{{Short description|French actress and Miss France 2000 (born 1981)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{more footnotes|date=January 2013}} {{Infobox pageant titleholder | name = Sonia Rolland | title= [[Burgundy|Miss Burgundy 1999]]<br>[[Miss France|Miss France 2000]] | competitions = [[Burgundy|Miss Burgundy 1999]]<br>(Winner)<br>[[Miss France|Miss France 2000]]<br>(Winner)<br>[[Miss Universe 2000]]<br>(Top 10) | image= Sonia Rolland at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2025.jpg | caption =Sonia Rolland, 2025 | birth_date= {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1981|02|11}} | birth_place = [[Kigali]], Rwanda | birth_name = | death_date = | children = 2 | height = {{convert|1.78|m|ftin|abbr=on}} }}
'''Sonia Rolland''' (born 11 February 1981) is a French-Rwandan actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned [[Miss France|Miss France 2000]] and represented her country at [[Miss Universe 2000]] where she placed Top 10. She was the first African-born winner of the Miss France pageant.
Born in [[Kigali]], [[Rwanda]], to a Rwandan mother and a French father, Rolland and her family fled the country due to safety concerns with the genocide committed against Tutsi in Rwanda 1994 instigating, especially since her mother was [[Tutsi]]. In 1990 they moved to the neighboring country of [[Burundi]]. With the growing unrest that led to the [[Burundi Civil War]], they moved to France in 1994. At the age of 13, Rolland settled with her family in Burgundy in the small town of Cluny.
In October 1999, Sonia Rolland won the "Miss Burgundy" beauty contest that allowed her to compete for the Miss France 2000 title and at the age of 18 she was the first woman of African descent to win. At the [[Miss Universe]] 2000 pageant, which took place in Cyprus, Rolland was a top 10 semi-finalist, placing 9th overall.
Rolland once lived in Paris with [[Christophe Rocancourt]], an [[impostor]], [[confidence trick|confidence man]] and [[gentleman thief]] who [[fraud|scammed]] affluent people by masquerading as a French member of the [[Rockefeller family]]. They had a daughter together, named Tess. They announced their split on 10 April 2008. Rolland has another daughter, Kahina, with actor and director [[Jalil Lespert]], who is her partner since 2009.
At twenty years old after serious acting lessons with renowned actor [[Alain Delon]], Rolland embarked on a new career as an actress. Following an unsettling incident during which she was attacked in the metro she took kickboxing classes that later proved advantageous as they helped her land the role of Léa in the television series ''Léa Parker'' that ran for two seasons from 2004 to 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411009/|title = Léa Parker (TV Series 2004– ) - IMDb| website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
==Literary work==
Rolland's first book was published in 2007 titled "Les gazelles n'ont pas peur du noir" which in English translates to "Gazelles are not afraid of the dark". The book is her testimony to her childhood in Rwanda, transition to a different culture, her modeling and acting career, her philanthropic work and her family.<ref>{{cite web|title=Le Figaro|url=http://evene.lefigaro.fr/livres/livre/sonia-rolland-et-claire-steinlein-les-gazelles-n-ont-pas-peur-du-29555.php|accessdate=3 April 2014}}</ref> Her next book was "Beauté Black" which was collaboration with Sandrine Jeanne-Rose, an expert in ethnic and black cosmetics and hair care. This collection of practical guidelines is mainly meant to reach women of African descent. The two beauty enthusiasts focus on three areas: the face, the body and most importantly the hair essentially [[afro-textured hair]] as it is an important subject in the black community.
