INTERVIEW: Ludivine Sagnier on "Love Crime", Her Star Persona and Catherine Deneuve

If you first discovered Ludivine Sagnier, as many movie lovers did in the early 00s through the films of François Ozon, the sensation was something like wide-eyed whiplash. One moment she was the exuberant tomboyish daughter of Catherine Deneuve in the musical 8 Women and the next she was anything but as a lusty bikini-clad (or unclad) vixen causing trouble for Charlotte Rampling in the thriller Swimming Pool. Both films were international hits and her turn as "Tinker Bell" in the UK/USA/Australia production of Peter Pan further upped her profile.  Sagnier has been a movie star in France ever since. 

 Ludivine Sagnier in Alain Courbet's Love Crime

Currently both The Devil's Double in which she plays leading lady to a Dominic Cooper double-act and the thriller Love Crime  in which she plays headgames with Kristin Scott Thomas are now in theaters and  Beloved with Catherine Deneuve will undoubtedly follow; consider her international profile revived. 

I sat down to talk with one of my favorite French actresses earlier this year during New York City's annual Rendezvous with French Cinema event. After introductions and a bit of small talk about French cinema and The Film Experience's actressy nature, we got down to business. 

NATHANIEL: You started so young Cyrano de Bergerac (1990). You were all of 9 or 10! 

LUDIVINE: People always ask me how I got started. My story is so common that it's a bit tiring. I went to an audition with my sister who wanted to be an actress and they asked me if I wanted to do an audition and they picked me and didn't take her. It happens so many times in the industry. I've talked to a lot of actresses...

Deneuve and Sagnier in Cannes in MayNATHANIEL: So when you were first coming up as an actor in France were you conscious of this great legacy. Like you're next in line after Huppert and Deneuve and well, so many actresses... France makes great ones.

LUDIVINE: NO! I Didn't see myself that concretely... I didn't like myself that much in the beginning. But it's funny because I just shot a movie where I was playing Catherine Deneuve in the 1960s and she is playing me older. It's Beloved from Christophe Honoré who I did Love Songs with. Maybe this time I had the feeling that we are part of the same family, that we have a common story. First she was my mom in 8 Women. Then I was Chiara's sister in Love Songs and Chiara is her daughter. And now Chiara is my daughter in Beloved. Everything is so mixed up!!!

And now I dare think we share the same history. When I started... NO.

Continue For Ludivine's Feelings on Star Persona, International Careers and Genre Hopping 

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This & That: Oscar's Reunion, Hardy's Trapezius, Rudolph's Princess

So... before he starts filming the Tom Hooper directed film version of smash hit epic musical Les Miserables (more on that in a second) we're going to have to sit through one of the most ridiculous movies of all time (that's a guess) just to satiate our love of Mr. Jackman. The things we do for Hugh.

Here's the poster for Real Steel. 

I almost want to remove those arm bandages (tenderly!) and reapply them to the face mummy style, so as to save that wonderful movie star mug from B-film embarrasments. If you're going genre, go all out: wouldn't it awesome if a mummy was training boxing robots?

The Wrap In other Hugh Jackman news, we're getting our post Oscar 2009 ceremony wish: Anne Hathaway will probably be playing Fantine in the film version of Les Miserables. Ah, Hugh & Anne singing again. Together. Sort of. I can't recall if they have any songs together but I don't care. They're both finally doing a musical!
My New Plaid Pants Good Morning World, it's Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Twitch Film Josh Brolin confirmed to lead Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy. I am one of those rare souls that hates the original movie but they're still going to have a tough time surpassing its chutzpah, you know?
Just Jared Tom Hardy in the new issue of Dazed and Confused on this 'manpanion' trainer and more (I personally wish he'd lay off the bulk a little; his trapezius in Warrior is frighteningly over-sized...

poll by twiigs.com

Playbill Sadface. Looks like that Nicole Kidman / James Franco Broadway revival of Sweet Bird of Youth is off. I do think it's wise that Franco starts dropping projects from his ridiculously overbooked calendar (you have to have time to do things right, you know) but I hope Kidman still pursues it. Would love to see her take on that classic role.
Awards Daily I knew this would happen but it doesn't make it any less painful to see Ides of March trading in its excellent and interesting teaser poster -- the one with the magazine half faces -- for something so boring I already forgot what it looked like the second I started typing this sentence.
SplitSider a review of the porn parody of The Big Lebowski. Yes, really.

And I'm very happy to share this video of Maya Rudolph's Prince cover band Princess -- i didn't know there was such a thing (thx WoW) -- but I love them instantly. Here they are doing "Darling Nikki" once of Prince's most infamous numbers.

Come back Nikki! Come back!!! ♪

Finally, I have no idea why there's a sudden rush of Captain America postings but here ya go...
Austin Translation "Thor Loser"
Art of the Title Sequence on Captain America: The First Avenger
Comic Book Movie Curious. Joss Whedon will digitally resurrect the 40s actress Joan Leslie for The Avengers.

"A Star is Born"... or, will be *after* the Star's baby is born.

