After over 7 months a new layout was more than needed. The talented Natalie (who already designed the header for our second site layout) designed this timeless and elegant layout based on the Paris Lady Dior Print Campaign a while ago and finally I got round to code it for the site. I hope you are as excited as I am about the new look!

The site looks perfect in a Firefox browser but should work fine with others too. If you encounter problems though please let me know, thanks!

Additionally to the new layout the sidebar has (finally) been updated with all the new Marion Cotillard projects and some important dates for the upcoming 2 months!

BlackBook Magazine posted their cover for the June/July 2009 issue today. It looks absolutely stunning and is available on newsstands already. I can’t wait to add HQ scans to the gallery! Click the image on the left to see a preview of the cover.

de L’Express Styles (France) / par Géraldine Catalano

Comme elle a grandi, La Môme! La plus internationale de nos actrices, à l’affiche de “Public Enemies” de Michael Mann, revient sur son oscar, sur Hollywood et sur ce “je-ne-sais-quoi” qui fait d’elle, malgré tous les décalages horaires, une indéfectible Parisienne.

Quand nous avons imaginé ce numéro spécial Paris, nous avons immédiatement pensé à vous pour en illustrer la couverture. Quel lien entretenez-vous avec votre ville?

Un lien très fort. Parce que je suis née ici, parce que, culturellement, cette ville est unique. Je l’aime pour ses musées, pour la place des Vosges, pour ses cinémas, et surtout pour ce qu’on y mange! J’ai besoin d’elle et de la France, même si je ne m’y trouve quasiment pas depuis plus d’un an…

Comment définiriez-vous cette Parisienne que, aux yeux des Américains, vous incarnez désormais?

Peut-être une femme avec une certaine gouaille? Disons, un mélange de populo et d’artistique. Je suis issue d’un milieu artistique [NDLR: ses parents, Jean-Claude Cotillard et Niseema Theillaud, sont metteur en scène et comédien] et j’ai toujours attaché de l’importance à la culture. En cela, je suis très française, et très parisienne.

En tant que petite Frenchie, vous êtes à l’aise à Hollywood?

Oui. J’aime travailler là-bas. Je peux être aussi très mal à l’aise dans certaines situations en France. A la télé, notamment, où je me sens comme au sommet d’une échelle suspendue dans le vide.

Dans Public Enemies, votre personnage, Billie Frechette, est loin d’être un faire-valoir, ce qui est rare pour une comédienne française évoluant aux Etats-Unis.

C’est vrai. Mais, si on regarde bien, les femmes ont toujours des rôles complets dans les films de Michael Mann. Elles ne sont pas simplement, pour reprendre une expression très courante là-bas, le « love interest » du héros. Même Miami Vice, qui est un film d’hommes, se termine par une belle image de Gong Li. Michael Mann a un vrai respect des femmes, et ça se voit dans son oeuvre.

Vous avez dit n’avoir pris aucun plaisir à tourner le film. Etait-ce en raison de l’ampleur du projet ?

Non, non, le plaisir était là. C’est impossible de ne pas en ressentir quand on tourne avec Johnny Depp et Michael Mann. Les enjeux, le fait que mes partenaires soient des stars, je n’y pense jamais. En revanche, j’étais ultrastressée à l’idée que mon accent américain ne soit pas crédible. A chaque fin de prise, j’étais mal si je ne voyais pas ma coach lever les pouces pour me dire que c’était bien. Il a fallu que Michael Mann me dise de lâcher un peu prise pour que je me désinhibe. Un peu ! [Rires.]

Nine, de Rob Marshall, que vous venez de tourner avec Nicole Kidman et Daniel Day-Lewis, est votre quatrième film américain. A part la langue, qu’est-ce qui est vraiment différent là-bas ?

Je ne sais jamais vraiment comment répondre à cette question. Pour moi, ce n’est pas le territoire, ni même le budget, qui détermine l’énergie d’un film, mais l’histoire, le metteur en scène… La seule différence, c’est peut-être dans le nombre de machines et de techniciens sur un plateau, mais on les oublie assez vite.

Avez-vous prodigué quelques conseils à votre grande amie, Mélanie Laurent, avant le tournage d’Inglourious Basterds, de Quentin Tarantino ?

Je lui ai juste dit que la notion de travail était très forte là-bas, que chaque rôle, même minuscule, demandait un investissement à mille pour cent. Mais Mélanie n’avait pas vraiment besoin de conseils. J’étais à Londres pour Nine pendant qu’elle tournait à Berlin. Le soir, quand on s’appelait, on était comme deux petites filles en plein conte de fées.

Après son oscar, il a fallu des années à Juliette Binoche pour retrouver sa place dans le cinéma français. Ne craignez-vous pas que votre nouveau statut effraie les cinéastes français ?

Je ne me pose jamais ce genre de question. Je ne fais pas de calculs. Je suis engagée jusqu’à l’année prochaine. Peut-être que certaines propositions françaises n’arrivent pas jusqu’à moi… Ce qui est sûr, c’est que j’ai faim de cinéma français. En fait, j’ai surtout faim de belles histoires, de mon pays ou d’ailleurs.

Vous n’êtes pas devenue trop chère pour nous ?

Non, ce serait ridicule de ma part de ne pas m’adapter. Sur le Karim Dridi (Le Dernier Vol, avec Guillaume Canet, qui sortira le 25 novembre), par exemple, que je viens de tourner et qui a été difficile à monter, il n’y avait pas beaucoup d’argent. Eh bien, on a coupé mon cachet, car j’avais envie que le film existe.

Vous enchaînez avec Les Petits Mouchoirs, de votre compagnon, Guillaume Canet, une histoire de copains qui partent en vacances au Cap-Ferret. Cela va vous reposer, après les tournages lourds de ces deux dernières années.

Reposant, je ne sais pas. Mon personnage a un certain poids, car elle ne va pas très bien. Ce qui me réjouit, dans le film de Guillaume Canet, c’est que je vais tourner avec des acteurs [NDLR : François Cluzet, Valérie Bonneton] et un metteur en scène que j’admire énormément, et que cette histoire est très riche de choses à la fois légères et moins légères.

Vous dites Guillaume Canet…

Oui. J’ai toujours protégé ma vie privée, tout simplement parce que je ne sais pas raconter cette partie de moi. Mais je ne suis pas dupe, je sais que je vais avoir droit à certaines questions sur les deux prochains films.

Bon, c’est comment, alors, de travailler avec Guillaume Canet ?

C’est assez naturel, plutôt très agréable.

Vous êtes très soucieuse de la sauvegarde de l’environnement. N’est-il pas compliqué de rester fidèle à ses engagements quand on évolue dans un univers de paillettes ?

Déjà, moi, à part en cas d’extrême obligation, c’est non aux jets privés. Chaque fois qu’on m’a proposé de venir à Cannes en jet, j’ai refusé. Cette année, j’ai dû venir en avion, mais, il y a deux ans, j’avais pris le train. J’essaie d’être cohérente, de jongler avec mes priorités. Mais je ne vais pas refuser un film aux Etats-Unis parce que je dois prendre l’avion… Disons que je fais du mieux que je peux.

En 2004, vous aviez refusé d’être l’égérie du parfum d’une marque parce que celle-ci n’était pas conforme à votre engagement. Il y en a eu beaucoup, des propositions, depuis votre oscar et jusqu’à celle de Dior ?

Quelques-unes, oui. Chaque fois qu’il s’agissait de cosmétiques, j’ai dit non. Je ne pourrais le défendre. L’aventure avec Dior était motivée par mon admiration pour John Galliano, qui est un génie, pour le prestige de la maison et parce qu’il s’agissait d’un projet très cinématographique diffusé sur Internet. Il n’y a aucun spot à la télé. Avec l’argent, je peux soutenir et mettre en place des projets qui me tiennent à coeur. Pour moi, tout cela a une cohérence.

Où se trouve votre oscar, aujourd’hui ?

A Paris, dans mon salon, qui n’est pas vraiment un salon, d’ailleurs, car j’habite une sorte de cabane. En réalité, je n’y vis pas. Mon chez-moi, maintenant, c’est là où je travaille.

Pas trop déstabilisant de ne plus avoir de chez-soi ?

Parfois… J’ai appris à bâtir mon petit univers un peu partout. Je m’installe de préférence dans un appartement plutôt qu’à l’hôtel. Je fais mes courses, je choisis bien mes produits, je cuisine. Dès qu’il y a une cuisine, je me sens à la maison.

Vous n’avez jamais vraiment exprimé de regret après avoir remis en question l’origine terroriste des attentats du 11 septembre, dans une interview à Paris Première en 2007. Ce franc-parler aussi, c’est très parisien.

Mon seul regret, c’est d’avoir blessé des gens. Ce n’était pas très malin de parler de choses aussi graves de manière aussi légère. Quand cette histoire est sortie, j’étais mal, mais j’étais surtout choquée par la manière dont mes propos avaient été déformés. Je n’ai jamais dit qu’il n’y avait pas eu d’attentats le 11 septembre. Je suis simplement quelqu’un qui se pose beaucoup de questions. Et dans le monde dans lequel on vit, je trouve ça plutôt sain.

Dernière question, alors : que peut-on vous souhaiter pour les mois qui viennent ?

De jouer des personnages qui vont bien ! [Rires.] J’ai envie de rôles plus légers.

“I love New York and I would love to have a place here one day,” said Dior face Cotillard, who flew into the city just for a day. “This is the place where I can really bike, because I actually enjoy walking in Paris. I love riding on the Hudson or downtown but I’ll make my way to Central Park eventually. And at first I was scared of all the traffic, but it was kind of easy and amazing.”

