She has become a collective image of modern femininity and at the same time claims that she is far from romantic. She is considered a symbol of French sophistication, but she is proud of her directness and practicality. Meeting with Audrey Tautou, convinced that a fairy is such a profession.
«How funny!» You think as you watch her on the screen. After all, she has a comic gift, she is a clowness, and even in her unconditional cuteness there is something comedic.
«How serious!» You are surprised when you meet her. After all, her doll face is strict. Her Bambi eyes are attentive and demanding. Her gestures are disciplined. Her unmanicured hands do not allow themselves any unnecessary movements. She rarely smiles, and if she smiles, then somehow shyly, it seems like her smile will be out of place. She’s wearing a long canvas skirt and heavy boots, the fragile femininity that makes her on-screen unique, as if rolled up into a neat roll and sent to some distant closet of an old French house. She sits at a table in a cafe on the rural, quiet outskirts of Paris where we agreed to meet, and takes off her camouflage — black glasses and a black cotton beret. He takes out a simple camera from a big, big sack bag. Oh yeah, her agent warned me: Audrey takes pictures of her interviewers as a keepsake. Interviewers are more interesting to her than interviews, that’s for sure. That’s why she says, barely looking around: “Maybe we don’t need this interview, huh? You know, I don’t have any special life circumstances, only opinions … That is, events that it would be interesting for someone to know about did not happen to me. I have nothing to say about myself. I live normally and happily. Maybe even too well. I’m some kind of average, uninteresting European … ”And just then she smiles. Not coquettishly, not at all, on the contrary — openly, disarmingly. Audrey Tautou clearly warns me about the very type of her personality: she is a young woman from Europe at the beginning of the third millennium, she is sober, honest, straightforward. She speaks cleanly and glibly in English, in this “language of globalism”. In her world, everything has long been settled, everything occupies its own niche in the property and social hierarchy, in it well-being is commonplace, women and men are equal, it is not customary to demonstrate either success or failure. And that is why in this world such a wonderful and paradoxical flower — comic and femininity, charm and clowning — feels like a foreigner. She says she has nothing to say about herself because she’s not sure what to say. Is her personal in a totally arranged public world order appropriate? Question for Audrey Tautou open. And you will agree, there is something sad in this. The fact that a movie star of a new generation, a charming girl who has become a symbol of everything elegant and bold in French, is not at all sure that she herself is interesting to someone. This topic deserves, in my opinion, a separate discussion.
Psychologies: After «Amelie» you became a kind of symbol of France. Then they represented her in the Hollywood blockbuster The Da Vinci Code. What is it like to be a symbol?
Audrey Toto: First, so-so. It’s not that I was scared when all this wave of unexpected popularity hit me, when they recognize you, they whisper on the subway over their shoulders, they look at you like an exotic animal in a zoo, they take an autograph instead of bringing a salad … I didn’t expect this at all, so I was not frightened, but shocked. Now I have reconciled. I had to give up small freedoms — to sit in a cafe on the street, to go to my favorite simple restaurant in my Pigalle place, although I still live in the same place as before «Amelie» and «Code», in my old apartment … I was only afraid, that success will fence me off from people, because the stars — you know, they almost unconsciously put a kind of filter between themselves and others … But more importantly, people needed Amelie. More important than my freedom to walk without black glasses and a beret.
Why do you think Amelie was so needed? Because she’s a fairy that rules lives?
“I DOUBT MYSELF EVERY MINUTE. BUT SELF-DOUBT IS EXACTLY WHAT DEVELOPS US. IS NOT IT?»
O. T .: Because she is a little fake, because she is a fake from Montmartre — such a real, dirty, black area, a district of working people who carry the spirit of French democracy, regardless of skin color. Because she is an unhappy sorceress… But you know, the main thing is because all of us, humans, have a poorly developed imagination. We need to point the finger at the fairy, how Jean-Pierre did it (Genet, director of the film «Amelie» — ed.), so that we are amazed and admired. Meanwhile, a fairy is a profession. The maid in the hotel, the janitor — they are invisible, but they control an important part of our lives. The one who schedules the subway trains is also an invisible person who does good deeds. I sometimes go into the bathroom in some hotel and wonder who this woman is, who ripped everything out here so much. Most likely African. She certainly has children. And these children may have stayed in Africa, in Mozambique for example. She left them to earn money. And calls them, and worries about them. And all this in order to be a fairy for me here in Europe. This, I understand, is the fee for the «faystvo» …
Are you a dreamer?
