Melanie Thierry. “I have been with my husband since I was 20 years old, life has decided that we will have a third child.”

Paris, 1894: A young woman, Fanny, is voluntarily interned at the Salpetriere Hospital, where the insane, “hysterics,” cripples, alcoholics, drug addicts, or just the marginalized are confined. His goal is to find his mother, who has disappeared behind these walls, where no one, or almost no one, ever comes out. Bourgeois, educated, he discovers poor women living in filth and filth, who can only count on their solidarity.

the plot of Prisoners takes place during the preparation of the ball, in which patients participate once a year under the gaze of “sensible” notables. The story has already been told Ball of foolsBy Melanie Laurent in 2021. Directed by Arnaud de Pallier (Michael Koolhaas, Orphan) provides a grittier interpretation, closer to the damaged bodies and lost gazes, including Melanie Thierry, who gives Fanny’s character her quiet strength and extreme sensitivity. The actress, who emphasizes that at the age of 42, she is being offered more and more interesting roles, is carving out an ambitious filmography consisting of roles; Margaret Duras Pain or the surgeon traumatized by the November 13 attacks in the series In therapy – which fully engage him while revealing new aspects of his talent each time. She is also expecting her third child. Meeting.

Madame Figaro. – What attracted you? Prisoners ?
Melanie Thierry. – A number of things. the role was great, but what attracted me the most was Arnaud de Pallier’s point of view, the way he shot this story. Most of the topics have already been covered, including ball des fous. Why do it again? Because we take it from a different prism. Arno comes from the documentary. Prisoners remains romantic, with an extremely graphic outlook, while being in something that resonates today.

Before playing the role of Fanny, you went through a period of doubt. For what ?
It’s always before you start shooting, to understand your character and say, “Okay, okay, I got it.” Preparatory periods are important. in the case of Prisoners, I took classical dance lessons for three months, singing lessons every two days, conservation lessons. Not forgetting the endless repetitions with Arno, who told me “Swirl your tongue in your mouth 10 times before you speak”, “Speak slower”, “Smile less”, “Don’t look directly in the face”. middle class stuff, educated from childhood. Me, I come from the working class, I feel fundamentally “better” than the housewife of the upper bourgeoisie. These are codes that I do not understand, but that Arno, who came from a more bourgeois background than mine, was able to teach me. This work, this rigor, it calms me, it is a refuge.

Don’t these periods of doubt disappear after a career of over twenty years?
No, because the character is a stranger to begin with. We don’t know that, we know that we will have to inhabit, carry, give beauty, emotions. The movie too. it belongs to the director, but it will also belong to us in a certain way as we open up, reveal ourselves. I attach importance to it. Every time I get rid of it very quickly, but it is worth it to me.

What is this worth to you?
I wonder how I will find the character. it lives in me, haunts me day and night. It’s a real mess. But be careful, I don’t lack self-confidence. I’ve been doing this for a long time, I know I’m pretty good at it. I’m still here even though I started as a kid when everything was meant for him to fall apart long before. Finally, as I grow older, I am still offered many beautiful roles, even the most beautiful. But I know that I am a student who has to work. Some people have it easy, oops, they snap their fingers, it’s innate, they have a form of ease. Not me, in school I had to work hard to get a more or less decent grade. That’s how I was educated, that’s how I work to this day. But everyone has their own method, their own way of working. The principle is simply to know yourself well enough to find your own instructions.

How is the fate of women? Prisoners , sometimes locked up for nothing simply because they “shamed” fathers or husbands, does that resonate with our times? Is this a political film?
It should tell the principal. Personally, I think it’s good to tell this story through fiction while adding something that challenges us and shocks us. But this was the end of the world. this ball was the last one, and we’ve come a long way in the fight against madness, even if it hasn’t been that long. As for the political aspect, the evolution of the status of women, I prefer to leave that to those who speak about it better than I do. Instead of talking nonsense, complaining or criticizing, for example, for not going far enough.

But what’s your take on the movements shaking up French cinema, for that matter? Depardieu to the speeches of Judith Godrechet ?
I don’t know. I have the impression that even if we say something with a lot of good will, with good feelings, without wanting to ignite a flame, it ignites for yes or no. Right now I’m completely unplugging. I prefer to devote myself to my family and car (she points to her stomach Editor’s note) which I am preparing now. I enjoy it more than catching up on the news.

You have two children, 5 and 10 years old. Do you have the feeling that the next one will be born in another world?
Yes, and it scares me, I don’t want to step outside anymore. But it all depends on how we raise our children, what we teach them, how we protect them, how we nurture them. What we teach them about life, what we give them in terms of love, priorities, values. All of these things sometimes allow you to cope better than others.

How does having a baby after 40 allow you to plan for the future differently?
There is no question. I have been with my husband since I was 20 years old, we already have two children, life decided that there will be a third one, I think it’s all wonderful. Three children from the same bed, from the person with whom I have always shared my life and whom I love madly, passionately… I find that what life offers me, continuing to work towards happiness, is magical.