Melanie Laurent
Melanie Laurent
Mélanie Laurent; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director. Born in Paris to a Jewish family, she was introduced to acting at the age of sixteen by French filmmaker Gérard Depardieu, who cast her in a minor role in the romantic drama The Bridge. The recipient of two César Awards, a Étoiles d'or du cinéma français, and a Lumières Award, Laurent has established herself as an accomplished actress in the French film industry...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth21 February 1983
CityParis, France
CountryFrance
Every time a director calls me and says, 'If you practice a lot in two months, can you be an American?' And I always tell them, 'Well, maybe but I'm French. So it's going to be hard to be someone else.
When I was a little girl my parents always told me do everything you want in an artistic way. If you want to draw, make a drawing. Just do it. And if you want to play piano, play piano. It was a very free childhood where everything was possible.
Sometimes you just work, you work, you work, and you have no life, no boyfriend, you have no more friends, no more nothing, you just make movies, and you're tired, and you don't know why. Then everybody says, 'Oh you are so lucky, you are working!' And you're like, 'Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's so great!'
The thing is, making movies as an actress, you learn so many things. Like when you're making a movie with Quentin Tarantino you're just at the best cinema school ever.
I want to continue to make beautiful movies. The most important thing is to be a part of beautiful stories, that's all I want. So I don't care if it's a Hollywood movie or an independent movie or a Spanish or American movie. I care about telling stories.
When you're an artist, there's always a moment in your life when you think you're not inspired and instead of doing things and instead of travel and instead of falling in love, you're just depressed, so you don't move, so you don't change. So you're not inspired.
I don't really like those sorts of actresses who say, 'I don't want to make that movie,' but they make the movie. They just spend their time not liking being on a set and I just think it's absurd, because we are so lucky to do this job. When you accept to make a movie, just make the movie. And then it's more easy for relationships.
There are a lot of French actresses who just hate me now. I've made enemies.
It's so French to be a cat person.
When you make successful movies, everyone on set takes care of you, everybody is so nice and you disconnect from reality.
Because I've made a film with such an amazing director as Tarantino, I'm much more conscious of working with good directors from now on, so that's what's important to me. I don't really care about making a big movie - I just want to make good ones.
For me, it was a lot of pressure to make another movie after 'Inglourious Basterds' because I didn't want to do something wrong. I wanted to have a beautiful project for another American movie.
When I think it's good not to say the truth, I don't say anything. I don't like actors in general, they lie, they are liars, trust me.
Every time I play in a movie, I never expect that it'll be huge. I don't like thinking about that, because it's so scary.