Anamaria Vartolomei on 'Le Comte De Monte-Cristo' at Cannes | Presented by Chanel - video Dailymotion

Variety

Anamaria Vartolomei on 'Le Comte De Monte-Cristo' at Cannes | Presented by Chanel

Transcript

00:00It's rolling.

00:02See you later.

00:04Wow, it's beautiful.

00:06Yes, very beautiful.

00:08Congratulations, you're here with two films.

00:11I've seen one of the two.

00:13Your performance as Maria Schneider is magnificent.

00:16I'd like to know how you prepared for this role.

00:19It went through several phases.

00:22There was a documentation phase,

00:24after reading the script,

00:27to prepare for the first rehearsals.

00:30In this phase, I was more in the local imitation,

00:33which is less in-depth,

00:35and the essence, the very nature of Maria.

00:38And then there were discussions with the director,

00:42Jessica Pallud.

00:44There was a lot of reading of the script,

00:47to really go through all the scenes,

00:49read between the lines,

00:51and then choose what we decided to keep from her,

00:54in the gestures, the phrasing, the approach,

00:57to then be able to clean up,

00:59and go to the essential,

01:01and find the adequate depth

01:03so that her voice resonates more

01:06than the physique we tried to create.

01:10Jessica told me you watched a lot of films together,

01:13a lot of documentaries.

01:15Yes, we watched a lot of documentaries,

01:17especially related to drugs,

01:19and there's a part in the film

01:21in which Maria takes heroin,

01:23and then it goes through the lack,

01:25the overdose too.

01:27So I think Panic at Needle Park

01:29remains our major reference film.

01:32We tried, because it's a masterpiece,

01:35for me anyway,

01:37and we tried to take inspiration from it.

01:39But it's true that everything we tried to do,

01:42we also gave ourselves the freedom to say that,

01:44for example, for these scenes,

01:46it's very personal, the lack, the overdose,

01:48there's not really any behavior

01:50that resembles one another.

01:52So we looked for it together,

01:54to see where we were comfortable,

01:56and what I was okay with,

02:00and if it corresponded with her desires

02:03and her expectations as a director,

02:05and what she expected of me as an actress.

02:07And we quickly aligned ourselves, and that's it.

02:12And in addition to all this work,

02:14there's also the gestural,

02:16and also the costumes.

02:18How did Chanel's costumes

02:20help you get into

02:22the character of Maria Schneider?

02:24It's true, so I wear a little Chanel dress

02:27in a scene, on a set,

02:30so it was interesting,

02:32because it became a costume for her too.

02:35And then in the end,

02:37we took inspiration from an archivina of hers,

02:39in which she has a black costume,

02:41and then Chanel very kindly lent us a black costume.

02:44In general, when I wear Chanel,

02:46I feel very strong,

02:48and I feel myself,

02:50because I don't feel like it's a dress

02:52that hides your personality,

02:54or the woman you are,

02:56I don't feel disguised,

02:58on the contrary,

03:00I feel like it reveals my person.

03:02And at the same time,

03:04I feel very strong and elegant,

03:06and I thought it was good

03:08to end the film like that,

03:10because the end of the film

03:12decides to move on to something else,

03:14Maria gets up,

03:16and seems to be repairing.

03:18And I thought it was very strong,

03:20that she was dressed like that,

03:22and that the dress,

03:24which in itself is worthy,

03:26and timeless,

03:28reveals all the splendor of Maria.

03:30They also modernized the codes

03:32of fashion of that time, didn't they?

03:34The costumer, you mean?

03:36Yes, we didn't try to

03:38in the caricature,

03:40and it's true that we found

03:42rather cool looks,

03:44and even looks that we could wear today.

03:46We stayed true to the codes of the time,

03:48the high waist,

03:50the slimmer cuts, the shirts,

03:52but it's true that we also

03:54got inspired by Maria,

03:56she wore a lot of jewelry,

03:58a lot of money,

04:00and there was something punk

04:02and rock in her,

04:04and it's true that we tried

04:06to go in that direction,

04:08without it becoming caricatural,

04:10and taking over,

04:12because often in period films,

04:14it's hard to find the right balance,

04:16so that the spectator doesn't feel

04:18the disguise,

04:20and that we see the actors

04:22dressed in period costumes,

04:24and I was very happy,

04:26because I felt good,

04:28I felt free in my movements,

04:30and I think it's essential

04:32for the incarnation of the character.

