Q&A: Marion Cotillard Never Wants to Go to Another Marineland After ‘Rust and Bone’

It’s only when you feel like you’ve lost everything that you learn who you really are. That’s the thesis of the new French film “Rust and Bone,” starring Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Cotillard plays Stephanie, an orca trainer who loses her legs and career following a tragic accident. Following the incident, she’s forced to cope with her new life while also navigating a new relationship with Alain (Schoenaerts), a street fighter and single dad.

The subtitled film is surrounded by awards buzz for its unique story, artsy cinematography and full-hearted performances. This week, before awards season winds up to full speed, Cotillard sat down with Film.com at New York City’s Crosby Hotel to talk Oscars, her new film and why she’ll never visit a Marineland again.

In the U.S., you’re best known for your roles in “Inception” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” “Rust and Bone” has a decidedly different tone. What made you want to get involved in this film?
I’ve always wanted to work with Jacques Audiard, ever since his first movie. So having a proposition from him was really, really crazy amazing for me, and then I read the script. I expected a very special story from him, because all of his movies are very, very special. But I didn’t expect a love story, I didn’t know it was, and I thought it was even more exciting and I totally fell in love with it, and with this character. I fell in love with all the characters in this movie, in this story, and Stephanie was — I felt that would be an experience that I had never had before. That’s what I am looking for in a project, something that I’ve never done before.

Also the fact that before Jacques’ movie I had done many movies with characters based on true people or and I had a lot of material to work with, a lot of information about those people. With [Stephanie], it was like a huge mystery. I had very little information about her. We had to create almost everything. And the opportunity to create and to get into that process of creating someone with such an amazing and brilliant and smart director as Jacques Audiard was really exciting and really inspiring.

You described the movie as a love story, but it’s not a traditional romance. How would you describe it?
It’s definitely an unconventional love story and I think it’s a love story between him and her, between him and his son, between her and the son, and of course between her and the orca. It’s how when there’s nothing left but yourself to face, what do you do with it? Do you let it in, or do you choose to stay out and give up? But then when love is involved there’s no way you will give up.

You mentioned that you did a lot of work creating Stephanie. Did you meet with amputees for character research?
I met with people who worked with orcas because I had to train for the whole choreography of the show, and I cannot be an orca trainer without having to work on that a little bit. But about the amputees, I started to watch footage of people with no legs to see how they move, but very quickly I realized that I didn’t need it because it’s just happened in her life and I didn’t want to have too much information. I thought that I would experience with her what it was. So I didn’t meet anyone, no, for that part. Then your imagination starts to work. What I loved about working with Jacques also is that his search for authenticity can take many directions and to explore many directions is really inspiring and then eventually you will find the authenticity of it. The version you’ve chosen will be richer of all the other versions you’ve explored.

So when you’re doing the hand commands with the whales, you were actually working with them?
Yeah, it was actually during a real show, so I was part of the show and it was a real audience, so we had worked on this before. yeah, I had worked on learning how to ask and to get what I want, and I was very nervous because those people had paid to see a show. I was leading the show, but it went well.

Is that something you ever imagined yourself doing?
Oh my God, never. And I never want to do it again.

Were you scared?
I was not scared of them, I was scared of where they are. The Marineland is not a place where I want to go. I went there once in Chicago and it was a disaster. I cried the whole way because it’s hard for me to see those animals in that kind of environment.

Some animal rights groups are upset about the use of captive animals in the film. It sounds like you might have some sympathy for them.
Well, I remember when I first heard about the project, and I heard about this character, there was a discussion between an agent and some actors, and it was like maybe a year before I was approached. I thought, “Oh my god, as much as I want to work with this director, this is something that I’ll never be able to do.” But then I read the script and I had totally forgotten about that thought, and it actually came back in my mind when I came back to the Marineland. I thought, “Oh my god, this is all real and they’re really there.” But the story and the relationship she has with the whales and what happens to her and especially when she comes back to the whale was — I mean, if it had been a movie about a Marineland, I don’t know if I would have been able to do it. But the relationship with the animals was very powerful, and it was not just showing a Marineland show or something. But it’s still working with animals and it’s still working in a Marineland, which is something that I accepted even though I am not supporting it.

Just a tradeoff you had to make for the role.
Yeah, for the story. Because it was a story that shows something more than just captivity.

