Nadia Fares, the Morocco-born French film star who rose to fame alongside Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, died Friday after spending a week in a coma. She was 57. Her daughters confirmed the news in a statement to AFP, saying she had been found unconscious in the swimming pool of a private club in Paris on April 11.
The circumstances surrounding the pool incident remain unclear. No official agency has released a public statement about what happened at the club in the city's 9th arrondissement, and no cause of death has been disclosed. Fares never regained consciousness after being pulled from the water.
Her daughters, Cylia Chasman and Shana, announced the death in a joint statement carried by AFP and reported by The Independent.
"It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Nadia Fares this Friday. France has lost a great artist, but for us, it is above all a mother we have just lost."
The sisters asked for "respect and discretion" from the public.
Fares broke through in 2000 with a role in Les Rivières pourpres, the thriller directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and based on a novel by Jean-Christophe Grangé. The film paired her with Reno and Cassel, Kassovitz had previously directed Cassel in La Haine, and established Fares as a bankable name in French cinema.
She moved into English-language action films with War, a 2007 US thriller that featured Jason Statham and Jet Li. A photo from that year shows her at Cannes attending the film's premiere. She later appeared in Storm Warning, further broadening her international profile.
From 2016 to 2018, Fares starred as Vanessa d'Abrantes in Marseille, described as Netflix's first original French-language production. She appeared opposite Gerard Depardieu across two seasons before the show was cancelled. The entertainment world has seen a string of unexpected losses in recent months, including the death of Catherine O'Hara, whose cause of death was later publicly confirmed.
At the time of her death, Fares had been due to begin shooting a new action-comedy in September. That project now joins the list of work left unfinished.
Fares' death comes against the backdrop of a medical history that included significant prior emergencies. In 2007, the same year War reached theaters, she underwent brain surgery to address an aneurysm described as "far from small." She also endured three heart operations over a span of four years.
Whether those prior conditions played any role in the pool incident on April 11 is unknown. No medical details have been made public, and the family has offered no explanation beyond the basic facts of where and when she was found.
The absence of official information leaves open the question of whether French authorities are investigating the incident or treating it as a medical event. Sudden deaths in public facilities sometimes prompt formal inquiries, but nothing of the sort has been disclosed here. Cases involving delayed cause-of-death revelations are not uncommon when families request privacy.
Cylia Chasman, Fares' daughter and an influencer, posted a lengthy tribute on Instagram. Chasman is the daughter Fares shared with American film producer Steve Chasman.
Her words were raw and direct. Chasman wrote that she had spoken with her mother by phone on Saturday, one day before the incident, and that Fares told her she was not afraid of death.
"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 also thanked her mother for fighting. Unexpected deaths have shaken families across the entertainment world and beyond this year, as seen in another recent sudden loss that left loved ones searching for answers.
"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."
Chasman added that the two had grown closer in the final months of Fares' life. "You understood me better than anyone and I don't know how I will recover," she wrote. "People always say I'm mini you and that's the best compliment."
Fares' other daughter, Shana, posted a brief Instagram story quoted by Le Parisien: "I love you maman, I'll write my words when I'm ready. Please give me time."
The name of the private club in the 9th arrondissement has not been publicly identified. No witnesses have spoken on the record. No timeline of events inside the facility, how long Fares was in the water, who found her, or how quickly emergency services responded, has been released.
Fares' medical history raises natural questions about whether a prior condition contributed to her losing consciousness. Brain surgery for an aneurysm and three heart operations in four years represent a serious cardiovascular and neurological burden. But without an official statement, connecting those dots remains speculation. Tragedies that leave families and the public without clear answers, like the recent fatal stabbing of a Marine lance corporal, remind us how much the people left behind need facts, not just grief.
For now, the public record holds only what two grieving daughters chose to share: their mother is gone, she fought to stay, and they are asking for space.
Fifty-seven is too young. And a family that asked only for respect and discretion deserves at least that much.