Born on July 5, 1980 to her Swedish father, Walter, a dentist, and French mother, Marlene Jobert, an actress, Green and her twin sister Joy were raised in Paris. The shy, sensitive Green took an early interest in acting, despite attempts by her mother to dissuade her from entering the profession. Undeterred by Jobert’s concerns, Green attended the Eva St. Paul Drama School in Paris for three years during her late teens, before spending ten weeks at London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts to further pursue her acting dreams.
It was in 2002, while honing her craft at the Douglas Academy, that Green came to the attention of director Bernardo Bertolucci, who saw in her the elusive and mysterious qualities he was looking to display in his next film, "The Dreamers." Green landed her first film role, that of Isabelle, a young Parisian living in the politically active late 1960s who, along with her twin brother, befriends an American and all bond over cinema and ménage a trois. Though actor Jake Gyllenhaal, originally cast as the American, dropped out of the film due to concerns over the frank sexuality, Green was well aware of Bertolucci’s methods and his impressive ability to find and showcase previously untapped talent in his films. Diving freely into the role, Green, along with castmates Louis Garrel and Michael Pitt, displayed an impressive honesty and was lauded for her engaging performance.
In 2003, Green followed up "The Dreamers" with the filmed adaptation of "Arsene Lupin," in which she played Clarisse, the long-suffering girlfriend of the film’s titular hero. But it was the critical adulation bestowed upon her following "The Dreamers" that provided the biggest career push to date. Director Ridley Scott was so enamored by her "Dreamers" role that he auditioned her for the lead in his epic Crusades film, "Kingdom of Heaven." The grueling process amounted to almost half a dozen screen tests, but Green ultimately won the part with only a week before shooting was to begin in early 2004.
Green was immensely pleased with her role as Sibylla, the richly-written sister of leprosy-afflicted King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), who marries the menacing Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas), only to find herself enchanted by Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith who finds his courage as a knight. When the film was released in the spring of 2005, however, Green was disheartened to find that Scott’s theatrical cut of the film had left most of her dialogue on the cutting floor, drastically altering the role to one of mere looks and mannerisms.
As 2005 came to a close, Green found herself the recipient of another high-profile casting call, when Sony Pictures began the process of filling out parts for its latest James Bond film. The studio decided to reinvent the franchise, following the departure of longstanding Bond, Pierce Brosnan. The new film hearkened back to the series’ roots by retackling the first Ian Fleming novel, Casino Royale, first filmed in 1967 as a comedy spoof. The casting choices also reflected this new direction with the hiring of an unconventional choice as its newest Bond – hard-chiseled blonde Englishman, Daniel Craig. For the coveted role of Bond’s love interest, British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd, series producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson sought to cast an actress whose onscreen intensity could match that of Craig’s. After a serious search – one which reportedly included such A-listers as Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie and Thandie Newton – it was Green’s presence that impressed Broccoli and Wilson. She landed the part of Lynd, placing her in a long lineage of iconic Bond heroines.