2006 | "Apocalips" | La Reine des abeilles |
| 2006 | "1980" (duet with Pascal Obispo Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo is a French singer/songwriter.Pascal Obispo started singing in 1980. He got his first record deal in 1990, Le long du fleuve. With his second album, Plus que tout au monde, selling over 2 million albums, his songs became a popular success... ) (#3 Belgique, #5 France, #43 Suisse) |
Les Fleurs du bien |
| 2007 | "Love Machine" (#93 France) | À la recherche de l'amour perdu |
| 2008 | "Et si nous 2" (duet with Pascal Obispo Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo is a French singer/songwriter.Pascal Obispo started singing in 1980. He got his first record deal in 1990, Le long du fleuve. With his second album, Plus que tout au monde, selling over 2 million albums, his songs became a popular success... ) |
À la recherche de l'amour perdu |
| 2009 | "Army of Love" | À la recherche de l'amour perdu |
Filmography
- 1996: Titane, by Daniel Moosmann
- 1998: Locked-in Syndrome, by Isabelle Ponnet (short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
) - 1998: Le Rire du bourreau, by Elsa Chabrol (short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
) - 1999: Virilité et autres sentiments modernes, by Ronan Girre
- 2000: "P.J." on France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
, by Gérard Vergez (TV series) - 2001: Un aller simple, by Laurent Heynemann
- 2002: "Garonne" (in which she sings the original soundtrack by Claude d'AnnaClaude d'AnnaClaude d'Anna is a French film director and screenwriter. He has directed 16 films since 1970. His film Salome was screened in the Un Certain Regard section the 1986 Cannes Film Festival...
- 2010: From Paris with Love (film)From Paris with Love (film)From Paris with Love is a 2010 action film starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and directed by Pierre Morel. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson. The film was released in the United States on February 5, 2010.-Plot:...
, by Pierre MorelPierre Morel-Movie career:After spending his formative years in cinema school, Pierre Morel debuted in 2000 as camera operator with the first Richard Berry's film L'Art de la séduction....