His dog invites himself Met with some nice barks. On a January morning in a Paris apartment, a smiling Natalie Portman flatters the animal while answering our questions. The actress has pulled her hair back and appears without makeup; Its beauty is more natural and clear. From this absolute star, we know the dominant course, which is blockbusters (Star Wars II, II And III, Thor…) and American auteur films, Woody Allen (Everyone says I love you) or Tim Burton (Mars attacks!). Without forgetting his dramatic roles as in black swan By Darren Aronofsky, who won him an Oscar at age 29, Jackie A portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy as a dignified widow, by Chile’s Pablo Lerén, or Planetarium By Rebecca Zlotowski, on the tragic fate of a Parisian producer who fell victim to an anti-Semitic cabal that led to his deportation.
Born in Jerusalem, the 42-year-old actress, also a Harvard graduate, controls her communication as much as possible (she does not answer geopolitical or personal questions) but has made artistic choices that justify all interviews: she refused the role. The Man Who Whispered in the Ears of Horses, by Robert Redford, to be able to play Anne Frank in the theater. She also acted Free zone A story of friendship between an American, an Israeli and a Palestinian, by Amos Geeta. Natalie Portman, who started at a very young age, at the age of 12, with Jean Reno Leon By Al Pacino after Luc Besson the heat By Michael Mann, has also recently become an accomplished producer: she founded a company called MountainA with her friend Sophie Maas, a French producer acclaimed in Hollywood. A new commitment for this vegan supporter of animal rights, which reflects her desire to highlight texts and topics close to her heart. It’s done with Todd Haynes’ masterpiece May December
which comes out in France on Wednesday (read opposite), In which he shares the poster with Julianne Moore. A double portrait of a woman and a Miss Anne Abeme on the profession of an actress: a view she proposed to the director.His admiration for Todd Haynes
I love Todd’s films and dream to work with him. His film Safe Most importantly for me, I also studied Julianne Moore’s performance in it. Far from heaven Also important, as I’m not there. Todd is truly a master, he has a wonderful way of examining themes of the female psyche, performance and identity. So when I got the script May December, I knew he could apply his incredible vision to this story. And he did it! We only had 23 days to shoot and he gave us all an “inspiration book”: a file of images and 25 films, to inspire us visually and tonally. was Personality By Ingmar Bergman, the winner By Mike Nichols… He put us all on the same page and helped us understand the film we were making. And also very unusual music (for which Michel Legrand the messenger, Joseph Losey’s 1971 film), very strange, which set the tone for filming. He then chose to use it in the film. Finally, Todd is also very adept at presenting a certain type of American suburbia: this beautiful and idealized existence that, upon closer inspection, reveals an unhealthy background. The choice to film in Savannah, Georgia is an interesting one: it is a beautiful and dignified city, with trees and Spanish moss, full of “Americana” and history: a place whose existence and character are closely linked to original sin. United States (Slavery). And, of course, the relationship between Joe (Charles Melton, of Vietnamese origin) and Gracie (Julianne Moore) has a kind of resonance…
An actress playing an actress
I’ve never played a living person before, and this raises questions about our profession that we’ve been asking for centuries: Does turning people’s lives into game content make us vampires? Can we tell a story without interfering with it? Most artists don’t go as far in their research as Elizabeth, but the simple fact of telling a news story, of making it public, has an impact on those involved. And art can be immoral. Can we represent a crime without saying how it is a crime? Many unanswered questions. Elizabeth is consistent with her artistic intent—which we can judge, fight, or accept—to enter Gracie’s mind, which she must interpret on screen. She probably goes too far, she doesn’t have the limits that a journalist, documentarian or actress should have: not to interfere with the story. She gets stuck in her need to prove something to herself and her own ego, this makes her blind to how other people feel. She is not very sympathetic but she needs to be seen, respected and admired like Gracie. This is why they know each other: they become mortal enemies while mirroring each other.
“I enjoy playing with people’s preconceived images of me”
His work as an interpreter
The Actors Studio method, as people know, requires you to be in character all the time. This seems very restrictive to me and in some cases impossible: if you play a serial killer, prostitute or drug addict, you don’t really do these kinds of things in your everyday life. I don’t use this method at all. I have acquired techniques, a way of working and a process over the years, but as we say “to cut”, I became myself again. I’m well aware that people will wonder if I’ll ever act like Elizabeth in reality… It’s fun to play with people’s perceptions, with this preconceived image people have of me.
Face to face with Julianne Moore
I didn’t really know him, I just fell in love with him when we worked together. She’s amazing, and she’s a phenomenal actress. We share a similar work style: we are very serious on set and then we like to have fun and let loose. For the first time I felt like I was creating a character with another actress, like we were part of the same organism. She was generous, the characteristics she chose for Gracie were gifts for me to emulate. And then there were many ” The mirror scenes with her… It was technically complicated because the mirror was the camera: we had to react to each other without seeing ourselves. This was a wonderful exercise and a great way for Todd to introduce the theme of identity: if the camera is a mirror, it’s the audience that’s in front of you when you look at yourself. And then these two women who are always in front of the mirror but who don’t really see each other and who don’t reflect themselves… it was incredible.
His new life as a producer
I thought that as I grew older I would be more or less ready to take an interest in acting, but my interest and curiosity kept growing, in fact! I also love this new life as a producer, because I can bring to the screen stories that are meaningful to me. It is important that women, who make up half the population, have access to storytelling. We don’t tell a story in a certain way based on whether we are male or female: every director has his own way of seeing the world. But women and minorities have historically been excluded from this exercise. A big part of our goal as producers for me and my friend and business partner Sophie Maas is to support more women and historically underrepresented people in storytelling. And I also want to direct films: the new generation of French directors, Rebecca Zlotowski, Celine Sciamma, Justin Triot… inspire me a lot. It’s an extraordinary group of women filmmakers, which is why I feel lucky to be in France right now.