Since her breakthrough in La Vie d’Adèle (2013), French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, 29, has continued to impress, becoming one of the leading actresses in French cinema. The new French ambassador for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté knows how to move us (Je verrai toujours vos visages, Sibyl, BAC Nord, Passages) as well as make us laugh in offbeat universes (Le Flambeau, Mandibules, LOL: qui rit, sort!). Her free, very human and frank personality is like her acting, sincere and raw. Very instinctive, the actress can go from the glamorous nymph to the sly bitch, or even the monkey (in La Flamme) on screen with disarming naturalness. All audacity suits her. With her pouting pout, her hypnotic gaze, her nonchalance and her sensual curves, she has also imprinted the silver screen with a beauty as sunny and intense as it is incandescent.

Adèle Exarchopoulos, a magnetic and rebellious actress discovered in the film La Vie d’Adèle
With an insolent freshness, Adèle Exarchopoulos is a star in her own right. As proof, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the president of the jury, Steven Spielberg, broke the rules. Indeed, he requested (and obtained) an exceptional exemption so that the Palme d’Or would go not only to the director of the feature film, Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the main actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. And a year later, the heroine of Rien à foutre (2022) was crowned with a César for most promising actress. While the actress is working on a series of exciting projects, including the films Un métier sérieux, Le Règne animal and Voleuses (on Netflix, alongside Isabelle Adjani), we meet an actress who devours life as much as the screen.

You are starring in many films this year. How do you choose your roles?
Honestly, a lot of things happen when reading the script. It is an encounter with a character, a story, a subject. And the feeling it gives me plays a big part. Then, the encounter with the director reinforces this desire, because suddenly, his vision imposes itself even more, and through our exchanges, we can feel the way of considering work and adventure. I need to appreciate the humanity of the people I work with. The older I get, the more essential it is.

In the film Un métier sérieux, you play a middle school teacher. What kind of teenager were you? Did you like school?
As a teenager, I liked school for the community that is imposed by class life: for the group, for all the first times that happen at school, for the limits that we test and a lot, for the laughter. I was a mediocre student… Respectful but with a lot of chatter and fun… And sometimes sleep…

In the film Voleuses, you play a very muscular role of a sniper and a high-flying thief. What was your physical preparation?
Mélanie (Laurent, the director of Voleuses), explained to us from the beginning the expectations she had for each character. Regarding mine, Alex, she is someone who grew up learning to handle weapons at a very early age, and more specifically sniper weapons, at long distance, but also combat… A discipline and an ability to fight are therefore already imprinted in her, despite her self-neglect: she smokes, sleeps little, like a former army officer (laughs). To be as fair as possible, Mélanie assigned me a coach, very precise and attentive, who made me lose 4 kilos. I also wanted to do my own stunts with Manu Lanzi’s team of professionals, which required a lot of rehearsals. I did the fights myself to the point where I broke my nose because I completely forgot my partner’s right hand during a fight choreography… 10 days off, and an operation but we had a good laugh. I also worked with Maratier, who is a fencing master in Paris. He made me shoot, rehearse, train, shoot, reload, shoot… I knew absolutely nothing about weapons and, at first, this feeling of having power thanks to a decisive piece of metal did not please me. Finally, by learning about the history of these weapons, and by practicing (precision, concentration and shooting), I loved it.

In a podcast produced by content creator Léna Situations, you say that you had a complex about your voice…
This complex is part of me. With my work, the voice is a tool that can be worked on, but it remains complicated to disguise this naturalness… I prefer to laugh about it. Of course, I have other complexes, like everyone else. My relationship with myself, with intimacy, is quite strang. I have much more modesty in front of those who matter, than to let go or to undress in front of a camera…

You have sold sandwiches, given classes at the Fleury-Mérogis prison and volunteered in Haiti. Is this what helps you keep your feet on the ground?
Honestly, I didn’t need to sell sandwiches to stay humble. There is no subject: I have no reason not to be… I am a mother, and the daughter of my parents, that is my role and my daily life. My work is a passion and it is my chance… I think that this industry isolates certain people, and if you have a fault that is too deep and especially a bad entourage, that is to say made of interests and lies, then it is complicated. I have caring friends with whom we always tell each other the truth even if it hurts because that is how we walk and how we rise.

You seem equally at ease in the comedy register as in the drama register. What makes you laugh, or on the contrary, makes you sad?
What makes me laugh in life is self-mockery, punchlines, dark humor and the absurd… My friends too… What makes me sad is very intimate and vast. I think it’s realizing that with time (and fortunately in the end), everything passe. It’s also losing people we love, of course.

What kind of values do you want to pass on to your son?
I want to give my child simple and essential values: loyalty, respect, sharing and also the freedom to be who he wants and the confidence to believe in his dreams.

Does it bother you when people stop you in the street and ask you for a selfie?
No, it doesn’t bother me when people stop me, on the contrary, sometimes it really affects me. Of course there are mornings when you’re late and you’ve just heard bad news, so you force yourself to smile, but it happens to everyone to have to put on a show sometimes.

What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? And the one you would give to someone?
The one from Christopher Waltz after receiving the Palme d’Or for La Vie d’Adèle: “Never stop working… Work”. It seems obvious but I understand what he means! And I think I would say, “Never stop believing!”

What is your biggest dream?
To travel a lot with the people I love.

In an interview for the Guardian, you said: “Cinema is about experiencing really intense things with people, for a while, and then you all go back to your daily lives. It’s like a mini death, and then, suddenly you no longer share this intimacy, but you keep an eternal tenderness for these people.” What is your definition of the profession of actress?”
I didn’t remember saying that at all (laughs)… For me, the profession of actress is to play at being sincere, to lie honestly. It’s also to do justice to a moral, a question, a subject with our own sincerity and composition.

If you hadn’t become an actress, what would you be doing today?
It’s a question I often ask myself, especially since this profession is uncertain and we depend a lot on the desire of others… I started young. I was dropping out of high school, so I’m not sure what I would have done. My plan was to work to travel and then improvise.

You are the French ambassador for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. What does that mean to you? And what is your relationship with makeup?
When Yves Saint Laurent contacted me to meet, I felt honored. This brand represents elegance, mystery and chic. I also like the faces that embody the house: Lil Nas X, Dua Lipa, Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz. I think it corresponds to a universal generation where everyone feels represented. I don’t wear much makeup, so I focus on the mouth or just the eyes. I like Birkin-style or Paradis-style mouths, or just doe eyes and a very natural complexion. Makeup is an armor, entertainment or simple pleasure, it really depends on the day…

Do you have any regrets about any of your artistic choices?
I have no regrets because you learn even more when you make mistakes. But I quickly realized that the strategy doesn’t suit me, doesn’t fulfill me. But I feel sincerely blessed in terms of roles. Great roles are rare and I had one right from the start. It’s a chance that I try to honor.

Looking back, what do you remember from La Vie d’Adèle?
I remember the same thing as when I didn’t have any perspective: I don’t regret anything and it’s impossible to summarize this experience. But the main thing is that I don’t regret anything.

Source : numero.com