Is there a difference in your comfort level between doing a French-language film and an English-speaking part?
Of course, [in French films] I have less work on the language, obviously. But it’s not something that I think about. When I read a story and I feel it’s something that I belong to the story, then you have to work, and to make it work, and find the authenticity of it. But I never think, “Oh, that’s going to be easier because it’s in French,” or “Oh, that’s going to be easy because I have no makeup and hair and I’m going to show up five minutes before action.” It’s not something that I think about.

Do you think “Rust and Bone” could ever have been made in the U.S.?
Yeah. There’s nothing to compare with. It would be, of course, totally different. But even in French, if another director would tell this story it would be different, because there’s no one like Jacques Audiard, there’s no one like another director. But of course here, originally it’s a Canadian story, a story made with two short stories of Craig Davidson. But no, I mean, [the U.S. has] a very interesting independent industry. Well, independent industry, I don’t know if that works, but yeah. And very, very strong visions, very, very strong directors who do amazing independent films, so yeah, I’m sure it would have. It’s a very special story that could totally fit a U.S. film.

How do you choose your roles? You’ve played such varied characters.
Well, I read a story and when I feel that I belong to a story and a story belongs to me, and that I’m gonna be able to give everything I can to the character and the story, it’s really organic. I read something and it gets into my blood and I need to do it. It’s as simple as that.

“Rust and Bone” is getting a lot of Oscar buzz. What do you think of that?
Well, I’m excited that people love the movie, and to be able to share this movie out of my country and have this response to it is really, really exciting. The Oscar buzz itself, I don’t really, I mean, you know, I hear things. But I’m not thinking about it at all, I just want to share the movie. That’s the most important thing for me.

You won the Best Actress Academy Award in 2007 for “La Vie en Rose.” Since you’ve already won a statue, do you feel less pressure now leading up to awards season?
Well, I didn’t have the pressure then, I was enjoying every second of it, and then I was enjoying sharing this movie I had such an amazing experience doing it. Being able to share it almost all over the world was really exciting and that was the most important.

I’ve never felt any pressure. An award, you have to celebrate when it’s there, you have to enjoy it when you get it, but I never expected or I never had a desire to get an award. I just have a desire to meet amazing directors and work with them. Of course when you are rewarded, you really have to enjoy it, but it’s not something that I want to expect.

As an awards veteran, any lessons you’ve learned over the past several seasons?
No, I remember when I started the whole red carpet process, I was really shy, I was really uncomfortable, but then yeah, you get to have fun, which is how you enjoy it. But, no, I always choose what I’m going to wear based on what I like and not what is out there.

Anything about awards season you’re looking forward to?
I never want to see ahead, so if something happens and I have to go to an awards show, I’ll choose then, but I don’t want to think ahead. I really want to enjoy the present time. I want to share the movie.

Do you see a lot of movies?
Well, I used to. Now I’m watching a lot of movies that I bought and DVDs. I don’t go to the theater that much anymore, because I didn’t have time and I spent my time off very far from a movie theater, but I love going to the movie. I watch a lot of movies.

What do you watch?
I watch a lot of documentaries and actually I went to the theater to see “Searching for Sugarman,” which is one of the most incredible stories ever. That artist that came back, you know, to the artistic world is really amazing. I was in shock.

And now what are you working on? Are you looking for your next project?
Yeah, I’ve I wanted to take a time off, I wanted to have my brain clear of stories and characters. I just wanted to go back to myself and the people I love, and so now I’m starting to read again. I’m very excited because I’m really looking for inspiring and great projects.

“Rust and Bone” hit theaters in limited release earlier this month.

Categories: Interviews

Tags: marion cotillard, Q&A, Rust and Bone, Rust and Bone, Marion Cotillard

Review: Another Earth – Flawed but Unforgettable

Imagine if you will … another Earth, with another you … did that you make the same mistakes? Is she, or he, more successful or happier?

These are the questions Sundance award-winning film Another Earth poses as it beckons you into a modern Twilight Zone. If, however, you can’t stomach sci-fi that’s based on shaky science, it may not be a screen destination you want to visit. If instead, you’re willing to suspend disbelief and a few planetary laws and logical assumptions then it’s a trip worth taking — and one that will linger long after it’s over.

