Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu. “I predict wrinkles will soon become a common sex object.”

When it was said that her character, Sylvie Gratto, overshadows that of the heroine of the series Emily in Paris , Filipino Leroy-Bollier has this elegant answer. “Sylvie doesn’t exist without Emily, and vice versa. These are two characters that balance each other, develop in contact with each other. However, the 60-year-old French actress rose to international fame playing this fearsome but sensitive communications agency manager. The role (after the neglected but worthy wife’s role Ten percent) gave the Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu’s career an unexpected boost. On May 23rd, she was a guest speaker at Kering’s Women In Motion, an initiative designed to promote and advocate for women in filmmaking.

Build your own path

Born to an actor father and a mother working in the fashion industry, the Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu had to find his place very early in these two “strong personalities”. In his first role, he won it A surprise event By Roger Vadim in 1983. But even there he instinctively feels that he should build his own way. My meeting with director Colin Sero Three men and a bassinet, a feminist and a demanding woman, was decisive.” Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu, however, remembers castings in the 80s where actresses were asked to undress a little too often. “I refused. Just say no. And not believing that our careers will stop dead if we say no.

On video: Guests at the Kering Dinner at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023

a healthy break

His participation Three men and a bassinetThe popular success of 1985 launched his career. “It was a very modern female character, she went to castings, hiding her stroller under the stairs,” he emphasizes. “I liked this idea of ​​playing an unworthy mother.” Which he won’t be. In the 90s, the Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu left the film sets. I lived my motherhood to the fullest, I went to Brazil… I wanted to give my child something other than neuroses.” Today, he refuses to talk about crossing the desert, but “crossing the inner forest”. “It lets you know yourself, face your demons, and learn how to keep them in check.” Doubts and vices, the depths of which he will serve the character who will bring him light again.

Feminine singular

When Filipino Leroy-Beaulieu passed the casting Emily in Paris before its creator, Darren Starr (sex and the city Melrose Place:He immediately felt the feeling of “knowing” Sylvie Grateau; “Darren has an incredible talent for writing female characters. I had watched some in the fashion industry where my mother worked. Both powerful and confident and vulnerable.” Traits she shares with Emily’s boss, who also brought her a lot; “The character of Sylvie Gratto allowed me to learn to channel my fear instead of turning it into anger.”

Powerful, rebellious, desirable and desired. Sylvie Gratto was originally slated to be 35 years old. Thanks to a shrewd casting director who suggested the Filipino Leroy-Beaulot to try out, the character gave a new face to the world of current fiction. The actress notes that she is not the only one. “I predict that wrinkles will soon become a total sexual object. In this movement of highlighting women over 60, to which Michelle Yeo also belongs, I am not an exception, I am part of the wave. She also emphasizes that the attitude of Sylvie Gratto, “who above all defends femininity,” reflects her understanding of current feminism; We will support each other, not trample on each other. It is a feminism of reconciliation.’

We are waiting for the filming of the next season Emily in Paris, whose production has been halted by the US writers’ strike (supported by the actress and the series’ entire team), Filipina Leroy-Beaulieu intends to take her game to other territories, both literally and figuratively; “In France, I get the label ‘Emile in Paris.’ I hope the directors will have more imagination than that. Because the important thing for an actor is to speak several languages. Message received.