This article is published in number 1 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until January 5, 2020
There is a moment of Patrice Leconte’s Man on the Train that has never left my head. It is when the shy professor played by Jean Rochefort reveals to the thief Johnny Hallyday his dream in life: to be the kind of person who walks into a room and makes everyone stop, because no one can remain indifferent to them. The world is divided into the Rochefort and the Hallydays, and Adèle Exarchopoulos is part of the latter.
It happens when I meet her, in Venice, for
this chat: everyone’s attention, in a moment, is magnetically turned to her, maxi shirt on a skimpy skirt, a mixture of tamarraggine (pardon) and grace, sympathy and mystery. It happened when – it was Cannes 2013 – she became an instant star with The Life of Adele, which changed cinema and life: his own, and that of many spectators.
From that festival, Abdellatif Kechiche’s film returned with the Palme d’Or and Adèle, at the behest of the then president of the jury Steven Spielberg, with a special mention embedded in that palm itself (and shared with colleague Léa Seydoux).
“I remember my total naivety,” attacks Exarchopoulos, going backwards with his memory. “I was eighteen, I didn’t know what a film festival was or the promotion of a film. I observed what was happening to me without thinking that it would change my life, that that film would become a classic. It was later, when some time had passed, that I realized: they consider me capable of doing this job, I have this responsibility on my shoulders; so i can’t fail, i can’t make the wrong choices. For a while it weighed on me, then I freed myself: it’s my life, that’s what I love to do. Now, every time I make a film, I try to find the emotion of the beginning. And every time I am surprised: look what you are capable of doing, look what you have achieved this time ».
The latest film, highly applauded at the Venice Film Festival pandemic edition, is Mandibles by Quentin Dupieux, crazy comedy that who knows when we will see here. Adèle is Agnès, a girl with a vocal cord problem that forces her to scream every time she opens her mouth. A reckless and adorable role, which no one expected from her. “Me neither,” he laughs. “But I loved making this film, giving shape to a character without a shape, which however upsets everyone. I knew I should have left my comfort zone, but this work allows you to reinvent yourself, it leads you to seek the truth through the eyes of totally different directors. The choices an actor makes reveal many things, even spiritual and political, they always stir something profound. This is what I am looking for: I work to abandon my securities ».
Abandoning securities is also an exercise in the search for one’s freedom. “Yes, but at the same time it’s scary. But then I realized that only the present counts. That’s where you find freedom. I am a melancholy person, I tend to remain tied to the past. So I strive to stay in the here and now, to think about ongoing projects, to take advantage of the things that happen to me, of the people in front of me. We live in a capitalist society where the satisfaction lies only in buying new things, when instead the essential is often already at hand ».
I go back to the moment: that moment. The moment Train man in which, with The Life of Adele, everything has changed. “Then I didn’t really feel it. The attention towards me exploded, but I had a solid foundation, a normal family. My mother is a nurse, my father has changed a thousand occupations, my brother alternates between school and work. Cinema is not so present in their life. I showed them a couple of my films, they said: “Cute”, and I: “But they are so cool!”. I would be lying if I told you that work is not important to me, but maybe it is thanks to them that I still live everything as a game. With The Life of Adele I understood this above all: that when I said something, even with all the transport and awkwardness of that age, suddenly my words had a weight ».
After that film there have been many others: the messed up Your last look of Sean Penn, with Javier Bardem and Charlize Theron; The faithful – A life to the fullest, amour fou tinged with thriller with Matthias Schoenaerts; the biopic Nureyev – The White Crow by Ralph Fiennes; female psychodrama Sibyl – Woman’s Labyrinths. “That was the only time I said to anyone (director Justine Triet, ed): ‘I want this character at all costs.’ I love auditions, they are always an opportunity to learn. After The Life of Adele they offered me everything, but I was nineteen, I knew I had no experience, I wasn’t able to play certain roles. I understood the importance of putting oneself to the test, of working. After a long time, I had the courage to say to Justine: “I want it!”. As in a marriage: in good times and in bad times ». He laughs. After The Life of Adele a son has also arrived, Ismaël, born three years ago from the relationship with rapper Doums.
«At the time I had two projects that I wanted to do a lot, but I was too late in my pregnancy and I had to give up. I can’t stand inactivity, passivity, it fills me with doubts. And then I went back to doing what I did before I became an actress: selling sandwiches and popcorn. There I understood: this is your life, you wanted to be a mother, you have to make sacrifices and then new things will come. You will continue to do what you love, but a child is part of your choices, the organization of your life. You have to give him a good school, make him travel, stimulate him to culture… It’s a question of balance, and maybe that’s what made the relationship with my son so symbiotic ». The fear has passed. «Fear now I welcome it. I say to myself: “I’m afraid”. But what I want to do, I’ll do it anyway ».
THE CARREER – Adèle Exarchopoulos, 27, 21 films. For its interpretation The Life of Adele, in 2014 she won a Cesar as “best female promise”.
FASHION PHOTO CREDITS: mohair cardigan, mesh bra and silk twill trousers, fendi.
PHOTO ARNO LAM
To subscribe to Vanity Fair, click here.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
