Noemi Merlant. “I don’t see how you can stay focused on yourself in such an unequal society.”

Noemi Merlanti is the first to be shocked by the paradox. her sincere and determined gaze contrasts with her soft voice and shy smile. That day we find the actress on the terrace near her house. The sultry bearing, the slender figure, the graceful gestures testify to twelve years of dancing followed by a modeling bracket. Cinema came later. After his father’s encouragement, he left Nantes for Paris and enrolled at the Cours Florent. Revelation. Just before the end of his course, Jacques Richard turns it orphan. After a César nomination and a supporting role the heirs Marie-Castille Menton-Chaar, the latter offers him a springboard. Heaven will wait .

Her grace and sensitive strength have moved filmmakers from Jacques Audiard to Celine Ciamma, who raise her as a loving artist. Portrait of a girl burning on fire… But this summer marks a new stage in the thirties’ career. after two short films, I am a deer and: Shakirahe is directing his first film One piece my love. Modest and fiery movie. She plays a bride-to-be who, on a trip to Romania with her best friends, meets a guy who bothers her.

In the shoes of this young man, Jimmy Kovaci, a Roman actor whom the actress had shot Shakira, a short film born out of his commitment to the Roma community. “I support the Acina association as much as possible, which accompanies new arrivals in uncertain situations, but I am unfortunately running out of time. I finally realized that I can help them better by telling their stories.” A dubita She was also born between her love affair with Jimmy Kovaci and his friendship with three actresses. All of them are already hoping to shoot another movie together, as soon as Noemi Merlant’s schedule allows it. In 2023, he will really be the eco-activist of Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. A difficult year and André Teschiné’s Wounded Soldier Sister Feet on the ground.

In the video, Mi Iubita, my lovethe teaser

Miss Figaro. – my love (1) born almost on a whim…
Noemi Merlant. – since the filming of Shakira, actor Jimmy Kovacs, my friends Sanda Codreanu, Clara Lama-Schmidt and Alexia Lefais and I are very close. We wanted to put our friendship to good use in the new project. Then Gimi suggested coming to Romania to his parents to meditate. Everything was taken away very quickly. On a whim, we decided to take advantage of the trip to shoot a month later. It was a crazy bet, but this “wild” method ultimately fits the urgency of my four heroines, who find themselves in Romania without resources, at a time when they’re also living under constraints.

What did you want to show with this story?
A version of our reality. our bond with all five, but also the birth of our love story with Jim. At first I was afraid of judgment and looks because of the difference in our culture and age, but Gimi thinks: The opposite, that this opens up a dialogue about difference. I decided to trust him.

You deconstruct stereotypes with this couple, where the woman represents the experience…
This makes it possible to approach the concept of consent. My character is older, more experienced, from a privileged background, which gives him a form of power. But the guy who played Gim has it too. he is physically stronger and has cards in his hand to help him in a land where he and his friends are idle. This context allows us to question the dominant dominant schema; how not to use the power we are aware of? How do we allow another to take his place despite the uplift we can accomplish? How to find balance in a couple despite differences?

Interview with Adele Haenel and Noemi Merlant

As an actress, I am much more attentive to the female gaze on screen

Noemi Merlant

Have these questions come into your life more since then? Portrait of a girl burning on fireBy Celine Sciamma.
Completely. Before, I wasn’t so attentive to it, but after this movie with Celine, these questions don’t leave me anymore. As an actress, I am much more attentive to the way women look on screen. And for my film, without comparing myself to Celine, I tried to shoot the skin and bodies at the right distance, preserving the modesty and awkwardness of the characters. I cut the love scene too soon. we don’t know if the gesture leads to an act. What happens next is up to them.

We know you’re reserved. However, this love story is also yours in life. Were you hesitant to play the part?
I didn’t really have a choice, for logistical reasons. we shot in fourteen days, with Gimmie’s family, all staying together… We had to cut down on the crew. And entrusting my role to someone else would be a waste of time. However, Gim was not comfortable with the idea of ​​shooting with someone else. Maybe I wasn’t filming them either.

Tell us about your commitment to the Roma community.
A few years ago, seeing how the Roma were considered and caricatured, I went to meet them thanks to Nicolas Clément of Secours Catholique. I didn’t understand how the population could be so reduced to these clichés. I started helping them with direct debits, integration projects… I contacted the family and then the idea for a short film came. Shakira I wanted to look at them differently and favorably. I offered them a documentary film, but since they are never associated with the authority of cinema, they preferred to act in a feature film. It was more rewarding. Hence also this idea of ​​contrast A dubita This time it’s about a gypsy family welcoming the French women who reach them. This point of view also closed the productions. “Roma, nobody cares,” “You just won’t make movies about it.” I’ve heard incredible things… But I’ll keep going, hoping that one day Gimmy or others can tell their stories, write them, direct them independently of me.

Your desire to direct came before you wanted to be an actress.
In fact, these are two delayed desires. There wasn’t really a profession. I didn’t know what to do, and my father advised me to go to Paris, to try something related to the character. Wonderful intuition. I pushed the door of Cours Florent and after the internship I realized that I really want to become an actress. The desire for success came later as a result of family drama. My father had a serious accident thirteen years ago, I spent a lot of time with him in the hospital and I wanted to tell through pictures what ordeal we were going through. It was both a way out and a need. I wanted to share the struggle of a family, a universal theme that seemed to me to be about enough for all that it involves tragedy, but also funny at times. I started writing then, but I didn’t shoot the footage until seven years later. It was Christmas, there was an ad for camera rentals near me, and I went there… I had just finished editing with the help of Marie-Castille Mention Shar. I tell this invisible population that is a caregiver in four days.

My mother always says that thinking about someone else gives you the strength to live

Noemi Merlant

Your mother, in this case…
Since the accident, she has been taking care of my disabled father, but also my mentally disabled sister. She had to get a carer’s degree to earn some money for her day job, but she also has to take care of other people. He is exhausted, very poorly paid, undervalued. It is such an injustice. But my mother always says that thinking about someone else gives strength to live. The film is also full of love, life and humor. Like our family.

Does your family context help you stay grounded despite a job that can be disconnected from reality?
Of course. But I don’t see how you can stay focused only on yourself in such an unequal society. Moreover, when you are an actor, you put yourself in someone else’s place every day. this implies a form of a priori empathy. The same goes for directors who talk about the world around them, about what others don’t want to see. In any case, that’s how I see this work.

Are you playing? The innocent, by Louis Garrel, to be released in October (2). Was there a desire for comedy in you?
I’ve always wanted it, I’ve come close to it the return of the herofor example, and I’m glad that Louis understood this, even if his film mixes several genres: crime fiction, romance, comedy. During the shooting, I was full of doubts. I feared ridicule, especially because my voice tends to rise in treble quickly. But Louis gave me confidence, advised me to act as I am, to be brave. I’m quite shy, I only allow myself to joke in my close circle, but this is the first time that I allow myself a little in a professional context as well. It drove me crazy.

You also toured with Cate Blanchett…
In resinBy Todd Field, conductor Lydia Tarr. At first, I literally liquefied before his eyes, especially since there was another challenge – to shoot in English. I calmed down within days but I still can’t believe it.

(1) One piece my lovereleased on July 27.
(2) The innocentreleased on October 12.