Reminiscent of other gamine European beauties such as Leslie Caron and Audrey Hepburn, Tautou was already a well-known, award-winning actress in her homeland when she shot to international stardom as the title character in the quirky 2001 romantic comedy Amélie. Although she had made her name as an adorable ingénue, she changed her image somewhat for her first English-language film, the 2002 thriller Dirty Pretty Things set in a seedy hotel. Tautou continued to work steadily in her native country, but Tinseltown was constantly calling and in 2006 she made her big Hollywood debut in The Da Vinci Code.