CANNES DISPATCH
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Interview by JANE CROWTHER
Marion Cotillard has brought movies to Cannes numerous times – it’s not her first rodeo – but this year she arrives with two, both special to her for different reasons. ‘These are two movies that I love so much, that were amazing experiences for me as an actress,’ she tells Hollywood Authentic as we catch up with her at The Majestic Hotel on the Croisette just before the premiere for her second film of the fest, Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica. The French actor had debuted Karma days before, her film with her longtime collaborator and former partner, Guillaume Canet (who writes and directs). In it she plays Jeanne, a woman with unspoken trauma who is blamed when her godson goes missing in her care. Jeanne drinks to forget her past, is messy and mysterious; and though the police assume she might be the prime suspect in the boy’s disappearance, her husband (played by Leonardo Sbaraglia) refuses to believe that she could harm a child. When Jeanne disappears, her husband attempts to find her and Karma unwinds the dual stories of each spouse. To say more would be to spoil, but it’s a role that demands a great deal from Cotillard, emotionally and physically, as she fights abuse and cruelty.
‘Guillaume had wanted to write a movie for me for a long time. We worked together on several movies, but he wanted to write a movie that would be, from the beginning to the end, all about my character,’ Cotillard says of the juicy project. ‘For a few years, I was not very happy with the projects that came my way. I was never totally taken by all the propositions that I had. I really wanted something strong and intense, and he knew that.’ Canet came across an article about a religious community and began to write a story for Cotillard. ‘I strongly responded to this idea,’ Cotillard enthuses. ‘It really got into my blood, and that’s what I need when I get involved in a project. I need to be passionate right away. I felt that I would want to give everything to this character and this film. It’s one of the most beautiful presents that I’ve had as an actress, and especially from him.’
Jeanne is fragile but also strong, cowed but also determined, a treat for an actor to play. ‘What I love about this character is that she doesn’t fit into the world she lives in. Her rebellious soul is turned into craziness. Her nature is stronger than this box we want to put her in. It creates a lot of pain, a lot of anger, a lot of misunderstanding – even from herself.’ The role demands that Cotillard put herself in some dark situations and mindset. How does she protect herself as an actor from being mentally and emotionally hurt by her work? ‘I have to say: I love experiencing very dark and complex characters. And Guillaume knows it,’ she laughs. ‘He really pushed everything to this intensity, because he knew that that is where I find my power as an actress. That was a very, very intense role for me, and I wanted to dive in 100%. I knew that it would be hard sometimes to go through all of this. But when you trust a director that much; when you know that he’s going to take care of you, and he’s going to be there when emotionally it’s that intense… On a set, he is such a powerhouse, pushing people to give their best.’
This is an actor who has essayed Lady Macbeth, a paraplegic in Rust & Bone, Edith Piaf. That said, she admits some days were particularly difficult as Jeanne is punished physically and mentally. ‘But I knew that when I would go back to my room after a very intense scene, all the people around would support me and every day was magical because of this. You know that you’re totally free to give everything you have, because you have the support of Guillaume and all the people that he put together to achieve something that is great. I would go back to my room and cry all the tears that I had to cry out, and scream to get those feelings out… because, yes, you’re acting, but your body is really experiencing it. At the end of the day, you need to have this energetic cleaning, so you can start the next day not being in pain because of the character.’On the flipside, Cotillard also has Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica at Cannes. In it she plays a fading eighties film star with a brain tumour who is trying to complete a shoot on a sci-fi set in 2026 and filming in the Italian capital. ‘I didn’t know the work of Bertrand Mandico,’ Cotillard admits. ‘When I received the script and a mood board, it was very peculiar. From the first pages I was taken by the story of this woman, by this world that is so specific to Bertrand Mandico. I loved this very weird project and I was like, ‘OK, I’m going there’. I love working with artists that have a very strong world and something that you don’t see every day in movies. Artistic projects like Little Girl Blue or The Ice Tower. These are the kinds of movies that I want to be a part of, with these kinds of artists. I want their cinema to exist.’
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Interview by JANE CROWTHER
Karma and Roma Elastica premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival
