according to Jean-Paul
 

PostED ON 18.10.2024

Mama Weed by Jean-Paul Salomé (2020) © DR

I don't know how one “directs” Isabelle Huppert, I can only try to describe the process we implemented during our two collaborations. It all starts with a reading of the script. Not just the scenes in which she appears - which other actors often do - but ALL of the scenes. This can take a day or two. Isabelle asks questions, she wants to make sure she's understood every intention.

The second phase involves choosing costumes, make-up and hairstyles. The appearance of the character she’s going to interpret on screen is essential. She wants to be able to gradually slip into this new skin. Every item of clothing, every accessory, has to convey something about her. Down to the shoes. Shoes are very important; they determine how you walk.

Finally, it's time to shoot. We have a little ritual: every morning I meet her in her dressing room where she's having her make-up done. And there, for ten or fifteen minutes, we go over the scenes we're going to shoot that day. She asks me final questions - about intentions, she always wants to be sure about the intentions! We adjust the dialogue one last time, if necessary. When she arrives on set, everything is clear and everything is seamless. All that's left is to find her marks and the right movements. Then, during the takes, it's just a matter of working on the rhythm. Isabelle has a great sense of timing, she can tell when to speed up, slow down or pause. She's very skilled at that. Sometimes it happens straight away, after one or two takes. Other times, you have to work a bit harder and be in synch with your partner too.

At this point, what fascinates me is when I see her after filming a scene, continuing to ask herself questions, replaying what she has just done. Sometimes I see her unsatisfied: she's noticed a detail after the fact, something she could have done better or differently. Often, I'm able to reassure her, to tell her that the camera has picked up these nuances. But when I see that she's still mulling things over, and we've already moved on to the next scene... we go back and start over - that's happened to me four or five times for each film. That's when you have to be steadfast and have a team willing to follow you with their eyes closed. Often, she is right. And above all, I see her happy, reassured that she gave it her all.

Finally, she's the only actress whom I've worked with who rereads the entire script every weekend, to ensure she hasn't left any ‘crumb’ of her character out, even if it means, if necessary, adding a little detail in an upcoming scene...

That’s why Isabelle fascinates me.

Jean-Paul Salomé

Jean-Paul Salomé directed Isabelle Huppert in Mama Weed and The Sitting Duck, two comedies like no other.

Reported by Aurélien Ferenczi