Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don\u2019t know beforehand what roles we\u2019ll ask them to talk about.<\/p>\n
The actor:\u00a0Juliette Binoche began captivating French audiences from virtually the first moment she found her way onscreen in 1983\u2019s Liberty Belle, but it was her performance in the 1988 adaptation of Milan Kundera\u2018s novel The Unbearable Lightness Of Being that truly introduced her to an international audience. Her career further blossomed throughout the \u201990s, thanks to performances in Louis Malle\u2019s Damage and Krzysztof Kie\u015blowski\u2019s Three Colors trilogy, which she followed with an Oscar-winning turn in Anthony Minghella\u2019s The English Patient. In recent years, Binoche has expanded her resume to include a few big-budget blockbusters (Godzilla and Ghost In The Shell) and a few outright comedies, including Dan In Real Life and Slack Bay. She can currently be seen in the harrowing Queen At Sea, playing a woman raising a teenage daughter while also dealing with a mother with Alzheimer\u2019s and a stepfather whose love for his wife is severely challenged by the current state of things.<\/p>\n
The A.V. Club: Queen At Sea is one of the best films I\u2019ve seen in recent memory that I don\u2019t think I could stand to watch again. I hope you take that as the compliment it\u2019s intended to be.<\/p>\n
AVC: I\u2019m not sure that I would, just because it was so devastating the first time.<\/p>\n
AVC: I\u2026felt it pretty hard. That was the issue, I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JB: Ah. I like to feel my emotions. So that\u2019s probably why I\u2019m an actress. It doesn\u2019t matter to me. It\u2019s a way of knowing yourself.<\/p>\n
AVC: How did you find your way into the film? Did they reach out to you specifically?<\/p>\n
JB: I was very interested in the subject matter, because I\u2019ve also been through that period of time. You know, being between a child that is growing into falling in love and becoming an adult in a way, and risking being pregnant or something like that. And on the other side you have a parent that was sick\u2026So it touched me so much, and I thought, \u201cOh, this is a necessary film.\u201d This subject matter hasn\u2019t really been told in films. I don\u2019t remember seeing a film about that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AVC: It\u2019s very interesting the way it develops. Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall are absolutely fantastic together, but Calder-Marshall is particularly remarkable, just because of everything she has to go through with her role.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JB: Yeah, and Lance [Hammer] is very particular, the way he\u2019s guiding us into the process for this film. He really made us feel like we were a family. And also asking all the questions, \u201cIf this happens, what would happen?\u201d This sort of intrusive procedure that you didn\u2019t expect. You know, because I\u2019m calling [the police] just to have some help, because I feel totally powerless, and then it becomes a crime scene, and then there\u2019s a criminal investigation, and then this violence of the examination for my mother that I didn\u2019t expect. This develops in places that you would never expect. There\u2019s a sort of a thriller kind of thing, and what\u2019s going to happen?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what people go through in their lives, especially when you\u2019re getting older. You think you\u2019re going to stay in the same place forever, and actually it\u2019s not going to happen, because there are dangerous stairs, for example. And also the question of consent, I find that very interesting, as far as Alzheimer\u2019s [goes]. There are laws that protect [people with] Alzheimer\u2019s, that you cannot have sex with them, but when there\u2019s love between a couple, how is the husband going to stop loving his wife? It\u2019s asking a lot of questions that I find just fascinating. And necessary, because films are here to help us in case we\u2019re in that situation. That\u2019s what the ancient Greeks were doing: They were telling tragedies in order for people to prepare for their lives.<\/p>\n
AVC: When you found out how the film ends, was there a moment where you went, \u201cIs this really how it\u2019s going to end?\u201d Or were you happy to go wherever the film took you?<\/p>\n
