The daughter of a French-Canadian bus driver, she worked her way through drama school as an usherette at a Montreal cinema. Made her stage debut in a Canadian production of "The Barber of Seville," and played her first film role in the Canadian co-production The Adolescents (1964). On a visit to Europe, she was picked by director Alain Resnais to appear opposite Yves Montand in the film La Guerre est finie (1966). She subsequently appeared in other French and Canadian productions and made her mark as an international star in 1969 as Anne Boleyn in the Anglo-American film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she received an Oscar nomination. Her performances exude sensitivity, warmth, and youthful maturity. She has since been active in supporting roles.