The popular French actress Audrey Tautou, seen most recently in "A Very Long Engagement", is to play Edith Piaf in a forthcoming biopic about the French singing star.

Olivier Dahan, whose previous credits include a police thriller and a video for The Cranberries, will direct the film, said The Guardian.

Tautou, who shot to fame playing the winsome Amelie Poulain in director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 2001 film, is also set to star in the Hollywood adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller "The Da Vinci Code".