Though director/writer Mike Cahill’s film revolves around a fantastic premise — that another mirror Earth has suddenly manifested itself and hasn’t, miraculously, proved catastrophic for either planet — it’s kept in motion by the forces of taut, intimate human drama, at the heart of which is Rhoda (the movie’s co-writer, Brit Marling). The future looks bright for the beautiful, brainy MIT-bound 17-year-old, until her post-party drunk driving causes a tragic car accident that kills a wife and child and leaves the husband/father, John (William Mapother, Lost‘s Ethan Rom), in a coma. Four months later, Rhoda, her spirit still hung in shame, is released from jail. Preferring to work with her hands and avoid conversation, she takes a job as a high school janitor. (But she doesn’t secretly solve any unsolvable equations and then get a job at a government think tank, she just mops floors with an old Indian man that looks, and acts, as if he’s occasionally possessed or suffers from schizophrenic fits.)

Things get tricky when Rhoda learns John has recovered; she knocks on his door so she can deliver the heartfelt apology she’s rehearsed. Not surprisingly, she chickens out and instead tells him she’s offering a free trial cleaning service — an offer he can’t refuse considering the dirty, disheveled, liquor-bottle-littered state of his home. As an unlikely romance blossoms between the two, the truth of who Rhoda is looms above it like a storm cloud. In fact, it looms above the entire film and its landscape. Minus a few blissful sun-meets-sea vistas of Earth’s alluringly ghostly twin, it weeps with grief, despair, and regret — from its gray skies to its somber symphony soundtrack.

But the parallel Earth (and plot) that haunts the horizon also offers a sliver of hope, especially when United Space Ventures announces it will send the winner of their essay contest on one of the first flights to the duplicate planet. Brit’s arresting entry begins “as a felon, I’m an unlikely candidate for most things…,” and proceeds to point out that most explorers have been convicts or madmen.

Meanwhile, to add to Another Earth‘s surreal atmosphere, Rhoda’s story unfolds amidst the background buzz of T.V. and radio sound bites that echo the baffled world’s attempt to make sense of Earth 2, like a subconscious narrative in a dream. The film is also full of arresting ethereal scenes, such as Rhoda lying hopeless and naked in the snow, or John’s unearthly saw serenade.

As forewarned, Another Earth has its logic flaws, and a moodiness that at times borders on melodrama. Yet it’s still the stuff of great science fiction — intriguing, gripping, and well-acted with the requisite plot twist — and ultimately, it’s unforgettable.

Grade: B+

Re-Views: Not Another Teen Movie

Comedy is hard to execute, and even harder to review. All opinions are subjective, obviously, but I feel it especially with comedies. What makes me laugh might not make you laugh. What strikes me as unfunny today might seem hilarious five years from now, a month from now, even an hour from now. Your sense of humor is shaped by your subconscious, your expectations, your previous comedy experiences, your previous life experiences — it’s basically the sum of who you are, and it’s unique to each individual. You and your best friend might seem to laugh at all the same things, but I guarantee that’s not literally true, not 100 percent of the time.

Now, there’s a lot of overlap in people’s senses of humor, of course. That’s why certain comedians, TV shows, and movies are popular, because they make sizable groups of people laugh. But to paraphrase an old saying, you can make some people laugh all the time, and you can make all people laugh some of the time, but you can’t make all the people laugh all the time.

This is a roundabout way of saying that I’ve pretty much reversed my opinion of Not Another Teen Movie.

What I said then: “[It] does a fine job mimicking the common plot devices and stock characters of teen movies … but has no idea how to make fun of them. It thinks that re-creating events from famous movies is the same thing as ‘parody’ or ‘satire.’… Not Another Teen Movie is, in fact, just another teen movie…. This one is stupid, obvious, unfunny, desperate and insulting — even for people who like teen movies. It was a great idea for a parody, but it was handled just about as badly as it could have been.” Grade: D-

Whew! That was a scorcher, no? The one thing that saved it from getting an F (which I cited in the review) was the out-of-nowhere musical number. Otherwise, I appear to have hated this thing.

(Hey, look what I found! It’s my notepad from December 2001, with the actual notes I took during the screening! These notes are far more detailed than what I usually jot down. It would appear that I was so fed up with the movie that I started writing the review while I was still watching it.)

