Interview: Audrey Tautou

Gallic beauty Audrey Tautou stars in new flick Priceless. She chats to us about playing Coco Chanel, the Da Vinci Code and making it big in Hollywood… 

Is Priceless your first film since The Da Vinci Code?
I shot it at the end of 2006, so it was my first film since the Da Vinci Code. I had accepted this movie before, so we had to change the schedule for me to be able to do Da Vinci Code.

I keep seeing myself with all the special effects. It’s hard for me to watch the movie as a spectator. Usually it’s difficult for me, and for me in this movie it’s even harder; I guess that’s where my cynicism comes in. It’s too much for me. But I liked the experience, and I enjoyed shooting the film. I would do it again if I had to. But everything is so different from what I am as a person.

Is it true you’re going to play the great designer Coco Chanel in a new film?
That’s true; I will start shooting at the end of the summer. If everything goes to plan, I shall play her, but it’s not a huge biopic about her. It’s a film about her early life, her personality, all her experiences that lead us to see and understand who she will become. It’s an interesting way to look at her. It is not fictional, it is based on her life. The script is finished but I have not had time to digest it all. The director did some research about Coco and she wanted to see what the most interesting period of her life was, and she thought her youth was fascinating, so we’re going to take every element of her young life.

Have you ever considered why French actresses have never prospered in Hollywood?
I don’t know. First, I don’t know their motivation; did they really want to work in Hollywood? But also I think it’s very difficult for French people to work in Hollywood, because it’s such a huge industry and to be able to create some space for yourself is a hard job. So I’m not sure French people are ready to do that, and of course the language doesn’t help! You almost can work only as a foreign character. Then the French film industry is able to finance big productions, and we have wonderful directors, who might be as famous as Steven Spielberg, so I am very pleased to work with French directors.