Isabelle Carré Romantics Anonymous Interview

Isabelle Carré Romantics Anonymous Interview

Cast: Isabelle Carré, Benoît Poelvoorde
Director: Jean-Pierre Améris
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Running Time: 80 minutes

Synopsis: Jean-René (Benoît Poelvoorde), the boss of a chocolate factory, and Angélique (Isabelle Carré), a talented chocolate maker, are two highly emotional people. Their shared passion for chocolate brings them together and they both fall in love with each other, without daring to let on.

Unfortunately, their pathological timidity tends to keep them apart. But they'll overcome their lack of self-confidence, at the risk of revealing their feelings. So whether they will manage to get together, join their solitudes and live happily ever after is a guessing matter. A classic French romantic comedy that's truly touching and genuinely funny, with just the right amount of romance versus life, love and chocolate.

Release Date: April 5, 2012

Interview with Isabelle Carré

Question: Do you remember the first time Jean-Pierre Améris mentioned the project?

Isabelle Carré: It was a long time before he wrote it. We'd just shot Maman Est Folle and he just mentioned the idea. He confided in me that he'd been to Emotions Anonymous meetings and we talked a lot about how we felt about our emotions. That drew us closer. Jean-Pierre is someone I really like both as a man and as a director. I like the way he directs. The idea of working with him again and on that subject in particular was very appealing.


Question: How would you define your emotional state?

Isabelle Carré: Today I find it easier to talk about it. It has been a problem but it's much less so now. It's something that affects your daily life. For example, when I used to get angry, I'd cry. Part of myself would turn against me. It's quite complicated to handle because suddenly, there's something swallowing you up. Not so long ago, when I went to a dinner party, I had to walk around the block ten times, sometimes in tears, before finally daring to go in.

To me, shyness and being emotionally challenged are linked. I think it's no accident I do this job - acting allows me to channel and these emotions and put them to good use. Doing a job where you have to reveal yourself and demonstrate feelings in public may seem paradoxical but it's not. On a set or on stage you hide behind a character, behind the directing. Being an actor permits me to experience emotions with a freedom and an intensity that aren't always permitted in real life.


Question: Have you compared experiences with Jean-Pierre?

Isabelle Carré: We talked a lot. I told him about when I went to Cannes for the screening of Philippe Harel's La Femme Defendue and I was terrified. I was alone and the only way I could calm myself down was by singing a song from The Sound of Music. As soon as I'd get stressed, like Julie Andrews' character, I'd repeat: "I have confidence in me…" It helped me. I also had lots of good-luck charms on me; trinkets. But today, I'm much better! Jean-Pierre really liked that anecdote and he used it in the film. We had a lot of conversations like that and they really helped feed into my character.


Question: How did you get close to Angélique's character?

Isabelle Carré: There is a certain tension in Angélique. That's one thing I share with the character. Like her, after the sweetness we first feel, I have a huge amount of energy and I'm pretty willing. It was important not to let her come across as a shrinking violet. She's not the kind to hesitate. She wants it all but she's stuck. Knowing that, if you had to describe Angélique in one word, it would be "courageous". You need a whole lot of courage to overcome what holds her back. Courage is the key to her character. I found the fact that she has a gift very moving, too. And that paradoxically for her, it's not easy to live with this gift. In the beginning, she almost wants to apologize for it, to hide it. She needs time to take it on board. That's another nice thing the film does: Those who are most modest, in all senses of the word, can have a gift, and this story tells how they can express and share it. Visually, I often thought of her character as a kind of Mary Poppins - also played by Julie Andrews. I also sometimes thought of my mother who is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. I remember when I was a child, how she would be thrown into confusion by saleswomen who were too authoritative. That fragility which suddenly emerges really struck me. That's what Angélique has.


Question: What did you think when you found out you'd be acting opposite Benoît?

Isabelle Carré: I knew from the start that Jean-Pierre wanted to give him the role of Jean-René. I was delighted and it made me even more impatient to start shooting. Having the casting set at such an early stage in the development process, Jean-Pierre and co-writer Philippe Blasband, were able to produce something tailor-made. Benoît is someone I love for many reasons. I am extremely grateful to those people who - like him - have a unique personality and who accept it. They have a strength and they help us take on all the little unusual character traits we might have. Their character throws light upon a field of freedom in which it is easier to exist. It does a lot of good. Those people are precious. We have to protect them and let them exist. Benoît is of that species.


Question: How was it working with him?

Isabelle Carré: We were working together again five years after Entre Ses Main. Back then, with Anne Fontaine's film, Benoît was tackling a register that was pretty new for him. He wasn't sure about it. But here, I found a more powerful Benoît, one who was more at ease in the range of facets he masters perfectly. But his acting was even richer - he has gained in versatility. He is capable of acting in different registers and sometimes simultaneously. It's impressive. Benoît is modest and I like that. He throws himself right into it and his confidence is very moving. We started with the scene in the restaurant, which was very smart because all the complexity of the relationship between the two characters is right there. You can feel the tension, the energy in the scene, and I think us meeting up again had something to do with it. There was something of the characters in us, acting together again and perhaps being afraid of not measuring up to each other.


Question: What was it like working with Jean-Pierre?

Isabelle Carré: He is very precise. He's not frightened of doing a lot of takes. He helped us progress, ensuring the film's coherence. Jean-Pierre is like us. He's a fighter and he didn't allow us to slack. Jean-Pierre told us how far we should go in terms of our acting. We had to stick our necks out but without slipping into caricature. He defined our limits. I'm touched that he put things in the film that are personal to me. It confirms the closeness we feel, if that were necessary. There are many aspects to him that I see in myself.


Question: What did you feel when you saw the finished film?

Isabelle Carré: There is one shot I loved of Benoît when he's just changed his shirt and he comes back into the restaurant with the song "You Are My Destiny" playing. I think he looks beautiful. He's giving off something amazing. In terms of the film as a whole, despite its brilliance and sparkle, it's not just a simple comedy. I think Jean-Pierre has completed a journey of which Romantics Anonymous is a significant stage.