interview de romain Goupil-617

I knew the world of Catherine Breillat well and we had already met. When she called me, I immediately gave my agreement before reading the screenplay, without trying to figure out what she had in mind in choosing me for the part. I told her that if she chose me as an actor, she did so at her own risk! This indifferent father, concerned by his own affairs, is a fairly unsympathetic character. I would make fun of Catherine, saying that she had only chosen me because Rocco Siffredi had disappointed her! (laughter)

On the set, I tried to be at her complete disposal, to be totally available by forgetting that I too am a director. Even so, I was fairly worried about my own acting skills. Catherine is very demanding in her work, she is looking for something very precise which isn’t always easy to express but she searches continually. She cannot always provide the explanation, you simply have to move through the scene for things to become clear little by little.

I learnt a great deal about an actor’s work by finding myself on the other side of the camera, waiting for the least gesture or look from the directors. Moreover, the actors soon form a family. Here, totally naturally, the family of the film formed off camera too. But the film also awoke the fragility within us all. That’s why we were very close on the set.