French fancy: Cecile Cassel

Despite being a member of an intimidating European dynasty, Cécile Cassel is not a scary French person. Her father, Jean-Pierre Cassel, was a sort of French Fred Astaire, an all-singing, all-dancing leading man to legends such as Catherine Deneuve, Jean Seberg and Brigitte Bardot. Her half-brother Vincent stormed into the limelight in 1995's incendiary film La Haine and has since gone international with parts in

Cécile, 26, is the only child from Jean-Pierre's second marriage to Anne, a sports agent, and grew up oblivious to the fact that her father was a film star. 'He was my idol but for other reasons,' she says. 'He was another generation [Jean-Pierre was 49 when she was born] so at school he was the hero of all the mothers. I think my problems started when Vincent became a big star with La Haine. I was 14, which was exactly the generation for this movie, so it was more difficult to live with that.'

She left school at 17 and started waitressing to pay for drama classes, but it took only a year for her to win her first lead role, in 2002's La Bande du Drugstore, written and directed by French novelist François Armanet. 'People saw the movie and I started getting more offers and castings,' she says, 'but I don't think I was ready for it. It was that typical French movie that shows off the fresh girl, the upcoming girl, but I wasn't ready.'

With 48 hours to spare, the visa was faxed through and Cécile was told to jump on the next plane. 'Sarah Jessica Parker was so relaxed and straightforward, and she spoke in French just for me and did everything to make me feel comfortable. For me, the big thing was meeting Mikhail Baryshnikov. For me he is God. He is the most adorable person and so handsome and beautiful.'

She was sent to a London casting for the lead, Gemma, in a British romcom called My Last Five Girlfriends, loosely based on Alain de Botton's Essays in Love. 'It is really a romantic comedy done in the way that only British people can,' she says. 'It is funny and cynical and romantic. It's about a guy writing a suicide note and talking about each of his last five girlfriends.'

Now Cécile is back in the Marais about to start the promotional work for Ex, an Italian film. She will then start filming a new film with Benoît Magimel, a popular French film star.

Cécile's life is like a roll call of France's finest. Nevertheless, there is a distinct lack of ennui about her. Her friends, she says, always tell her what they really think. 'And Vincent doesn't say much. When it's good, he doesn't say a word. When it's not good, he has many things to say.' She laughs and says, 'He's a big brother. For my father, though, I was perfect.'

She has an on-going relationship with Louis Vuitton and Chanel and a campaign of some sort will surely be just around the corner. She harnessed even more personal glamour through a three-year relationship with the devastating French pin-up Gaspard Ulliel, star of Hannibal Rising and Kate Moss's Longchamp campaign co-model. They split up last year but remain friends. She has a new boyfriend whom she describes only as 'somebody'. He is not an actor.

She is 'not crazy about the whole LA thing' but hopes to work with Sam Mendes and Baz Luhrmann. And if her English goes from good to perfect, there is no reason at all why Cécile Cassel shouldn't be even more famous than the rest of her great Gallic family.