Interview: Federica Furino

Photography: Alan Gelati

Styling: Sarah Cazeneuve

Hair: Martyn Foss Calder @ Airport Agency Paris

Makeup: Tatsu @ Marie-France Thavonekham Agency Paris

Talent: Emmanuelle Seigner @ Storm Model Management

The greatest freedom is being able to say no. Emmanuelle Seigner begins this interview with her personal recipe for happiness, clear and essential. "The pandemic has not changed me: it has only strengthened some of my convictions”, she says on the phone. “Today I only do what I am 100% convinced by. Either this is the case or, otherwise, I don't exert myself any more. I'm not willing to compromise, especially at work.” Privileges of age (she has just turned 56) and of a filmography that is a piece of cinema history: Bitter Moon, Venus in Fur, Frantic, Place Vêndome, La vie en rose, just to name a few. A path shared, in part, with Roman Polanski: mentor on the set, life partner, husband and father of her children. In the last three years, spent away from the set, she has dedicated herself to another great love: music.

“When the pandemic broke out I was on tour with my band. We had been to England, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Scandinavian countries and then to America. But then Covid came and everything stopped. We were doing very well, we had two songs on the Killing Eve soundtrack and two on Emily in Paris’. Now we are writing the songs for the new tour, but it takes time.” 

Singing or acting: what do you like best at this stage of life?

I love acting, but I have to have good roles and projects that convince me. I don't want bad parts in bad movies anymore. Acting is good, but most of the time it's a very boring thing. And now I have become very selective: I prefer to lose money than do something I don't want to do.

Are you no longer interested in money?

I don't have great needs. Money is useful for a peaceful life, but for me it is not the most important goal. It is more important to be free. If I don't feel like making a film or a project, I don't force myself.

Will we see you again on set?

Certainly. I have a couple of interesting projects in September in New York, but unfortunately I still can't talk about them.

What makes you happy?

Spending time with the people I love. And run, which I do most days. Then I like to work, but only if I do something that really interests me. Otherwise I hate my job. Rather than acting in a film just to do it, I would prefer to work in a shop.

What are your days like?

I run, I see friends, work. I've been spending a lot of time with my family lately because I lost my dad a year and a half ago and I'm taking care of my mom. I had to find her a house in Paris and arrange for her to move. Fortunately my children are grown up now and it's nice because they are independent. But I have an old dog that needs a lot of attention.

What type of mother were you?

I think being a mother is the hardest job in life. I was very young when I had my children, and I did my best.

How difficult was it to reconcile the life of a mother with being an artist?

Not too much. I actually think it's more difficult for those women who have to go to the office every day at eight in the morning. We actresses are lucky and privileged: I could choose not to work for two years to dedicate myself to children.

Both of your children followed your footsteps: you did a good job.

I wouldn't say that: children breathe the environment in which they grow up and adapt. I would have preferred that they did something else. Not everyone has to be an actor.

You chose a different path from your parents: your father was a photographer, and your mother a journalist.

Back then the world was different and everything was easier. If I were 20 today, I would never become an actress.

Why?

Everything has changed: the film industry has changed. There are too many actors, too many films, too many projects, too much of everything. Everything revolves around money, there is nothing more artistic left. It's like a packet of ham in the supermarket.

And when you were young?

When I started taking my first steps in this world it was the beginning of the 80's. The world was less dangerous. We didn't have a phone, there was no Instagram. It was all more mysterious: people were happier and less stressed.

What were you like in those days?

A very serious girl. I had this tendency to take care of others, perhaps because my parents were young and I had always looked after my sister. 

How did you start working as an actress? 

I was a model and I was asked to shoot a video for a Nivea commercial directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau who was a famous director. On that occasion, I met an agent: she noticed me and offered me to make a film with Godard. That's how it went. I was lucky, I was 18: I never tried to become an actress, it happened. And it was the beauty of those times when the planet was less crowded. In the 1960s we were two billion, now we are eight. Getting noticed in the crowd is more difficult.

Do you believe in destiny?

In a certain way, yes. I believe that everyone has their road.

Do you believe in anything else? In God, for example.

I love Padre Pio. I spent a lot of time in Italy and when I was there I bought a lot of candles of him. At night I turn them on and trust in his protection.

Do you like Italy?

Very very much. The people, the food, the places. I believe that as an old woman I will settle down to live there. France is losing its mind. It seems to me that Italians are better able to resist rampant stupidity: they remain Latins.

What do you mean?

For me, laughing about life is essential and instead it seems to me that the sense of humor is being lost everywhere. Once you could even make jokes about serious issues, about race, about sex. And it was fun. Now you have to pay attention to everything you say, to dose the words. You are no longer free as you used to be. We will die of this politically correctness. This seems very sad to me. 

You started acting at 18 and had children very early.

The eighteen years old of that time is the 30 of now. Now at 20 you have the maturity of a child of 10. At 30 I was married, I had a house and two children.

You shared an important part of your career with your husband, Roman Polanski.

I have made many different films with great directors, but certainly with my husband I have made very important ones. He is one of the greatest talents in the world and I think that's the reason people remember them more easily. I have acted in more than thirty films and only six were by him.

Among these thirty, do you have any favorites?

Of course. I would say: The diving bell and the butterfly, Place Vêndome with Caterine Deneuve, La vie en rose even if I had a small part. And then, of course, I love Frantic and Venus in Fur. Venus in Fur is what I love the most: not my favorite film but certainly my best performance.

A film about masculine and feminine nature. What did you learn about womanhood by making that film?

That femininity is not a loss of power or control. You don't need to be dependent on a man to be feminine. I have always felt feminine and at the same time I have always been very independent: I have always earned my money and made my choices independently.

In this quest for independence, how heavy did you feel being described as "the wife of"?

When you marry a very famous person, it happens. But to me he is just my husband. This story of kinship is something that the newspapers and the media love very much and that is why I have chosen to keep my last name.

Are women today more free or less free than in the past?

Talking about women in general is always wrong: each is a world unto itself. When they couldn't vote and were not entitled to a bank account, it was terrible. Today they have the same opportunities as men, and that's great. We have the right to abortion and we are no longer required to have ten babies. But there are aspects in which today women are less free than in the past.

Is it social media to blame?

Social media is a tool: it depends on how you use it. If you use them to show your work and your creativity they can be very interesting.

Do you use them?

Not much. I don't have Facebook, Twitter or TikTok. I'm only on Instagram. I don’t post a lot, but when it happens it’s interesting. I have friends who share everything they do: lunches, dinners, everything, but this is not my preference.

What is beauty to you?

An advantage, a blessing. Without any hypocrisy, it makes life easier. But beauty comes from many things, not necessarily from the physical aspect, but also from personality.

When do you feel beautiful?

When I'm at ease: I hate heels and I hate having to dress elegantly: red carpets are torture for me. As soon as I can, I take off my shoes and walk barefoot. I feel like the poor women forced to wear corsets in the nineteenth century.

What effect does the passing of time have on you?

It’s beautiful. The idea of getting sick scares me. But I'm not afraid of getting old. I actually like it.