O. T .: Not really — I’m just trying to look behind the facade! See what’s behind the scenes. My parents always insisted: you need to understand what is happening around you. Always, under all circumstances. They taught me to stand firmly on my feet. In this sense, I am really a “condensed” Frenchness — pragmatism and norms of behavior in life are very strong in me: always work, do not wait for rewards, be honest, constant in feelings, do not indulge your weaknesses. It’s in my blood. Think for yourself: I was brought up in the family of a dentist, this is my dad, and my mother is a teacher, besides one hundred percent French. Can I be different? The most memorable phrase from my childhood is my mother’s: «Audrey, straighten up.» Mom always asked us to sit straight, not to slouch. And rightly so. Posture is character. A straight back is will. I, even believing in God, do not really rely on Him. I myself live. All my fairies go to work and get paid. But seriously… After «Amelie» my sister and I went to Indonesia. I traveled a little before, but then I saw a genuine exotic. Particularly exotic for me was the way people there are experiencing terrifying, from our point of view, poverty. I live too well not to feel responsible for this.
Maybe it’s habitual for you to constantly feel responsible because you were the eldest in a family with four children?
O. T .: Perhaps yes. I was the eldest, and it turned out that it was nature itself that placed such a responsibility on me — at least I should not create problems for my parents. There was no choice — to feel this responsibility or not, because the role of the eldest went to me by birth.
Didn’t you feel lack of freedom in this sense?
O. T .: It’s strange — I never feel unfree, because I always insist on freedom. The need for freedom is my main need. Maybe that’s why the closest of my heroines to me is Chanel from Coco Before Chanel. This woman a hundred years ago, when there was not even the very idea of freedom of women’s choice, insisted on her independence. She refused to comply with social foundations, conventions. And, having released her talent, through fashion, through clothes, such a superficial thing, she began to free other women! Offering the woman to try on a men’s suit, she showed her that you can try on the men’s world, the world of business and independence! It’s amazing, don’t you think? And it was precisely out of pragmatism — due to the fact that it was easier for Chanel to conform to herself, and not to external canons — she made such a breakthrough. I appreciate pragmatism, even such a peculiar one in appearance. And as soon as I fall into euphoria, life immediately hits me in the nose.
And what do those blows to the nose look like?
O. T .: It’s comical, usually not a big deal. The most revealing is when I graduated from high school. I always wanted to be an actress, but my dad and mom convinced me to enter the philological faculty: you need to get a normal education!
I agreed. But at the very end of school, my parents gave me a subscription to attend theater courses in Paris. Just for a few weeks, but in Paris itself! And now my mother and I are coming, I am not eighteen, I am delighted with everything. And especially from how many beautiful, charming women walk where we live. Tall, irresistible blondes, not like me — height 160 cm and one eye! And I think: Paris is the capital of everything perfect, because there are so many amazing women here! And I live with this idea, and with an unpleasant accent: what can I count on when there is so much female beauty here … And only towards the end of my courses do I suddenly find out that I live next to three modeling agencies! And that’s why the streets here are full of models! That was a shock!
Does your heightened sense of responsibility interfere with relationships with the opposite sex?
O. T .: Usually I don’t talk about my personal life, because I still want to keep some kind of freedom for myself … even here … You see, it’s not responsibility that bothers me, but the fact that I myself, in a sense … a boy. I like to watch rugby and football on TV. I drive like a man. It is easier for me to do than to plan and discuss plans. I value everyday experience more than art. I’m talking straight about sex. I am almost indifferent to clothes — I felt some taste only recently, when my work began to somehow approach the fashion business: the role of Chanel, I am the face of Chanel No. 5. But still I will never buy expensive clothes — it’s just a shame … I don’t need to to protect me. And I never resort to all these seduction tactics. I am quite direct and practical. It gets in the way sometimes. After all, in fact, men are more romantic than women. They believe in the roles assigned by nature to the representatives of different sexes.
Do you believe in your roles, put yourself in the place of your heroines? Could you fall in love with an elderly person, like your young heroine in Venus Beauty Salon?
O. T .: I am far from introspection and do not try on heroines. But I like these people, in Venus… He saw in her not a hairdressing doll, not an intern, not a young girl in search of a partner and support. He saw her in her, only her, outside of any functions and social context. And she saw in him not a rich client and not a potential owner. Namely him, with his lust for life. If I manage to see a person, him and only him, does it matter if there are different incidents — age, place in society?
Do you believe in marriage?