JB: No, I found it interesting, because then you don\u2019t know who\u2019s right or who\u2019s wrong. It\u2019s really questioning you, what was the solution in that case? The law is not really helping in that specific case, and yet if you stay at home, it\u2019s also not working. So there\u2019s a big question: How can we make it fair? Consciousness is about being in front of questions, and as an audience, we need to be filled up with questions in order to grow and make our lives a little better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Liberty Belle (1983)\u2014\u201dRally Girl\u201d<\/p>\n
AVC: This was your first film role, correct?<\/p>\n
JB: Yeah, well, I had to do one line, which was, \u201cYou fucking c-nt, get out of here!\u201d or something like that, because he was raping me or something. I remember getting on set and going to hair and makeup, and they said, \u201cYou don\u2019t need anything.\u201d And I felt very hurt by it, that they didn\u2019t want to take care of me. Of course with distance I felt, \u201cWell, probably they were right.\u201d Because I was a young 18-year-old actress, and the way I was, I was good to be shot, with nothing. I also remember being invited by the director because he wanted to talk to me about a role for another film, and he actually ended up trying to kiss me. So I pushed him away, and I thought, \u201cOkay, this is a pain in the ass, this job, because you have to put [up] limits very early on.\u201d Talk about consent!<\/p>\n
AVC: Both your parents were actors in some capacity, but what was it that actually made you decide to follow that path? Was there a particular moment when you decided you wanted to be an actress?<\/p>\n
JB: I didn\u2019t feel that I was following a path. I was just recognizing the need of playing. Because it\u2019s not acting, but playing. Because it brings joy, because it brings imagination, because you\u2019re preparing something inside you and you\u2019re exposing it to others. There\u2019s something joyful about it, something like a gift of some kind. I was playing all the time when I was little. So I didn\u2019t feel that I was following anybody\u2019s path. I was just recognizing my path. I can only thank my mother\u2014and my father, but especially my mother\u2014for allowing me to see a lot of concerts and plays, reading out loud during Christmastime\u2026 Racine, Chekhov, and all the Shakespeare,\u00a0sometimes sonnets. There was a lot of joy in discovering the arts with her. I was eager. I [had a] thirst [for the] arts. And my father would take my sister and I to big tours, because he was in the theater and doing tours here and there. So I thought I was going to do theater more than films, and I was surprised to actually end up being more in films.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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AVC: There were considerable trials and tribulations in getting this film to the finish line, but you reportedly never doubted that it would get completed.<\/p>\n
JB: No, I never give up. Because if I was giving up, it meant that everything was going to garbage. You have to have faith. And sometimes you have to put aside [everything] and go until the end. That\u2019s really what happened. So I said \u201cno\u201d to a lot of films that I could\u2019ve done, but that\u2019s part of what it is. Sometimes you have to choose one thing and really go for it until it\u2019s over and done. So we stayed and made the film. It was the actors, the directors, and the producers and executive producers. We held on until the end to finish the film. But we had three different investors from the producers to finish the film. It was rough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hail Mary (1985)\u2014\u201dJuliette\u201d
\nMary (2005)\u2014\u201dMarie Palesi\u201d<\/p>\n
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AVC: You\u2019ve done two Mary-centric films in your career: Hail Mary in 1985 and then Mary in 2005. I\u2019m particularly curious about the experience of working with Abel Ferrara, because I\u2019ve interviewed him, and he\u2019s a handful.<\/p>\n
JB: I really enjoyed working with him. He\u2019s a real artist. He\u2019s a little explosive and full of life and ideas, but there\u2019s something in him that\u2019s really, really deep, and I love that. He has his own way of working, like a lot of directors I\u2019ve worked with. They have their own way, and you have to adapt. Sometimes I didn\u2019t know where the camera was, and it was fine. You have to throw yourself into different kinds of experiences. And I think as actors, that\u2019s what we\u2019re expecting, in a way: to face yourself with something new so it\u2019s going to transform you. You\u2019ve got to lift yourself into a place you\u2019ve never been into before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AVC: Do you remember anything in particular about the Hail Mary experience?<\/p>\n
