The mystery of the actress

Marion Cotillard celebrates unique cinema, actresses and Agnès Varda! 
 

Lumière celebrates heritage cinema. What film from the past has inspired you the most?
I’m very fond of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, but the œuvre–in both fiction and documentaries–that inspires me the most is that that of Agnès Varda. For a long time, she was one of the very few female directors in the world. She has created portraits of women that transcend the ages. Her free-spirited and uncompromising work has such powerful universal appeal that it makes her one of the greatest figures in world cinema. And I was lucky enough to meet her.

You play the vibrant character of Jeanne in Guillaume Canet’s Karma. Why is it important to portray a rebel today?
I’m fascinated by stories of women who are brave without even realizing it! Young women who are driven by their rebellion against everything that confines, stigmatizes and enslaves. Jeanne, with her unpredictable demeanor and determination to stand her ground, is disconcerting, moving and very, very powerful. 

You play Eddie, a legendary actress in Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica, a film sponsored by Chanel. Is there anything special about playing an actress, for instance in Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower, Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother and Sister or Mona Achache’s Little Girl Blue?
Yes, it’s rather unsettling, and I’m playing an actress again in my next film! It’s not a conscious choice. I can find it captivating to embody an actress in search of her true self. Portraying that sense of disorientation is exhilarating, dizzying. There are so many worlds to explore within a single human being; it inevitably draws me in. The actress is still a mysterious character to me.

Chanel is a supporter of the film industry. How would you describe this involvement?
It is a tremendous and genuine privilege. Chanel chooses to support unique creative visions, giving filmmakers the freedom and the resources to see their projects through to completion. In doing so, it enables highly personal and ambitious œuvres to find their voice and their audience. Little Girl Blue is the perfect example.

— Propos recueillis par Virginie Apiou