Zoe Ajani. “My aunt was very important in my development as a teenager”

His last name instantly evokes legend. Zoe Ajani, niece of Isabelle Ajani, is one of those actresses whose name alone spells success, both in film and on stage. But the 24-year-old actress is charting her own trajectory through her various roles: the rebellious teenager; Cherry (2015), waking up from a long coma What we have left (2016), a high school student seeking to live love freely Honey cigar (2020)… And the last one in Morgun series Girls of fire, a young woman who sets out with her sisters to defend her elder abortionist’s fight while a terrifying witch hunt rages in the Basque Country in the early 17th century. to see France 2: until September 11 and then France TV:. A character that echoes the battles the actress intends to fight throughout her career.

Feminist characters

Madame Figaro . – How did you prepare to play Morgue?
I immersed myself in Basque legends, immersed in them. I quickly realized that if I set too much of a historical frame, I would neither fall in love with this character, nor would I be able to maintain this charming and very innocent side. So I put history aside for a bit in favor of the Basque community and folklore – its tales, songs, legends, connection with nature…

In the video, Girls of fire (2023), trailer

Have you appeared in this character?
Yes of course. I felt like I had reconnected with my childish side, shifting from one emotion to another depending on what presented itself, in a kind of mild madness. It was very interesting. knowing what excites me the most and therefore takes precedence over everything else.

Whether in or out Daughters of Fire, Bali (2014)Honey cigar (2020), you play women with strong characters, with a remarkable feminist influence. What do you get out of these roles?
When I read a script or go through the casting process, I’m taken by the excellence of these always very colorful characters and the life message they carry within them, in addition to their relationship with their bodies and affirmed sexuality. As a young woman and actress, I have to face this struggle head on. to say that my gender identity belongs to me and to say that society should accept me as I am. However, I don’t do this just to fight, it’s more global. A story, a feeling takes me. This is what inspires me.

In other words, apart from the artistic approach, is there an activist approach on your part?
I always told myself that I should do something necessary. That’s right, it’s like activism, even if I’m not fighting head-on. So far it’s through art, through character. I always make sure to ask myself, is this helpful? Obviously, it makes me rise to challenges. All roles have some important meaning. It CherryFor example, he was extremely shallow, and yet he carried wounds within him that meant he had to constantly defend himself and was absorbed in quite childish things.

Legacies

What’s it like having one of the most famous French actresses in your family?
It’s impressive (laughs). But it helps, allows you to surpass yourself, learn this profession more easily. Maybe harder than others, though. For a long time, I protected myself a lot and I still do little, being afraid of mimicry, being too much like him… I haven’t watched all his movies yet and I’m waiting to be able to. do so. I will really enjoy it when I am fully established as an actress. It is a joy to discuss scripts with him, to go to the theater, to the cinema together… He is a source of inspiration, no matter what.

In life, away from the sets and the media, are you two close?
Of course. For me, it was very important in my development as a teenager and then as a young adult. I needed an honest and compassionate relationship, I think he did too. We have developed it in a very beautiful way.

Does it bother you to be reminded of his name often? Being the “niece”?
I don’t think I’ve got used to it and the more time passes, the more I advance. I’m hung up on something public and I think that’s okay, he’s the one we know. I hope that little by little I will be able to find my place and create this first name for myself with pride and talent. I really want it. Meanwhile, I remain attached to him, and that is far from a drawback. I trust life, my choices and my work.

This is your meeting with Leila Bekhti on set The source of women (2011), who gave birth to this desire to play in you? For what ?
Then I had the opportunity to attend three months of filming with the whole team and I was impressed. For this film, Leyla learned and read Arabic One thousand and one nights in just a month and a half. He has shown great openness, intelligence and focus on set. I felt everything that the role can bring to an actress and a woman. Suddenly we were immersed in a small village two hours from Marrakesh, without water, with these women who had to fetch water from a well for three generations. This is what struck me. to see that through some role we can be transported into a culture, an environment that is absolutely not our own, and yet we immerse ourselves in it. Leila Bekhti, in spite of herself, taught me the lessons of the profession ahead of their time. I would love to work with him one day.

In the video: Leila Bekhti’s secrets at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

Cinema is an operation, an operation. Meanwhile, the theater is a breath, a dance.

Zoe Ajani

A passion for boards

You also acted in the theater in 2020 in a play Opening night By Cyril Test. How do you feel about being on stage?
This is a breath we hold. we start, and we don’t stop until it’s over. Two hours passed without realizing it. It’s a magical thing that’s really beyond me. And then all this preparation for D-Day, the fact of being in front of an audience. it’s a very precious energy, a living, living art of art that we have much less of in cinema. Cinema is an operation, an operation. Meanwhile, the theater is a breath, a dance.

Is there one of these two gaming experiences that excites you more?
No, I don’t think so. The advantage of having a difference and not having the same intention is that we don’t need to compare them. On the other hand, I really want to play on stage because, after all, cinema is an art where I start to learn my skills, while I still have everything to discover about theater.

What are the cinematic sources of inspiration that feed your work, your artistic vision?
Actress to watch Anatomy of a Fall , Sandra Hueler, for example, is absolutely incredible. There’s also Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter, who I’m crazy about… They’re all actresses who play their roles with great strength and at the same time with great fragility. They like to show their feelings and are not afraid to disfigure themselves. Emma Stone, too, who belongs to a generation of actresses who are not afraid to come alive, to transform, to no longer find themselves in the attributes of beauty that have until now been attributed to women who wanted to be characters. Look for the strange, the strange, in these emotions that we can describe at the moment as hysteria. Falling into bitter anger and exuberant joy for life is what pleases me most.

What artistic prospects do you go for?
I have a theater project that will begin rehearsals in mid-October and will be performed in January. I hope to be able to access castings or offers for complete, free, queer characters in the future. I really want to explore that and then move into humor as well, doing sarcastic comedies. I have the impression that I make the choices that really suit me, to be more and more in my place in this profession, with great freedom.