JB: That was one of my first films, with [Jean-Luc] Godard. I learned not to expect anything from a director. I learned that you\u2019ve got to go and be prepared, because the director\u2019s not here to help you. [Laughs.] He\u2019s not a coach. He has his own stuff to deal with. I learned from him very much that you\u2019ve got to be ready when you come on the set. That was very clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Godzilla<\/a> (2014)\u2014\u201dSandra Brody\u201d<\/p>\n \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n AVC: This was an outside-the-box film for you at that time.<\/p>\n JB: Well, it was three days of shooting. I don\u2019t have very much to say. It was fun for me to do it because of my son, because he loved Godzilla, and it was a way for me to give him a little bit of a wink. That\u2019s all.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Unbearable Lightness Of Being (1988)\u2014\u201dTereza\u201d<\/p>\n \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n AVC: This was kind of a big mainstream breakthrough for you.<\/p>\n JB: Yes, it was, in America. What would you like to know?<\/p>\n AVC: Well, first and foremost, how was the experience of working with Daniel Day-Lewis? He\u2019s someone who takes his art very seriously, as do you.<\/p>\n JB: Yeah, and in that way, we were very close. Loving what we were doing. I think he changed with My Left Foot. He went deeper. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being was just before that. But I love Daniel. I was in love with him, and I loved him as a person. He\u2019s a poet, and he\u2019s an amazing actor. Phil Kaufman was always saying \u201cyes\u201d when we wanted to do another take, and that was cool. He trusted the actors so much. And he came with his family\u2014his wife Rose and his son Peter\u2014and there was a feeling that making a film in Europe for him was special, I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n Damage<\/a> (1992)\u2014\u201dAnna Barton\u201d<\/p>\n \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n AVC: That was an intense film for the viewer, and my understanding is that it was perhaps more so for you as an actress.<\/p>\n JB: My relationship with Jeremy [Irons] was very hard. It was not easy to work with him. So I was crying a lot in my dressing room, trying to escape a little bit of the tension, and I felt very alone during the shooting. But I really loved the Josephine Hart book, and I was honored to be chosen for this film, because there were other actors who wanted to do it, and I was chosen. I was surprised to be chosen, actually. The book is about this carnal passion that these two people have, and they can\u2019t stop. There are people who live that, and as actors, we\u2019re not only heads talking, we have bodies\u2014we\u2019re telling stories with our bodies.<\/p>\n Chocolat<\/a> (2000)\u2014\u201dVianne Rocher\u201d<\/p>\n \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n JB: It was beautiful. It was easy-going. Fun. A lot of work for me, because I was working every day. But I prepared in a chocolate factory.\u00a0<\/p>\n AVC: Were you sick of chocolate by the end of filming?<\/p>\n JB: No, I\u2019m never sick of chocolate. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n Cosmopolis<\/a> (2012)\u2014\u201dDidi Fancher\u201d<\/p>\n \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n JB: That was a short shooting for me. It was three or four days. Not even. That was odd, because the director was someone else\u2014in his truck\u2014and we had a voice coming out of speakers saying, \u201cNow, do another take, and do it quicker.\u201d Or slower, or whatever. So it felt more alone in this car. It was fun, because I\u2019d never been in a situation like this, but it felt a little cold at the same time. I loved the DP [Peter Suschitzky]. He was very warm and worked for hours in between takes. He did an amazing job.<\/p>\n AVC: It\u2019s funny, I was going to ask you how it was to work with David Cronenberg, but it sounds like you didn\u2019t work very much with him directly.<\/p>\n JB: Well, yeah! Because he was in his truck, seeing if the editing was working or something. It was his way of working. Very technical. But also very freeing, because he asked us to improvise the scene in the car, and then he said, \u201cWell, I like it this way.\u201d So I was surprised by the means he was using in order to shoot, but at the same time, it was something quite freeing.<\/p>\n