04:34Tell me about your collaboration

04:36with the director of the film,

04:38it was also a very difficult role for him,

04:40how did you collaborate?

04:42We met on the set,

04:44on the first day of shooting,

04:46because we started with the tango part,

04:48and I think the fascination

04:50that Maria Schneider has

04:52for Marlon Brando,

04:54I had for Matt Dillon,

04:56there was something very fusional

04:58from the start,

05:00he is very communicative,

05:02he is very cultivated,

05:04he has something fascinating,

05:06and he is still a Hollywood figure,

05:08so we were all a bit impressed,

05:10we really had the impression,

05:12like at the time on the tango,

05:14to have a Hollywood star,

05:16a Hollywood figure,

05:18and no, he is great,

05:20I find Marlon Brando very fair,

05:22and again, I don't find him

05:24in the caricature,

05:26and that's Jessica's look behind,

05:28who guided us,

05:30and I think it's a success,

05:32and I feel so honoured

05:34to have shared this little week

05:36and these few days

05:38with Matt Dillon.

05:40And how is it going,

05:42this film, this character

05:44of Maria Schneider,

05:46she is extremely modern,

05:48on what she says,

05:50on the work of the actress,

05:52the way the actress is considered

05:54by the directors,

05:56do you feel that today,

05:58in 2024, it really changed?

06:00Yes, and we are really

06:02witnesses of that,

06:04today, in the news,

06:06we have a different reception

06:08of the testimonies of the victims,

06:10we give them a lot more value,

06:12a lot more respect,

06:14which Maria didn't have at the time,

06:16there is more empathy,

06:18I would say,

06:20and more listening,

06:22and understanding of things,

06:24because Maria spent her life

06:26talking about it,

06:28telling the truth,

06:30but we thought it was her truth,

06:32and not the truth,

06:34which was the case,

06:36and she didn't face the people

06:38who questioned her,

06:40who asked her why she thought

06:42it was a dangerous job when she said it.

06:44These are people who didn't go any further,

06:46because I think it would arrange for them

06:48to be the ones

06:50to blame,

06:52because she was in a society

06:54where women were already

06:56listened to, but above all,

06:58in an industry that was not ready

07:00to unveil the icons,

07:02we didn't want to shoot on Brando and Bertolucci,

07:04we preferred to do it on her.

07:06Do you want to play

07:08in films that are committed,

07:10because with the film of Audrey Diwan,

07:12these are two films that are quite committed,

07:14that have quite feminist messages,

07:16is it something important for you?

07:18Yes, I think it's important for me,

07:20because it's the proof

07:22that I can be faithful

07:24to who I am,

07:26to be honest and loyal

07:28to myself,

07:30and if I want to defend...

07:32I think films are my political stand,

07:34they are the expression of my commitments

07:36in my life as a young woman,

07:38and I think they speak for me,

07:40and yes,

07:42they are often committed films,

07:44because I think we owe ourselves

07:46to be a committed young woman,

07:48especially when we are actresses,

07:50and we also contribute to change,

07:52and yes,

07:54I think it's just the expression

07:56of my desires,

07:58of my expectations,

08:00of my desires,

08:02and I'm lucky,

08:04it's true that since the event

08:06there has been a bit of that,

08:08and I play often,

08:10I meet women who try to escape

08:12a social, family,

08:14environmental, political,

08:16political,

08:18political,

08:20and who tend towards freedom,

08:22and often my characters,

08:24I have the impression,

08:26are women who tend towards freedom,

08:28and who do everything to get it.

08:30Great, last question,

08:32I know you have international projects,

08:34can you tell us about them?

08:36I can't,

08:38I can only tell you,

08:40I made a film,

08:42it's an American production,

08:44it should be released early next year,

08:46but I don't have the right to talk about it yet,

08:48but I think everyone thinks I'm lying,

08:50because there's nothing coming out,

08:52and I made a film

08:54by Teodora Anamihai,

08:56she's a Romanian director,

08:58who is in her second feature,

09:00and it was written and produced

09:02by Christian Mungeo,

09:04who is one of my favorite

09:06contemporary directors,

09:08and who is Romanian too, like me,

09:10and it was the beginning

09:12of a work with him

09:14that I had been waiting for a long time,

09:16and I loved working in English,

09:18in French, in Romanian,

09:20and being able to combine all of that.

09:22Thank you very much.

09:24Thank you.

09:26Thank you.

Anamaria Vartolomei on 'Le Comte De Monte-Cristo' at Cannes | Presented by Chanel

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