Beyoncé announced her pregnancy at MTV's VMAs last night. I switched channels after Gaga's drag king opening number so the news got to me secondhand.

There be film fallout. The fourth feature film version of A Star is Born (2013? 2014?) is now delayed for at least nine months as Beyoncé gestates and welcomes her first child into the world. The musical, meant to be Clint Eastwood's post J Edgar project, had hoped to go before the cameras early in 2012 and with the speed that Eastwood tends to work we would have probably seen it as a Christmas 2012 release.

But now that Beyoncé is pregnant (and considering also that Leonardo DiCaprio has turned down the male lead role), this won't be happening just yet. The Beyoncé/Jay-Z babe will be born first.

Oscar-obsessives should keep a close eye on this one -- the film, not the babe. While the project seems ridiculous on the surface for both "another one?" superfluity and Eastwood + Beyoncé odd-coupledom, A Star is Born is a durable cultural object. It's always a major morphing showcase for the gifts of its leading lady. The first three incarnations resulted in 17 Oscar nominations and 3 Oscars all told including bids for Best Actress for both Janet Gaynor (1937) and Judy Garland (1954) and a Best Original Song Oscar for Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" (1976).

Will we see Beyoncé as a Best Actress nominee in 2013 or 2014... or will she have to "settle" for a Best Song Oscar?

Q&A: Resurrections, Musicals and "Julianne Pfeiffer"

I feel like if I talk about the Oscars anymore than I already do I will slowly become one! Gold plating, lopped off head, ... the works. This week's question were extremely Oscar focused. In order to escape my immobile sword-holding genital-free fate, I'm not answering them just yet. I'm also not answering any "top ten" questions but feel free to go on giving me top ten list ideas ;) 

I'm suddenly realizing this Q&A series is like writing 10 blog posts at once. Which is... well, must rethink this series! So only non-Oscar focused questions today and then we'll just gag on naked gold men tomorrow and Wednesday, K? 

Here we go.

Luiserghio: If you could resurrect one classic director to direct a modern actress/actor?
Nathaniel:  My first thought was William Wyler for just about any actor or actress that needs a chance to really nail a top flight dramatic adult piece. Who has a better track record for directing actors to grand serious performances with nuance and depth? Nobody. But then Vincente Minnelli directing Anne Hathaway popped up and I'll go with that. Not because she wants to play Judy Garland and he's the expert but because he understands color and musical numbers and Hathaway would soar under both conditions. Plus she seems to have an 'Old Hollywood' soul as it were so she'd be perfect for any resurrection.

Mandy Patinkin, Eartha Kitt and Toni Collette in "The Wild Party"Robert G: If you could guarantee one stage musical from any time in history would be adapted to a film, what would it be?
Nathaniel: If you'd ask me this five years ago I would've said Sweeney Todd. 

This is such a tough question as there are so many great ones. Many stage musicals I love wouldn't transfer well like A Choru -- whoops! I regularly try and picture "The Light in the Piazza" and "Caroline, Or Change" as feature films. I think a masterpiece could be made from Sondheim's "Follies" but what director alive is both genius enough to handle the complexity of it and has enough industry muscle to demand that only extraordinarily gifted singing actors handle the vocally demanding songs? So maybe I should just say Michael John LaChiusa's "The Wild Party" because I am weirdly obsessed with it and because there's more room for error. By which I mean it's busy with noise and dancing and banter and that's easier for modern Hollywood to understand than pure singing musicals. If they made a mistake here and there they wouldn't destroy a masterwork and we'd still get an entertaining film. Please note: This guarantee wish comes with Toni Collette reprising her lead role as alcy showgirl "Queenie".

Queenie was a blonde and her age stood still and she danced twice a day in the
... vau-de-ville ♫ 

Sean C: Which of the four actors do you think has the biggest opportunity to drop the theatrical dramedy-ic ball in CARNAGE?

John, Jodie, Christoph and Kate checking out TFE's Oscar charts!

Nathaniel: Such a mean-spirited (or maybe just worried?) question. I'll give you my answer after the jump.

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Sing Out Jodi! "Part of Your World"

She wants to be part of your woooooooooooorrrld. 

The original Ariel, Jodi Benson, sings her signature tune at the opening of the The Little Mermaid ride which I think just opened in California ("Adventure Park")  but I can't keep track of their parks. It's coming to Florida's Magic Kingdom too.

How many times do you think people have asked her to sing that song for them since 1989: 1,989? 14,000? 890,000? Infinity?

I'm not sure when I came to be so obsessed with The Little Mermaid but sometime about 4 years ago I realized that though I always claim Sleeping Beauty and Beauty & The Beast as my favorite Disney movies (and Jungle Book as my childhood favorite), I mention Little Mermaid, like, a thousand times more often than any of those. What's wrong with me?

Obsessed.

The ride apparently has a surprise ending and Movie|Line made nine cheeky guesses (though #7, "flounder sandwiches", wouldn't surprise me at all, since Disney is totally cannibalistic with their 'children) but they forgot one.

I'll help them by providing it...

#10 the fattest white-haired passenger is impaled and electrocuted.