Huppert grew up in Ville d'Avray, a western suburb of Paris, and was encouraged by her mother to begin acting at a young age. Huppert later attended the Conservatory of Versailles where she won a prize for her acting. She is also an alumna of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art of Paris, CNSAD.

After a successful stage career, she began making movies, debuting in 1972 with Faustine et le bel été, (She had made a television debut the year before.)

She was a teenage star in Paris and made her American debut in the Michael Cimino's 1980 film Heaven's Gate, which flopped at the U.S. box office, but was re-released in the full version with great acclaim.[citation needed]

In Europe and the art house world, she is venerated as an institution.[citation needed] She has been nominated several times for a César Award, winning it in 1995 for her intense portrayal of a manic and homicidal post-office worker in Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie, alongside Sandrine Bonnaire.

Her most recent awards are for Michael Haneke's La Pianiste. In La Pianiste she plays a piano teacher, Erika Kohut, who falls in love with her new student. She most recently appeared on the Paris stage as Henrik Ibsen's suicidal Hedda Gabler. Every performance was greeted with a standing ovation.[citation needed]

In 2005, Huppert toured the United States in a production of Sarah Kane's theatrical piece, 4.48 Psychosis. This production was directed by Claude Regy and performed in French. Huppert chose to remain still throughout the entire performance, moving only her hands and face, much of the time with tears streaming down her cheeks.