== Philanthropy ==
Rolland's work is mostly concentrated in Rwanda where she focuses a lot on education, as it is one of the things children survivors of the Genocide have missed out on.<ref>{{cite web |title=Miss & Philanthrope |url=http://sharitv.com/mag/sonia-rolland-miss-philanthrope/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622090828/http://sharitv.com/mag/sonia-rolland-miss-philanthrope/ |archive-date=22 June 2017 |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> She is currently collecting funds that will go towards building a school. With her new documentary "Rwanda Mon Amour" ("Rwanda My Love")<ref>{{cite web |title=Sonia Rolland: Rwanda mon amour |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu-Dw62Fa20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/Vu-Dw62Fa20 |archive-date=2021-12-12 |accessdate=3 April 2014 |website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> in the works the former Miss France is hoping to inspire other African nations to follow the example of Rwanda by encourage the people to participate in the ongoing changes but at the same time Rolland promises to be impartial and objective about the achievements of the country over the last 20 years. The documentary is expected to make an appearance at the Cannes film festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sonia Rolland to star in 'Rwanda Mon Amour', a movie about Rwanda's untold story |url=http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15525&a=71621 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407080932/http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15525&a=71621 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |access-date=3 April 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |rowspan=1| 2001 | ''C'est pas facile...'' | | | TV series (1 episode) |- |rowspan=1| 2002 | ''Les pygmées de Carlo'' | Désirée | [[Radu Mihăileanu]] | TV movie |- |rowspan=1| 2004 | ''Le p'tit curieux'' | The optician | Jean Marboeuf | |- |rowspan=1| 2004–06 | ''Léa Parker'' | Léa Parker | Jean-Pierre Prévost, [[Robin Davis (director)|Robin Davis]], ... | TV series (50 episodes) |- |rowspan=1| 2006 | ''[[A City Is Beautiful at Night]]'' | The Transsexual Dancer | [[Richard Bohringer]] | |- |rowspan=1| 2007 | ''Les zygs, le secret des disparus'' | Lise | [[Jacques Fansten]] | TV movie |- |rowspan=1| 2009 | ''[[Moloch Tropical]]'' | Michaëlle | [[Raoul Peck]] | TV movie |- |rowspan=1| 2010 | ''Affaires étrangères'' | Clara Lecuyer | Vincenzo Marano | TV series (1 episode) |- |rowspan=2| 2011 | ''[[Midnight in Paris]]'' | [[Josephine Baker]] | [[Woody Allen]] | Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast |- | ''Les invincibles'' | Vanessa | Alexandre Castagnetti & Pierric Gantelmi d'Ille | TV series (7 episodes) |- |rowspan=2| 2012 | ''Désordres'' | Marie | [[Etienne Faure]] | |- | ''[[Toussaint Louverture (film)|Toussaint Louverture]]'' | Marie-Eugénie Sonthonax | Philippe Niang | TV mini-series |- |rowspan=3| 2013 | ''[[The French Minister]]'' | Nathalie | [[Bertrand Tavernier]] | |- | ''[[Cherif (TV series)|Cherif]]'' | Ludivine Delaunay | Vincent Giovanni | TV series (1 episode) |- | ''Nos chers voisins'' | Sabrina | Emmanuel Rigaut | TV series (1 episode) |- |rowspan=2| 2015 | ''Le vagabond de la Baie de Somme'' | Aurore Debac | Claude-Michel Rome | TV movie |- | ''Caïn'' | Betty | Christophe Douchand | TV series (1 episode) |- |rowspan=1| 2016 | ''Windows'' | The Woman | [[Jules Sitruk]] | Short |- |rowspan=2| 2017 | ''[[Madame (2017 film)|Madame]]'' | Marinette | Amanda Sthers | |- | ''La Colle'' | | Alexandre Castagnetti (2) | |- |rowspan=1| 2019-present | ''{{ill|Deadly Tropics|lt=Tropiques criminels (Deadly Tropics)|fr|Tropiques criminels}}'' | Mélissa Sainte-Rose | | TV series (main cast) |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Sonia Rolland}} {{Wikiquote}} *{{IMDb name|1339841|Sonia Rolland}} *{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.soniarolland.com/ Official website]
{{s-start}} {{succession box | before = [[Mareva Galanter]] | title = [[Miss France]] | years=2000 | after = [[Élodie Gossuin]] }} {{s-end}} {{Miss France titleholders}} {{Miss Universe 2000 delegates}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Sonia}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1981 births]] [[Category:20th-century French actresses]] [[Category:Black French actresses]] [[Category:21st-century French actresses]] [[Category:French film actresses]] [[Category:French television actresses]] [[Category:Miss France winners]] [[Category:Miss Universe 2000 contestants]] [[Category:People from Kigali]] [[Category:Rwandan emigrants to France]] [[Category:Rwandan people of French descent]] [[Category:Rwandan actresses]]