"La Belle Personne" is your fourth movie with Christophe Honoré. How this relationship has evolved?
With Christophe, I started playing a very dramatic part, in “Ma mère", in which, at the same time, we were on the borderline of experimental. With "Dans Paris", we took a softer turn. Jonathan, my character, was intended to save his brother. On the contrary, in "Les Chansons d'amour", my character spent all his time escaping. In "La Belle Personne" I see myself more as an obstacle, as the one who comes to break something. So far I told you about the evolution of the characters. Regarding my relationship with the director, I would say that, since we know each other well, during a shooting we can rely on each other. I believe this friendship also makes the atmosphere more friendly for those who join us on set.
"La Belle Personne" was inspired by "La Princesse de Clèves”, a 17th century novel. What do you think such story has yet to tell today’s youth?
I haven’t read the novel - I read very, very slowly - so I can only give you my point of view on the film. I think it has a lot of soul. I like this story of a young girl who refuses to give up on love. And then I like the way Christophe films all these young people. High school, it's like a small kibbutz: there are so many different personalities that we don’t feel the need to go elsewhere. The place is self-sufficient. At school, we’re in a kind of intoxication, no one is aware that it will end someday. That’s what Christophe films. He looks at these students with the worried eyes of a grandmother who fears for her grandchildren. Also because today it’s more complicated.
It is more complicated to be young?
I think so. There’s always been an overall feeling of distaste towards youth, but it’s no coincidence that today’s youth look at a golden age like the 70s and decides, for example, to dress likewise! The state of grace is past, nowadays it’s difficult to ask what tricks we can pull off (he actually says “quelles cartes on a en main” but i don’t know how to say that in english...? literally it is “what cards we have on hand”) to make the future better. I think of a sentence by Chekhov, in "Uncle Vanya," which said something like: "Our life is difficult, but in 200 years everything will be better." It’s not that easy to say so today. When we see, for example, that the school has become the antechamber of the business schools, it changes the way you focus on the studies! We keep saying that the work is an achievement per se. Otherwise there is no [achievement] (not sure whether i understood this sentence correctly). During the 70s, there was no mass unemployment. Nowadays, everyone submits to the same “blackmail” [i. e. the same pressure]: you have to forget yourself to have a job.
Did you get away from it?
Because I feel nurtured and comforted by art. Thirdly, I had an extraordinary french teacher, Mrs. Durand, who used to tell us [students] about Greek mythology. She also showed us Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451. She had such a love for stories that, all of a sudden, I felt less lost. This was like a “click”. I started going to the Comédie-Française. The theatre is a moment in which life is a ceremony.
But this cultural environment, you already had it in your family... What have you learnt from your parents?
This is a complicated question ... I can’t tell you ... My mother is very brave. She acts in prisons. She devoted(?) herself to all her projects. My father is an artistically engaged person. He managed to do what he wanted, to find ways to make his films without being hampered by economic constraints. He made his films like a writer writes a novel. However, I actually feel that, for me, the “click” happened thanks to the teachers. In high school I discovered the texts of Alfred de Musset. They expressed what I felt and wasn't capable to formulate. For example, in "The Moods of Marianne”, Coelio’s faith in love... (again, hard for me to translate “Il y a cette foi en l'amour du personnage Coelio”)
What do you particularly like in Musset?
I loved "La Confession d'un enfant du siècle". I felt like I was in a hammam: I “came out”(?) of it feeling clean. Musset wrote it in a febrile state, we sweat with him. There’s a sacrificial aspect in this text. The character lives in despair all the way, he suffers for us.
Besides that, what do you read?
At the moment, Jean-Pierre Vernant. And then - if some of my friends read the interview, they will laugh, since the beginning of it! - "Bel Ami" by Maupassant. I have a lot of gaps in literature. Someone gave me "Jeu et théorie du Duende" by García Lorca, for my birthday. He’s this ultra-civilized (“ultracultivé”) type! He knows everything!
Let’s change the subject completely, and I’m sorry if this question sounds a little abrupt but ... are you aware that you’re beautiful? Because it’s a part of you! The girls love you, there is no article that doesn’t mention your beauty ...
It’s a bit exaggerated. But I have my theory on this subject. Someone we find beautiful is someone we recognized. It’s mechanical: we find someone beautiful because this person reminds us of something. Since I am a little known, I recall something more easily... So that's how I "become" beautiful.
Still, this means many people have recognized you! Isn’t this awkward sometimes?
No, my problem is how I shall behave when I’m recognized on the street. When someone comes to see me, I try to conduct myself well. Stanislavsky said that, after playing at the theatre, the actor had no right to kill the spectator’s dream. Eh well, it’s the same with me: I try to conduct myself well so as not to hinder the spectator’s imagination.
That means you act almost all the time! That prevents you from being yourself!
I have always been fascinated, in films, by the fact that something "inside" must be real. To me, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Claude Jade, the heroes of "Stolen Kisses", were also a little in love in real life. In the same way, I imagine that Depardieu is like his character in "Le Garçu" by Maurice Pialat, a bit like a storm. If it’s not like this, I’d be disappointed. Concerning Ismaël, my character in "Les Chansons d'amour", I think he’s encouraged people to come to me because he seems to be able to calm everything down. I try not to reveal myself (“J'essaie de ne rien laisser transparaître”...?) so as not to disturb the people who come to see me, their imagination.
) who haven't watched it yet.
oh i'm glad you cleared that up cause i watched the movie and when i read that i was like " 
am i really stupid or is he the one that did not get it?"
innocent