I had plenty of company in disliking it. Rotten Tomatoes reports that just 28% of reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4 out of 10. Metacritic has the average critic rating at 32 out of 100. It performed reasonably well at the box office, though, opening in third place and eventually making $38 million in the U.S. That’d be about $52 million at today’s ticket prices, a Hall Pass or The Dilemma-sized modest success.

The re-viewing: I didn’t realize until it was too late that the DVD I was watching was the super awesome mega extended director’s cut, or whatever. At 99 minutes, it was 17 minutes longer than the theatrical version. I have no idea what was added. So this isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, but it’s close enough. More like an apples-to-bigger-apples comparison.

Anyway, I was instantly amused by Ricky (Eric Jungmann), the platonic best friend who wears a fedora and dresses in the “look how much of an individual I am!” style. His appearance and demeanor are dead-on imitations of that stock character from other movies (and, indeed, from that stock character in real life). He doesn’t do much in the way of satiric exaggeration — but since that type of character hadn’t entered my mind recently, just having it recreated so accurately was enough to make me laugh.

Jaime Pressly, who went on to fame in My Name Is Earl, is consistently funny as Priscilla, the shrewish cheerleader. She’s mostly on hand to parody Bring It On (a movie that is funnier than this one, so spoofing it is risky), and I’d always remembered her big line: “Oh, it’s already been broughten.” When the lily-white Priscilla vehemently denies stealing a routine from the black North Compton cheerleaders, I knew what the punchline was going to be: Priscilla would do her routine, and it would have elements that obviously brand it as belonging to North Compton. I was unprepared, however, for the specificity of it: “We are the North Compton wild cats. We’re black, we know it. We shake our big booties and we show it. We ain’t white. We ain’t white. We definitely ain’t white. Break it down n***as.” That’s broad, mildly offensive, and absurdly funny.

I believe Not Another Teen Movie is where we found Chris Evans, who went on to be the guy on fire in Fantastic Four and is about to be Captain America. My 2001 review suggested no one in the cast performed with any distinction, but this time I found Evans’ cheerful dumbness entertaining. There’s that relatively famous scene (a spoof of Varsity Blues) in which Evans tries to seduce a girl by entering the room with whipped cream covering his private parts. Before that happens, though, when he’s still fully clothed, he jauntily exits the room to go prepare, and as he does so he does a little leap and clicks his heels together. That small touch of whimsy cracked me up, and it perfectly encapsulates his likable, stupid character.

I still think the movie, apart from a few gems here and there, isn’t very clever in its satire. Most of the laughs are from pure silliness, rather than from mocking the tropes of teen movies. There are plenty of scenes that aren’t funny at all, where a joke is belabored to the point of tedium.

But I find myself having changed my opinion on so many specifics. In 2001, I criticized the movie for making fun of American Pie‘s bathroom humor while also indulging in it. But the scene with the explosive toilet is intercut with an English teacher lecturing his students on how modern humor has gotten so crass and vulgar. The movie knows exactly what it’s doing there; how did I miss that?

I also faulted it for trying to mock both classic ’80s teen comedies as well as recent ones. I can see how the blending of old and new might have been an awkward fit at the time, and I still think NATM dates itself by including too many specific references to then-hot-but-now-forgotten films like Cruel Intentions and Varsity Blues. But now, in 2011, the ’80s comedies and the late ’90s ones are ALL old. The Breakfast Club homages blend right in with the American Pie spoofs, because they’re all part of the same crazy quilt of memory now. There’s no conflict.

And that’s ultimately why I think the movie worked so much better for me now than it did then: the passage of time. I’ve had a decade to forget all the current films it was referencing, so seeing them recreated faithfully — and by such an upbeat, game-for-anything cast — didn’t feel like a simple-minded retread; it felt like comedy. It hadn’t occurred to me before that it might be easier to parody something we haven’t thought about in a while than it is to parody something that’s on everyone’s minds right now. We’re more likely to be caught by surprise (the essence of comedy) when the targets seem to come from out of nowhere, rather than from last month’s box office top 10.

Do I still hate this movie? I do not! I rather like it, actually. It’s not a great comedy by any means — it does have scenes and subplots that fall completely flat — but I’d easily call it a “good” one. Grade: B-