Sophie was discovered in her first movie La Boum in 1980, which was a huge success. She did it again in La Boum 2 in 1982, which brought her the César du meilleur espoir feminin (equivalent of Oscar of best aspiring female actress).

After a lot of French movies in different categories (from historic to drama, to comedy), she was called by Mel Gibson to play the role of the French queen in Braveheart. Later, she also starred as a Bond Girl in The World is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan.