Original subtitles

Maggie, how did you react to the Irma Vep project?

So, for me...

We thought we'd do this in English and French, just like the film.

I was rehearsing when Olivier called me.

I was both surprised and happy

because it was the second time we'd met to work on a film.

When I read the script,

I thought it was good.

And I was a little surprised because the character was so different

from the parts I was used to playing.

It offered comic possibilities which was something I hadn't done before.

Also, I thought it was interesting to have to speak in English and French.

And the film was about cinema,

because it's about the making of a film.

It's a funny film, but not a comedy.

Did Olivier Assayas make you watch all Feuillade films?

Not me, but Olivier gave me some cassettes

of Feuillade films.

It was a beautiful gift.

I saw a couple of the cassettes. I think there are five in the box.

I found the photography very beautiful.

I remember watching black and white films on TV when I was little.

So Fantomette is what comes to mind.

But the photographic style and even the stories

are really part of my childhood.

Because Olivier wanted to recreate the modernity of those films,

the way he explained Feuillade's films made them more accessible.

So we didn't ask ourselves any questions.

There's another film of Maggie's...

Corning from the Hong Kong star system and action cinema,

what were the main differences

for you working on a small French production?

Were you a bit lost?

In the film we see a great friendship develop between you two.

Is that what happened during filming?

Yes, little by little. We were like two people...

I didn't know Maggie, and she didn't know me.

So as days went by,

we started talking, we did scenes together.

And it was a real pleasure for me, for us both.

That's how it happened.

Was the film fully written

or is some of the dialogue based on some of your chats?

Jean-Pierre Léaud is a very important character and he's wonderful.

What did he mean to each of you?

It doesn't matter.

There's a mysterious night scene in the film, the jewellery theft at the hotel.

It feels like the scene has nothing to do with the rest of the film.

Was it already in the script or was it added during filming?

Yes, it was in the script from the start.

There's a very funny scene with the French journalist

who contrasts French cinema,

which is meant to be boring and cerebral,

with American and Hong Kong action cinema.

You've worked in both.

So after working on Irma Vep and seeing the film,

what do you think of that comparison?

With hindsight, what do you think the film is really about?

At the end of the film, you see the result of all these people

and all those clays of filming, it all results in something.

I'm talking about the very end with Maggie and the drawings.

The result is totally unexpected.

And yet we knew from the start that it had something to do with silent films.

The idea of reconnecting with directors

of avant-garde films inspired by painting

is something we totally forget over the course of the film.

We're too busy wondering how this type of film is made.

What the director is going to do is a complete mystery.

What influences someone while they're making a film?

What influences them to do what they do?

And in the end, even they can be surprised by the result.