Ludmilla Makowski’s Sandrine is hired as an au pair in the Channel 5 thriller, but what do we know about the French star’s life away from TV?

French actress Ludmilla Makowski stars in the new Channel 5 thriller The Au Pair as a mysterious woman who unsettles a happy family home.

Seamstress Zoe is happily married to successful husband Chris (Kenny Doughty) and they live together with two stepchildren, Amber and Noah, in a stunning countryside home in England.

Sandrine (Ludmilla Makowski) is hired as an au pair, but the young French woman disrupts their peaceful home life, and their lives will never be the same.

The new four-part drama airs on Channel 5 over four nights, with the first episode airing at 9pm on Monday (March 10).

But what do we know about the French star’s life away from TV?

Early life and career of Ludmilla Makowski

Ludmilla Makowski is a popular French singer and actress (Image: Getty)

Ludmilla Makowski is a French actress who is widely known on French TV.

European viewers will know the 27-year-old from her roles in Bardot, Anthracite and Les Siffleurs. In 2022, she directed a short film Où les marguerites poussent (“Where Daisies Grow”) in Thouars, Western France.

Arguably, her biggest role to date is in the Netflix hit Lupin, which was first released in 2021.

Ludmilla Makowski’s Netflix debut

Ludmilla Makowski got her acting break in Netflix’s Lupin (Image: Getty)

Makowski had her acting breakthrough when she was cast as the teenage version of Claire Laurent in the hit Netflix series Lupin. She appears as Claire in scenes set in 1995 and provides background to her relationship with Assane.

Claire is Assane’s estranged wife and the mother of his child, whom she is raising alone while working at a hospital.

Speaking about her role and how big Lupin series would be, Makowski told Paris-Normandie: “Not at all! At no point did I suspect that it would take on this magnitude when everyone around me felt it would.

“The day after the broadcast, I received hundreds of messages! I was shocked. I went to bed and in one night I had gained a thousand followers.

“It’s still going. It’s cool and terrible at the same time. It’s gratifying but I realize that I have become a public figure and that no longer gives me the right to post the same things on social networks.

“I’m going to question myself about this but I am well supported, whether by my agent or by my parents, who are very present, and the actors and teachers I meet.”

Ludmilla Makowski competing on The Voice

Ludmilla Makowski appeared on the French edition of The Voice (Image: TF1)

Makowski appeared on the French version of The Voice in 2023, looking to impress the judges and audience.

She sang a cover of Taxi by Belgian singer Angèle and impressed the judges with her voice.

Speaking to magazine Gala, she said: “I was terrified. Even though I’m used to going to castings, for the cinema, you hide behind a character.