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  • 17 hours ago
Get to know French football superstar Kylian Mbappé in his cover interview with Vanity Fair. From his early career and biggest inspirations to life beyond the pitch, Mbappé opens up while putting his focus and footwork to the test — all without letting the ball drop.

Special thanks to Fairmont, member of ALL Accor

Director: Claire Buss
Director of Photography: Trent Watts
Editor: Cory Stevens; Matthew Colby
Talent: Kylian Mbappe
Producer: Madison Coffey
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen; Natasha Soto-Albors
Production Manager: EmmaLee Hendrikson
Associate Production Manager: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Stu Haight
Gaffer: Alex Hammett
Audio Engineer: Chad Mellendick
Production Assistant: Jocelyn Sedjro
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Stella Shortino
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Senior Manager; Creative Development: Hannah Pak
Director; Creative Development: Claire Buss
Director; Content Production: Lane Williamson
Executive Director; Global Video: Ella Ruffel
Special Thanks: Fairmont, member of ALL Accor
Transcript
00:00I start to learn how to cook.
00:02What's the Mbappe special?
00:03For example, nothing.
00:04For the moment, nothing.
00:05But I try to be better.
00:11Hi, guys.
00:12It's Kylian Mbappe, and I'm here on my Vanity Fair cover shop.
00:16What do you know now about being a pro athlete that you wish someone had told you when you were
00:2016?
00:21Oh, I will tell him, like, to dream big, to stay humble, and to trust the process,
00:27because it's a long journey to be an athlete.
00:30When I was 16, I just wanted to be a football player, to play the best games, to play in
00:34the best teams,
00:35to be happy also on the pitch, to don't lose my patience for the game.
00:39Also to be happy outside football, because that helps you to have a wonderful career,
00:43to be happy with your family, with your lovely ones.
00:45It's always important.
00:47Do you have friendships that have nothing to do with football?
00:50Yeah, of course.
00:51Of course.
00:51I have friends that I met them outside football.
00:54I have friends that I met them before I was a football player.
00:56I think it's important also to keep a balance, because football, it's just a big thing in my life,
01:05but there is not only football in life, so it's good to open my mind to other things
01:10and to explore everything I can explore.
01:12I try to do normal things first, because there is nothing normal in the world in football.
01:17I have one friend, like, he don't care about football, so all the time we start talking about football.
01:22For him, it's so boring, so he'd say, you have nothing else in your life than football?
01:27But it's my friends.
01:30Kylian, what's something people would be surprised to hear that you do in your spare time?
01:35Oh, I think they will be surprised to know that sometimes in my day off, I love to do nothing
01:42and stay home,
01:43because everybody thinks that our life is so exciting.
01:46We do everything, but sometimes we just love to chill at home and do nothing, like everybody.
01:51And I know because sometimes, one day, it was a friend of me who bring a friend to my house
01:57and he was surprised that I was, like, doing nothing.
02:00He was thinking that everybody was, like, super fast, super chill.
02:03I say, no, no, no, it's just Sunday.
02:04I want to stay home.
02:05I start to learn how to cook.
02:07What's the Mbappé special?
02:09For example, nothing.
02:10For the moment, nothing.
02:11But I try to be better.
02:13But it's something that I want to improve, you know.
02:15When I'm home, I think when you can cook something good at home for someone or for yourself, it's something
02:19good.
02:20What was the first thing that genuinely surprised you about Madrid?
02:23Oh, a little bit of everything, because I have to be honest, when I arrived in Madrid, I had absolutely
02:29no idea about the city.
02:30Nothing.
02:31But I was surprised about the culture, about the people, about the way they are welcoming, about the way they
02:36want to help all the time.
02:37But also the food.
02:38It's good food.
02:39It's difficult to match with French food, but they try to do it.
02:43It's not bad.
02:45And also the weather.
02:46The weather is so nice.
02:48It's peaceful to be in a place like this.
02:50And I really enjoy my time in Madrid.
02:52We have fans all around the world.
02:55Of course, in Madrid, even more.
02:57But, of course, it's the greatest club in the world.
03:00The most famous club.
03:01We have love.
03:02We receive love from everywhere.
03:04Even now that I come with national team for games, there are many Madrid fans.
03:09Yesterday, the stadium was the same.
03:11It's the big club in the world.
03:13So it's such a blessing to be part of this club and this project.
03:16The thing that surprised me the most when I used to arrive, and they eat so late.
03:21In France, we are like, at 9 is breakfast, at 12 is the lunch, at 8 is dinner.
03:27Them is like chill.
03:28Everything is chill.
03:29They always say when you say something, they say tranquilo.
03:32It's okay.
03:33They take it easy.
03:34You know, they let the things come to them.
03:37And it's really funny because they have no pressure.
03:40In everything, they have no pressure.
03:41And it's something that I learned from Spanish people.
03:45Like, they are, like, easy.
03:47Come on, let's go outside.
03:51I hope he's not that cold outside.
03:55Ronaldo is one of your role models.
03:57Yeah.
03:57Can you tell me what's some advice you received from him?
04:00Well, he's a friend now.
04:02It's so great to have people that you idolize when you're young and they became your friends.
04:06We used to talk a lot together.
04:08And he helped me a lot when I was in Madrid for my first year.
04:11Because he knows Madrid really well.
04:12He spent, like, almost 10 years in Madrid.
04:14So we have a wonderful relationship, and I'm happy with that.
04:17And, of course, I was happy to talk with him the first time because I was someone that I idolized
04:21when I was young.
04:23But I'm not someone who's scared or shy, so it's easy for me.
04:27Killian, if football didn't exist, what do you think you'd be doing right now?
04:31I think I was working with kids to help kids because I always say that I love kids and they
04:38are the future of the world.
04:39So I try to give them the best tips in life to have the best life possible.
04:44In 2018, you were a teenager playing in your first World Cup.
04:48Yeah.
04:48In 2022, you were a breakout star.
04:50What does 2026 have in store?
04:53Yeah, captain now.
04:54I'm the captain of the team.
04:55It's different now.
04:56It's a different responsibility.
04:57But I'm ready for that.
04:59I'm ready to lead my team to the biggest stage again.
05:03And I hope that we're going to go back with the trophy in Paris and in the Champs-Elysées.
05:07I think when you play, you don't think about the legacy.
05:10You think about to perform and to bring the trophy home.
05:14But, of course, if we win and if I win, it's going to be insane for the legacy of the
05:18country and my legacy for sure.
05:20Guys, we had a nice time, but I got to go.
05:22So thank you for everything and see you soon.
05:26That's a cut.
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