French film star Nadia Fares has died at the age of 57, one week after she was discovered unconscious in a swimming pool at a gym in Paris.
The actor, who was born in Morocco, had remained in a coma following the incident, which is said to have taken place at a private club in the city’s 9th arrondissement on 11 April.
Her daughters confirmed that Fares passed away on Friday, April 17.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Nadia Fares this Friday,” they said in a statement to AFP. “France has lost a great artist, but for us, it is above all a mother we have just lost.”
They also asked for privacy as they grieve, requesting “respect and discretion” during this time.
Fares gained widespread recognition in 2000 with her breakout performance in Les Rivières pourpres (The Crimson Rivers), directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and adapted from Jean-Christophe Grangé’s novel of the same name.
She appeared alongside Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, who had previously worked with Kassovitz on La Haine. She later featured in several other projects, including the 2007 American action film War with Jason Statham and Jet Li, as well as the horror movie Storm Warning.
© Antoine FlamentPARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 08: Nadia Fares attends the “Toujours Possible” Premiere
On television, Fares played Vanessa d’Abrantes opposite Gerard Depardieu in Marseille, Netflix’s first original French-language series, appearing across two seasons from 2016 to 2018 before it was canceled.
She had been preparing to begin filming a new action-comedy in September, which would have marked her first feature as both a writer and director.
Fares had spoken publicly about her past health struggles. In 2007, she revealed she underwent brain surgery for an aneurysm that was “far from small,” and she also had three heart operations within four years.
In a separate Instagram post, her daughter Cylia Chasman, an influencer whom Fares shared with her husband, American film producer Steve Chasman, paid tribute to her “best friend.”
“Mama. This is a heartbreak I will never get over,” she said. “Everyday I wake up and pray this is a nightmare and that you’re still with us. I know you fought your very hardest for your babies. Thank you. Thank you for fighting, thank you for giving me life, thank you for every memory, thank you for the laughs, for the cries.
“On Saturday we were on the phone and you told me you weren’t afraid of death, and my response was that I was afraid of your death, and the next day the universe decided it was time for you. As much as it pains me it brings me some comfort knowing you weren’t afraid. I know you tried your best to stay, I sat at the edge of your bed and begged and pleaded for you to stay and the universe took you anyway.”
She added: “It pains me to say goodbye but mama I will make you so proud. I am so happy that we got even closer than we were before in your last few months. You understood me better than anyone and I don’t know how I will recover. People always say I’m mini you and that’s the best compliment.”
Chasman described her mother as her “best friend” and a “role model,” someone she was always eager to share her accomplishments with.
“Rest so peacefully maman. Be my angel forever. I need it,” she wrote.
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