O. T .: But I’m not married. Draw your own conclusions.
And in endless love, not dependent on time and trials, like your Matilda in The Long Engagement?
“MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME: YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND. ALWAYS. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. AND STAND STRONGLY ON YOUR FEET.”
O. T .: Although I am not a materialist at all — money is something abstract to me — I am not a romantic either. For me, in the story of Matilda, who did not believe in the death of her fiancé in the war and went in search of him, the main thing is not love. The main thing is that she is a fighter, Matilda. She wants clarity. What is «missing»? There is always an opportunity to explore! For me, this story is about strength and clarity. And love … He who loves is vulnerable. So, infinitely loving is a masochist. Hence, love is always a bit of a masochism. And in masochism — yes, I believe in it.
What relationship do you see as ideal for you?
O. T .: Do not know. The truth is I don’t know. Sometimes I see a relationship so seemingly perverted, yet so passionate, so genuine. And is it possible to do without “role-playing games” at all? But I never wanted to play hide and seek in a relationship. If people want to be together, they need to give up ambiguities, ambiguous words and actions. Yes — for me. And so it was – I saw – for my grandparents. And they lived together for almost 70 years. So, it is still possible — not to play if you are together …
Is it possible to achieve certainty in life? Don’t you doubt, never doubt yourself?
“I NEVER FEEL NOT FREEDOM BECAUSE I ALWAYS INSIST FOR FREEDOM. THIS IS MY MAIN NEED”
O. T .: I AM? Yes, every minute! I’m not sure about any of my decisions. How to choose the right role, the right dress for the premiere, the right juice in the supermarket … And I’m not sure about the correctness of the decisions made for me either. When I was suddenly taken and approved for a role in The Da Vinci Code, I fell into a stupor from responsibility — after all, a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. Even during the filming, I waited: no, of course, they would take me off the role, but tomorrow they would be filmed … And I calmed down only when half the film was shot: I realized that the producers would not go to such expenses — so many scenes with another actress to reshoot. But self-doubt is exactly what develops us. Is not it?
For you, «Amelie» might not have happened: Emily Watson, for whom this role was written, could agree, then Genet would not have called you and you might not have become a star … Have you thought about it?
O. T .: But by that time I was already an actress. The most important thing had already happened to me by that time. I have already become what I wanted to be.
You are only 31 years old, and so much has already taken place in your life — success, career. The main role in a big Hollywood project, what an achievement. What are you dreaming about?
O. T .: About nothing. I don’t dream of anything like that. I don’t know where I’ll be in three years. And who will I be? What will I want. What to need. The future for me is a bunch of incredible discoveries. You see, I know so many talented actors who think every month how to pay the rent. And I’ve been remarkably lucky. The less you expect from life, the more its gifts seem … No, I still dream of one thing! I dream of finally playing Chopin’s 15th prelude without mistakes.
Private bussiness
- 1978 August 9 was born in the town of Beaumont in the province of Auvergne, France.
- 1996 Graduates from general education and music schools (class of oboe) and enters college with the prospect of becoming a philologist.
- 1997 Moves to Paris and enters the renowned acting school Cours Florent; debuts in the TV movie «Target Center» by Laurent Heinemann.
- 1999 The first notable film role is in Tony Marshall’s film Venus Beauty Salon.
- 2000 «The Libertine» by Gabriel Aguilon; an affair with actor, director and producer Mathieu Kassovitz, which began on the set of the film «Amelie»; Award «Cesar» for his role in the «Beauty Salon» Venus «.
- 2001 «Amelie» by Jean-Pierre Jeunet; nominations for the prize of the European Film Academy and «Cesar» for her role in «Amelie».
- 2002 Nominated for the prize of the European Film Academy for his role in the film «Dirty Pretty» by Stephen Frears; «Spanish Flu» by Cedric Klapisch.
- 2004 Starts a personal relationship with American poet Lance Mazmanian that will last for almost three years.
- 2005 «Pretty Women» Cedric Klapisch; nominations for the prize of the European Film Academy and «Cesar» for his role in «The Long Engagement» by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
- 2006 The Da Vinci Code by Ron Howard; «Fatal Beauty» by Pierre Salvadori; begins a relationship with a famous French musician and singer -M- (stage name Mathieu Chedida); becomes the face of Chanel No. 5 fragrance.
- 2007 Just Together by Claude Bury.
- 2009 «Coco before Chanel» Anne Fontaine; starred in the romantic comedy Soins complets by Pier Salvadori, where again, as at the beginning of her career, she plays a girl from a beauty salon.