Anamaria Vartolomei on 'Le Comte De Monte-Cristo' at Cannes | Presented by Chanel
Anamaria Vartolomei on 'Le Comte De Monte-Cristo' at Cannes | Presented by Chanel
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00:00It's rolling.
00:02See you later.
00:04Wow, it's beautiful.
00:06Yes, very beautiful.
00:08Congratulations, you're here with two films.
00:11I've seen one of the two.
00:13Your performance as Maria Schneider is magnificent.
00:16I'd like to know how you prepared for this role.
00:19It went through several phases.
00:22There was a documentation phase,
00:24after reading the script,
00:27to prepare for the first rehearsals.
00:30In this phase, I was more in the local imitation,
00:33which is less in-depth,
00:35and the essence, the very nature of Maria.
00:38And then there were discussions with the director,
00:42Jessica Pallud.
00:44There was a lot of reading of the script,
00:47to really go through all the scenes,
00:49read between the lines,
00:51and then choose what we decided to keep from her,
00:54in the gestures, the phrasing, the approach,
00:57to then be able to clean up,
00:59and go to the essential,
01:01and find the adequate depth
01:03so that her voice resonates more
01:06than the physique we tried to create.
01:10Jessica told me you watched a lot of films together,
01:13a lot of documentaries.
01:15Yes, we watched a lot of documentaries,
01:17especially related to drugs,
01:19and there's a part in the film
01:21in which Maria takes heroin,
01:23and then it goes through the lack,
01:25the overdose too.
01:27So I think Panic at Needle Park
01:29remains our major reference film.
01:32We tried, because it's a masterpiece,
01:35for me anyway,
01:37and we tried to take inspiration from it.
01:39But it's true that everything we tried to do,
01:42we also gave ourselves the freedom to say that,
01:44for example, for these scenes,
01:46it's very personal, the lack, the overdose,
01:48there's not really any behavior
01:50that resembles one another.
01:52So we looked for it together,
01:54to see where we were comfortable,
01:56and what I was okay with,
02:00and if it corresponded with her desires
02:03and her expectations as a director,
02:05and what she expected of me as an actress.
02:07And we quickly aligned ourselves, and that's it.
02:12And in addition to all this work,
02:14there's also the gestural,
02:16and also the costumes.
02:18How did Chanel's costumes
02:20help you get into
02:22the character of Maria Schneider?
02:24It's true, so I wear a little Chanel dress
02:27in a scene, on a set,
02:30so it was interesting,
02:32because it became a costume for her too.
02:35And then in the end,
02:37we took inspiration from an archivina of hers,
02:39in which she has a black costume,
02:41and then Chanel very kindly lent us a black costume.
02:44In general, when I wear Chanel,
02:46I feel very strong,
02:48and I feel myself,
02:50because I don't feel like it's a dress
02:52that hides your personality,
02:54or the woman you are,
02:56I don't feel disguised,
02:58on the contrary,
03:00I feel like it reveals my person.
03:02And at the same time,
03:04I feel very strong and elegant,
03:06and I thought it was good
03:08to end the film like that,
03:10because the end of the film
03:12decides to move on to something else,
03:14Maria gets up,
03:16and seems to be repairing.
03:18And I thought it was very strong,
03:20that she was dressed like that,
03:22and that the dress,
03:24which in itself is worthy,
03:26and timeless,
03:28reveals all the splendor of Maria.
03:30They also modernized the codes
03:32of fashion of that time, didn't they?
03:34The costumer, you mean?
03:36Yes, we didn't try to
03:38in the caricature,
03:40and it's true that we found
03:42rather cool looks,
03:44and even looks that we could wear today.
03:46We stayed true to the codes of the time,
03:48the high waist,
03:50the slimmer cuts, the shirts,
03:52but it's true that we also
03:54got inspired by Maria,
03:56she wore a lot of jewelry,
03:58a lot of money,
04:00and there was something punk
04:02and rock in her,
04:04and it's true that we tried
04:06to go in that direction,
04:08without it becoming caricatural,
04:10and taking over,
04:12because often in period films,
04:14it's hard to find the right balance,
04:16so that the spectator doesn't feel
04:18the disguise,
04:20and that we see the actors
04:22dressed in period costumes,
04:24and I was very happy,
04:26because I felt good,
04:28I felt free in my movements,
04:30and I think it's essential
04:32for the incarnation of the character.
