one of Virginie Efira’s first successes in France

The Chance of My Life: Virginie Efira vs. François-Xavier Demaison

The chance of my life is a French romantic comedy film directed by Nicolas Cuche, released in 2011 with Virginie Efira and François-Xavier Demaison in the lead roles.

The film tells the story of Julien Monnier (François-Xavier Demaison), a brilliant marriage counselor with a singular problem: he brings bad luck to all the women he loves. Since childhood, his relationships always end in disaster for his partners. His legendary bad luck leads him to live a complicated love life, where he is unable to maintain a lasting relationship.

His life changes the day he meets Joanna Sorini (Virginie Efira), a dynamic and lively woman. Despite his initial reluctance, Julien falls in love with Johanna. This time, he is determined not to let bad luck ruin their story. However, events quickly take a comical and chaotic turn as Julien attempts to protect Johanna from the consequences of his bad luck.

Around Virginie Efira and François-Xavier Demaison, we find, among others, Raphaël Personnaz and Thomas Njigol.

One of Virginie Efira’s first successes in France

Before filming began, director Nicolas Cuche had stated that many actors had declined the offer because of the presence of Virginie Efira, who at the time still had the image of the TV presenter who had hosted La Nouvelle Star, and with whom they did not wish to be associated. They were very wrong because The chance of my life was a great success in French cinemas, with more than a million spectators.

It is, with Love is better with tworeleased a year earlier, of Virginie Efira’s first success in France. It is notably thanks to the success of this film that she was then freer in her choices. Today, she has established herself as one of our most brilliant actresses, and won a César for her role in See Paris again in 2023.