Known in France and abroad since the film "The Crimson Rivers" in 2000, actress Nadia Farès, found unconscious in a Parisian swimming pool a week ago and plunged into a coma since then, died Friday evening at the age of 57.

"It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Nadia Farès this Friday. France has lost a great artist, but for us, it is above all a mother we have just lost," her daughters Cylia and Shana Chasman wrote in a message to AFP. They ask for "respect and discretion" during their mourning.

The actress died at La Pitié Salpêtrière in Paris, where she had been hospitalized on Sunday, after being pulled unconscious from a swimming pool at a private club on Rue Blanche in the 9th arrondissement of the capital.

She collapsed due to a "cardiac incident," her daughters told AFP. An investigation has been opened, but no wrongdoing has been found at this stage.

Heart surgeries

The film world shared its grief: "Goodbye, my friend," Jean Dujardin reacted on Instagram, praising the actress's "talent," "smile," "kindness," and "beauty." "Nadia. My beautiful one. How sad. How unfair," wrote Josiane Balasko.

Elsa Zylberstein expressed her incomprehension: "Your smile, your life force, your beauty, your positive energy, your kindness and your generosity will be so missed. It's unbelievable, how sad and how horrible."

"Today, despite the tears, I want to believe that up there you have reunited with my Johnny," also wrote on Instagram, among the first, his friend Laeticia Hallyday.

Nadia Farès was due to shoot her first feature film as a screenwriter and director this coming September. "Through hard work, questioning myself and persistence, I found a great team, we are working together on an action comedy with Studios TF1," she explained in a final interview published by Gala in January.

In that same interview, she revealed that in 2007 she had undergone "brain surgery due to a far from small aneurysm." "A ticking time bomb that needed to be treated urgently. And in four years, I had three heart surgeries," added the woman who said she swam four times a week.

American interlude

Born in 1968 in Marrakech (Morocco), Nadia Farès grew up in Nice before moving to Paris to pursue an artistic career. She began her film career in the 1990s, working with renowned directors such as Alexandre Arcady, Claude Lelouch, and Bernie Bonvoisin.

She became known to the general public in 2001 with her role in "The Crimson Rivers" by Mathieu Kassovitz, alongside Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel.

This opened doors for her internationally and she continued her career in a few Anglo-Saxon action films ("Rogue: The Ultimate Showdown", "Insane") while also acting in French films ("Nest of Wasps", "My Ex-Wife's Life").

She then put her career on hold and lived in the United States with producer Steve Chasman, whom she met in Normandy at Luc Besson's castle and with whom she had her two daughters. She returned to live in France after their separation four years ago.

She made an artistic comeback in 2016 for the Netflix series "Marseille", alongside Gérard Depardieu and Benoît Magimel, then acted in series, TV movies or films intended for streaming platforms.

"Of course, as an actress, I would like to do more work, but I consider myself extremely privileged in many ways, so I have no right to complain or whine," she confided in January.