Florence Foresti

Florence Foresti (born 8 November 1973 in Vénissieux) is a French comedian and actress. Following her high school studies in literature, theatre and dramatic expression at Saint-Just de Lyon, she entered a school for cinematography at Lyon. She had several jobs, including working for EDF and as a computer graphics artist, before making her début in 1998 at the café-théâtre Le nOmbril du mOnde as part of the all-woman trio Les Taupes Models. The trio was noticed while touring, and Anne Roumanoff proposed making the act the first part of her show, launching Foresti's career.

In 2001 her first one-woman show, Manquerait plus qu'elle soit drôle, won the Jury prize at the Antibes festival. She appeared in Stéphane Bern's 20h 10 pétantes and Laurent Ruquier's On a tout essayé, playing zany characters. In 2005 she began her second one-woman show, Florence Foresti fait des sketchs. From May 2009 to April 2011 she staged her show MotherFucker, and from 13 to 23 September 2012 she performed the large-scale Foresti Party, broadcast live in cinemas.

On 26 February 2016, Foresti hosted the 41st César Awards. She has been named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and a Knight of the National Order of Merit.