No Place to Fall

By: Story by Paula Carvajal | Photographed by Derek Kettela | December 09, 2010 |

Yes, Mélanie Laurent starred in Inglorious Basterds. Yes, Mélanie Laurent is French. And yes, Mélanie Laurent is beautiful. But did you know she giggles? A lot? Like a schoolgirl? It could be because she gets nervous and tongue-tied speaking English, seeing as she only recently learned it for her role as Quentin Tarantino’s pensive, chain-smoking Shosanna, a role she never thought would come her way. “For me, doing an American Hollywood project was, like, impressive because I never really wanted to just do American movies because I didn’t think I was capable of doing it. First, I didn’t speak a word of English, so I had to learn fast on set. And second, it was new for me.”

Well, not so new. This magnetic ingénue spent more than a decade as a successful actress in France. But she wanted to do more than just act. Laurent needed a push. Despite her ethereal, almost untouchable beauty, she apparently suffers relationship crises like the rest of us. “I spent three years in a house, in a bad relationship. I wasted a lot of time,” she says now. What changed? “I broke up with a guy!” she laughs.

Cue Tarantino. He appeared, genie-like, in Laurent’s life just as she was struggling through the breakup. Newly single, Laurent put her faith in Tarantino as he plucked her out of semi-obscurity. “It was a big decision in my life. And when Quentin chose me, I was like, OK. He chose me for a reason, and I can do this.’” His belief in her gave Laurent her belief in herself. “This big project, it gave me the courage to go, ‘OK, after Inglorious Basterds, I can now make my record. I can finish my script, and I am going to direct my movie, and I am going to do things.”

At 27 years old, Laurent has been very busy “doing things.” She is a film actor, stage actor, writer, director, music producer, singer … the list goes on. “I’m a little bit of a crazy girl,” she confesses.

After starring opposite Brad Pitt, Laurent went on to film Beginners with Ewan McGregor in Los Angeles. She then starred in a play in France for three months. She’s finished her debut album, with the help of none other than singer Damien Rice. She then began working on her first very own feature film, The Adopted, which she directed, wrote and starred in. This is Laurent’s “specialty” — to take on several projects all at once. Her friends, co-workers and family don’t understand how she does it. Laurent laughs everyone off when they say to her, “You are so crazy. You are going to die so young because you work too much.”

Worry not. She’s a pro at this. Laurent works hard and hardly plays. It’s been five years since she has had a proper vacation. That’s weird because Laurent hails from France, the country with the most vacation days allotted per year in the world. She doesn’t need them though. Taking a holiday for Laurent is “just, like, so boring,” she says in her raspy French accent. “Sitting on a beach? I don’t see the interest. I don’t want to stop working. It’s my choice. I decided.” But don’t be too quick to think Laurent hasn’t thought about what she would do if she ever did take a vacation. If she wasn’t directing, singing or acting all at the same time, you could possibly find her on a mountaintop with snow and skis. Still, the likelihood of that is slim. Her constant contracts for work prohibit her from engaging in such activities. To that Laurent giggles, “I love my problems!”

In her latest dilemma, Laurent is navigating the role of feature film director. She’s already directed two short films. Her first, De Moins en Moins, was nominated for a Palme d’Or at the Festival de Cannes. “I can’t believe that!” she shyly says through a giggle. “It was a big surprise for me.” The second film Laurent directed, À Ses Pieds, was … well … it’s a porno. She will tell you this, and, without skipping a beat, she follows up before a word can be uttered, “Yeah, you heard me. I directed a porn movie.”

In her third film, The Adopted, however, rather than the erotic exploration of voyeurism suspended in a balance between dreams and reality, Laurent probes at familial relationships surviving unexpected tragedy. Don’t expect her to tell you too much about it just yet. She is too entrenched in her work to talk about it.

What Laurent will share is how she learned to direct. It all started back in school. “In France, you have an option. You can choose math or French or cinema. I chose cinema. I got to direct little short movies and learn how to write screens plays.” Her education didn’t end there. Laurent has also learned about directing from masters of cinema, Tarantino being one of her obvious mentors. She would sit and watch and study him on set — all the time. Laurent recalls, “I was really impressed with him; I was really impressed with his attitude of being the boss, like being a captain of a big boat.”

Bookmarks: Page 1 of 3 pages  1 2 3 >