Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard stuck with award pin

(Reuters)

Oscar winner Marion Cotillard gasped in pain after France's culture minister accidentally stuck a pin into her chest as he decorated her with the Order of Arts and Letters yesterday

Cotillard has spent much of her time in Hollywood since winning the Oscar for her performance as the singer Edith Piaf in "La vie en rose" in 2008 but she was back in Paris to receive the decoration from Culture Minister Francois Mitterrand.

Mitterrand, who praised Cotillard's "charm, natural grace and beauty", inadvertently skewered the actress as he pinned the medallion naming her as "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" on to her blouse.

She appeared to suffer no damage however and burst out laughing as Mitterrand hastily apologised.

In the same ceremony, he also decorated US director Tim Burton, whose latest film "Alice in Wonderland" comes out in France next week and who will head the jury at this year's Cannes film festival.