Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy
Julie Delpyis a French-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, or acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa, Voyager, Three Colors: White, Before Sunrise, An American Werewolf in Paris, Before Sunset, 2 Days in Paris, and Before Midnight. She has been nominated for three César Awards, two Online Film Critics Society Awards, and two Academy Awards. After moving to the United States...
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth21 December 1969
CityParis, France
Never take no for an answer. It took me 20 years between the time I wrote my first screenplay and the time I actually got money to direct a movie.
Few years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media.
Performing is the hardest thing. Even though I've done it for so many years, it's still exposing yourself. You suddenly become extremely vulnerable when you're on camera. You're filmed and you're being observed. It's a bit of a violation each time.
Maybe I would get the chance to be financed for a small romantic comedy, but a war movie by a 28-year-old woman about Japanese soldiers? No one was going to go for that. It's easy to just steal an idea because it's very safe.
The truth is I don't see a lot of movies. I see the Oscar films. I see the films that are sent to me and a few films throughout the year.
I hate that whole Tarantino thing about beating up women and killing them and chopping up. Just because you have the mind of a 12 year old.
I was six years old when I saw my first Godard movie, eight when I first experienced Bergman. I wanted to be a director when I was fourteen.
I've never made the first move in my whole life - I'm too scared. I couldn't kiss someone first. I'm extremely shy. I'm, like, so shy that actually... it's very painful what I'm going to say, but I don't think I've ever been with someone I really loved, because the people I really cared for, I didn't have, you know, the nerve to go after.
I've been shooting these video movies, which I'm pretty excited about, but this is my first 35 millimeter feature. I think, because I started in this business so young, at 14, and I worked very early with so many great directors, that I was artistically ready to direct at 18. But because I worked with so many great directors, I wasn't secure enough to do that. Now I just say, "Why not? What's to fear?
I may move from everywhere and spend two or three years in total isolation. I like being alone a lot. I enjoy that more than anything.
My dad has always been such a great dad, and he's brought so much culture to my life. He dragged me to see every single movie at the cinématheque as a kid. I saw everything from Star Wars to Bergman.
The way I work is that I never let people do an assembly. I don't like it because it shapes the film in a way that I can't really control. To me, editing is making the film and it's a huge process and editors are under-rated.
I'm not going to pursue it the way that actors pursue it which means going to all of the auditions and getting a job and all that stuff, because I don't really need to get a job because I have a job as a writer/director. That's how I make my living mostly now. So I don't need to make a living as an actress.
It's definitely easier for a woman to do a romantic comedy than a war movie. It's assumed a woman doesn't have a sense of what action is.