By the early 1980s, Ardant was a major film star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door).

Initially, her youthful beauty brought popularity but over time her sophistication and acting skills made her one of France's most admired actresses.

She proved her versatility, playing a comedic role in Pédale douce for which she won the 1997 César Award for Best Actress.

She made this short film in order to raise public awareness to the plight of Romani people in Europe, a cause she personally defends.

[5] In 2011, she starred in the music video for Elle me dit, the first French single by Lebanese singer Mika, and appeared in the play based on Joan Didion's 2005 novel The Year of Magical Thinking in the Théâtre de l'Atelier, Paris.

[6] In 2018, Ardant starred in the Swiss drama film Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind by Ursula Meier.

[citation needed] Ardant continued working odd jobs in London before deciding, almost on a whim, to go to drama school.

The petition argued that detaining Polanski would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects.