At 30 years old today, Nadia Tereszkiewicz is a face that has made a mark on the big screen. With 17 films under her belt since her first steps as an extra in the film “La danseuse” in 2016, this former ballerina found her calling by daring to put away her pointe shoes and tutus…
On this Sunday, May 24, 2026, Nadia Tereszkiewicz celebrates her 30th birthday. For the Franco-Finnish actress, famous for portraying the “bearded lady” in Rosalie and winning the César award for Best Female Newcomer for her role in Les Amandiers, acting is a surprising career change rather than a childhood dream. Because what Nadia Tereszkiewicz wanted to do in life was to dance. A classical dancer from age 4 to 18, and a lover of ballet, she started her career on stage. “I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, it symbolized success for me (…) All my best friends are at the Opéra de Paris,” she said in the 2024 podcast Pépites.
Nadia Tereszkiewicz: how did this classical dancer, with a clear future, become an actress? A student at the National Higher Pole of Dance Rosella Hightower in Cannes, practicing over eight hours a day and traveling across Europe or the United States to dance, Nadia Tereszkiewicz suddenly put her tutus away and stopped dancing from her adulthood. “While I still do contemporary dance, I stopped classical dance because I realized it was too hard and I wasn’t fulfilled. I was missing something,” she said in Le Temps in 2023. Nadia then pursued studies in literature. Fluent in Finnish, her mother tongue, Italian, English, and with Polish grandparents, she became a student in hypokhâgne-khâgne, theater option, after receiving a “report card to make parents dream and a high school diploma with an average of 18.9,” as highlighted by Le Monde in 2025. But her good academic results did not bring her any money yet, so she decided to use her experience as a dancer to make ends meet: “I had no artistic ambition. I did it to pay my bills,” she said to a newspaper. Nadia Tereszkiewicz thus became an extra dancer, alongside her high school studies, and appeared in advertising campaigns for Repetto, Uber, and Roger Vivier.
In 2016, she graduated with honors in her exams and landed a small role in the film La Danseuse by Stéphanie Di Giusto, after attending the casting without any intention. She then joined the Conservatoire of Dramatic Art in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, under the guidance of Professor Marc Ernotte, and the Free Class of the Cours Florent. All the pieces of the puzzle finally found their rightful place: “I love the idea of entering a fictitious space, whether to dance or to act,” she said on Radio Nova in January 2026. Nadia Tereszkiewicz admits she was not the most cinephile when entering the industry. Having no TV at home and only watching works recommended by her parents, she now makes up for lost time with enthusiasm. Her favorite actress is her “godmother” Marion Cotillard, whose nuances she admires. For someone who is about to embark on a career worthy of her idol, the stars are aligned: she was invited to the Cannes Film Festival this year on the sides of Adèle Exarchopoulos for the film Mariage au goût d’orange by Christophe Honoré and is already among the beauty ambassadors of the Dior brand. Although she arrived unexpectedly on set, Nadia Tereszkiewicz intends to stay an actress: “Working on a role is so creative. I hope to still be acting at 90,” she told Le Monde. This is all we wish her! [Context: The article discusses the transition of Nadia Tereszkiewicz from a classical dancer to a successful actress, highlighting her career path and achievements. Fact Check: The mentioned details about Nadia Tereszkiewicz’s background, education, and career progression can be verified through publicly available sources.]
