He’s very determined. He knows very well what he wants. Of course, he expects something else, you know, something he hasn’t thought of, you need to surprise him. But, he’s a very demanding, challenging director. He’s also behind the camera, which makes a big difference for actors, you know, to have someone really being the first to see what you are really doing because he directs behind the camera. He has incredible energy.
Q.
How did you approach your comic role in “Potiche”?
A.
Well, I try to stay, to be as open, and genuine as I had to be to play this part in the first degree, to be very energetic. She’s a nice woman, but to do comedies you need a lot of energy, to be really at another level, you cannot sort of go down or slow down, you really have always to keep at a certain level in comedies and that asks you to be in really good shape.
Q.
What was it like working with Roman Polanksi?
A.
It was one of the most important experiences I’ve had because I was quite young at the time when I did “Repulsion.” And being a French actress working in London with him, who was a polished director. We were very separated, you know, from the crew, we were very close and he’s really a director that loves to direct actors, I really listened to him very closely, I was very close to him, very close to him and very close to the film.
Q.
And what about working with Lars von Trier?
A.
That was very interesting because it’s the first time I did the film where you had a script, he works in English, he shoots in English, and we do the scenes like they are in the script, but…at the end of the shooting, he said, now…you are going to improvise. So you know what’s supposed to happen in the scene, but you improvise just to see if something different happens and he can keep some little bits of it for the film and he’s also behind the camera. He shoots a lot and he doesn’t want to rehearse too much without a technician, so they don’t know where he’s going to go, for the person who is doing the light, it’s very difficult. For the sound, we needed to have the microphone, like on the stage, in the air, because nobody could follow, he didn’t want to say really, or he didn’t want to know really how it would happen. What we did rehearse was all the music and dance with Bjork. Otherwise he wanted a lot of freedom.
Q.
Who was the most influential director for you?
A.
I suppose Jacques Demy was a major encounter in my life as an actress because I was not sure I wanted to be an actress until I met him for “Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” You know I just started by accident and I was not sure I would really become an actress, even if I did the film. It really happened there, during the shooting of “Umbrellas.”
kndy
Cool interview with Catherine Deneuve
Click Here
How is it to work on Francois Ozon’s films?
A.
He’s very determined. He knows very well what he wants. Of course, he expects something else, you know, something he hasn’t thought of, you need to surprise him. But, he’s a very demanding, challenging director. He’s also behind the camera, which makes a big difference for actors, you know, to have someone really being the first to see what you are really doing because he directs behind the camera. He has incredible energy.
Q.
How did you approach your comic role in “Potiche”?
A.
Well, I try to stay, to be as open, and genuine as I had to be to play this part in the first degree, to be very energetic. She’s a nice woman, but to do comedies you need a lot of energy, to be really at another level, you cannot sort of go down or slow down, you really have always to keep at a certain level in comedies and that asks you to be in really good shape.
Q.
What was it like working with Roman Polanksi?
A.
It was one of the most important experiences I’ve had because I was quite young at the time when I did “Repulsion.” And being a French actress working in London with him, who was a polished director. We were very separated, you know, from the crew, we were very close and he’s really a director that loves to direct actors, I really listened to him very closely, I was very close to him, very close to him and very close to the film.
Q.
And what about working with Lars von Trier?
A.
That was very interesting because it’s the first time I did the film where you had a script, he works in English, he shoots in English, and we do the scenes like they are in the script, but…at the end of the shooting, he said, now…you are going to improvise. So you know what’s supposed to happen in the scene, but you improvise just to see if something different happens and he can keep some little bits of it for the film and he’s also behind the camera. He shoots a lot and he doesn’t want to rehearse too much without a technician, so they don’t know where he’s going to go, for the person who is doing the light, it’s very difficult. For the sound, we needed to have the microphone, like on the stage, in the air, because nobody could follow, he didn’t want to say really, or he didn’t want to know really how it would happen. What we did rehearse was all the music and dance with Bjork. Otherwise he wanted a lot of freedom.
Q.
Who was the most influential director for you?
A.
I suppose Jacques Demy was a major encounter in my life as an actress because I was not sure I wanted to be an actress until I met him for “Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” You know I just started by accident and I was not sure I would really become an actress, even if I did the film. It really happened there, during the shooting of “Umbrellas.”