French actress Nadia Farès has died at the age of 57 following a swimming pool accident in Paris, according to announcements made by her daughters to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). The news was confirmed on Friday, April 18, 2026, after she had remained hospitalized since being found unconscious in a private club pool in the city’s 9th arrondissement on April 11.
Farès, best known for her role in the 2000 thriller The Crimson Rivers (Les Rivières Pourpres), directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, was discovered inanimate at the bottom of the pool while swimming with fins and a kickboard. Emergency responders resuscitated her before transporting her to La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she was placed in an artificial coma. Despite medical efforts, she succumbed to her injuries one week later.
The incident prompted an official investigation by Paris authorities, though no criminal wrongdoing has been identified at this stage. Her daughters, Cylia and Shana Chasman, released a joint statement expressing profound grief, describing their mother as both a celebrated artist and the heart of their family.
“France has lost a great artist, but for us, We see above all a mother that we have lost,” the statement read, as reported by multiple French news outlets including France Info, BFMTV, and Le Figaro.
Born in 1968 in Morocco to a Moroccan father and an Armenian mother, Farès began her acting career in the early 1990s with television roles in series such as Navarro and L’Exilé. Her breakthrough came in 1994 with the film Elles n’oublient jamais, followed by notable performances in Claude Lelouch’s Hommes, femmes : mode d’emploi (1996) and Alexandre Arcady’s Dis-moi oui (1995).
After a decade-long hiatus from acting for personal reasons, she returned to the screen in 2016 with a role in the series Marseille and later appeared in the 2022 film On the Line, starring alongside Mel Gibson. Throughout her career, she was recognized for portraying strong, complex female characters, often in action-driven narratives.
Her performance in The Crimson Rivers remains her most internationally recognized perform, contributing significantly to her fame beyond France. The film, based on the novel by Jean-Christophe Grangé, became a cult classic and led to a sequel and a television adaptation.
In the days following her passing, tributes emerged from colleagues and fans across the French entertainment industry. Many highlighted her professionalism, emotional depth on screen, and dedication to her craft. No public memorial service details have been disclosed as of this report.
As of now, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the pool incident remains open. Authorities have not released further technical details about the cause of her loss of consciousness, and no official autopsy findings have been made public.
For ongoing updates on this developing story, readers are encouraged to refer to official statements from French judicial sources or the family’s representatives through verified news channels.
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