04:34Tell me about your collaboration
04:36with the director of the film,
04:38it was also a very difficult role for him,
04:40how did you collaborate?
04:42We met on the set,
04:44on the first day of shooting,
04:46because we started with the tango part,
04:48and I think the fascination
04:50that Maria Schneider has
04:52for Marlon Brando,
04:54I had for Matt Dillon,
04:56there was something very fusional
04:58from the start,
05:00he is very communicative,
05:02he is very cultivated,
05:04he has something fascinating,
05:06and he is still a Hollywood figure,
05:08so we were all a bit impressed,
05:10we really had the impression,
05:12like at the time on the tango,
05:14to have a Hollywood star,
05:16a Hollywood figure,
05:18and no, he is great,
05:20I find Marlon Brando very fair,
05:22and again, I don't find him
05:24in the caricature,
05:26and that's Jessica's look behind,
05:28who guided us,
05:30and I think it's a success,
05:32and I feel so honoured
05:34to have shared this little week
05:36and these few days
05:38with Matt Dillon.
05:40And how is it going,
05:42this film, this character
05:44of Maria Schneider,
05:46she is extremely modern,
05:48on what she says,
05:50on the work of the actress,
05:52the way the actress is considered
05:54by the directors,
05:56do you feel that today,
05:58in 2024, it really changed?
06:00Yes, and we are really
06:02witnesses of that,
06:04today, in the news,
06:06we have a different reception
06:08of the testimonies of the victims,
06:10we give them a lot more value,
06:12a lot more respect,
06:14which Maria didn't have at the time,
06:16there is more empathy,
06:18I would say,
06:20and more listening,
06:22and understanding of things,
06:24because Maria spent her life
06:26talking about it,
06:28telling the truth,
06:30but we thought it was her truth,
06:32and not the truth,
06:34which was the case,
06:36and she didn't face the people
06:38who questioned her,
06:40who asked her why she thought
06:42it was a dangerous job when she said it.
06:44These are people who didn't go any further,
06:46because I think it would arrange for them
06:48to be the ones
06:50to blame,
06:52because she was in a society
06:54where women were already
06:56listened to, but above all,
06:58in an industry that was not ready
07:00to unveil the icons,
07:02we didn't want to shoot on Brando and Bertolucci,
07:04we preferred to do it on her.
07:06Do you want to play
07:08in films that are committed,
07:10because with the film of Audrey Diwan,
07:12these are two films that are quite committed,
07:14that have quite feminist messages,
07:16is it something important for you?
07:18Yes, I think it's important for me,
07:20because it's the proof
07:22that I can be faithful
07:24to who I am,
07:26to be honest and loyal
07:28to myself,
07:30and if I want to defend...
07:32I think films are my political stand,
07:34they are the expression of my commitments
07:36in my life as a young woman,
07:38and I think they speak for me,
07:40and yes,
07:42they are often committed films,
07:44because I think we owe ourselves
07:46to be a committed young woman,
07:48especially when we are actresses,
07:50and we also contribute to change,
07:52and yes,
07:54I think it's just the expression
07:56of my desires,
07:58of my expectations,
08:00of my desires,
08:02and I'm lucky,
08:04it's true that since the event
08:06there has been a bit of that,
08:08and I play often,
08:10I meet women who try to escape
08:12a social, family,
08:14environmental, political,
08:16political,
08:18political,
08:20and who tend towards freedom,
08:22and often my characters,
08:24I have the impression,
08:26are women who tend towards freedom,
08:28and who do everything to get it.
08:30Great, last question,
08:32I know you have international projects,
08:34can you tell us about them?
08:36I can't,
08:38I can only tell you,
08:40I made a film,
08:42it's an American production,
08:44it should be released early next year,
08:46but I don't have the right to talk about it yet,
08:48but I think everyone thinks I'm lying,
08:50because there's nothing coming out,
08:52and I made a film
08:54by Teodora Anamihai,
08:56she's a Romanian director,
08:58who is in her second feature,
09:00and it was written and produced
09:02by Christian Mungeo,
09:04who is one of my favorite
09:06contemporary directors,
09:08and who is Romanian too, like me,
09:10and it was the beginning
09:12of a work with him
09:14that I had been waiting for a long time,
09:16and I loved working in English,
09:18in French, in Romanian,
09:20and being able to combine all of that.
09:22Thank you very much.
09:24Thank you.
09:26Thank you.