• source: Fashion Week Daily

In case you haven’t noticed yet, the gallery for the Bike in Style Challenge Ceremony has been filled with loads of HQ pictures over the last few days.

Mark your calendars! Marion Cotillard will appear on Laurent Weil’s show Rencontres de cinéma to promote Public Enemies. July 5, 2009 at 11.40am on Canal+

I’ve added a new article from French website PurePeople to the press archive: Incroyable Marion Cotillard. Basically it’s an article with quotes from other people about Marion, how she’s got Hollywood at her feet. Here the translated quotes:

Harvey Weinstein (producer of Nine)

Marion is a great professional! She’s become my friend because I was captivated by her talent but also and above all by her dogged determination at work and her unconditional involvement in her films. (For the presentation of Nine at Cannes,) I had chosen Penélope Cruz to be present for the screening of some scenes of the film to journalists, but she had to cancel at the last minute because she had food poisoning. Without hesitation, Marion made herself available to replace her. That’s Marion!
She has several strings to her bow. She’s become as powerful as any other Hollywood actress.

Leonardo DiCaprio (costar in the upcoming Inception)

Marion is one of the most talented actresses of our generation in my opinion. She radiates such strength and such energy in everything she does that one can have nothing but admiration for her.

Russell Crowe (costar in 2006′s A Good Year)

For A Good Year, it was like filming next to an angel each day.

Marion Cotillard was one of the selected VIP guests who joined Dianne Furstenberg in a special party to preview the new park on the elevated rail tracks dubbed the High Line in New York ahead of it’s official opening on June 15.

Read more about the event over at WWD.com

de PurePeople / par Adam Ikx

Sharon Stone, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio et tout Hollywood… à ses pieds !

Depuis son triomphe aux Golden Globes et aux Oscars, en 2008, où elle a tout emporté sur son passage grâce à son incarnation d’Edith Piaf dans La Môme, d’Olivier Dahan, on se doutait que ce petit bout de femme adorable et talentueux qu’est Marion Cotillard n’allait pas s’arrêter là.

Et une chose est sûre et certaine dorénavant : la môme Cotillard a réussi à mettre le Tout-Hollywood à ses pieds, et dans ce sens, toutes les plus grandes stars internationales sous son charme.

Cette année, l’actrice française sera à l’affiche de deux films américains extrêmement attendus – Public Enemies, de Michael Mann, avec Johnny Depp et Christian Bale, en salles le 8 juillet, et Nine, de Rob Marshall, avec Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz et Nicole Kidman, que nous découvrirons cet hiver. Voilà pour planter le décor…

D’ailleurs, à ce titre, le grand Harvey Weinstein, producteur de Quentin Tarantino, mais aussi de Nine, confie dans les pages de VSD à propos de sa nouvelle petite protégée : “Marion est une grande professionnelle. Elle est devenue mon amie, car j’ai été conquis par son talent, mais aussi et surtout par son acharnement au travail et son implication inconditionnelle dans ses films. (Pour la présentation de Nine, à Cannes), j’avais choisi Penélope Cruz pour être présente lors de la projection de quelques extraits face aux journalistes, mais elle a dû tout annuler à la dernière minute à cause d’une gastro. Sans hésiter, Marion s’est mise à ma disposition pour la remplacer. C’est ça, Marion !”

Tous sont donc sous le charme de la comédienne française, de Sharon Stone à Johnny Depp en passant par Leonardo DiCaprio (proche de Guillaume Canet depuis qu’ils ont tourné ensemble La Plage, de Danny Boyle). C’est donc tout naturellement que Leo a choisi la petite amie de Guillaume pour lui donner la réplique dans le très attendu Inception, de Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight). La star de Titanic déclare ainsi quant à sa future partenaire : “Marion est à mon avis l’une des actrices les plus talentueuses de notre génération. Elle dégage une telle force et une telle énergie dans tout ce qu’elle entreprend que l’on ne peut éprouver que de l’admiration pour elle”.

Quant à Russell Crowe, qui a partagé l’affiche avec Marion il y a deux ans : “Pour “Une grande année”, j’ai eu l’impression de tourner chaque jour à côté d’un ange”. Alors que Harvey Weinstein conclut : “Elle posséde plusieurs cordes à son arc. Elle est devenue aussi puissante que n’importe quelle autre actrice hollywoodienne”.

Comme pour accentuer encore plus la présence de la star française à Hollywood, et conforter sa place dans le cercle fermé des grandes stars hollywoodiennes, elle était invitée lors de la conférence de presse de l’annonce du meilleur designer de la NYC Bike In Style Challenge, qui s’est tenue au LVMH Tower Magic Room de New York, en présence de Donna Karan et Hilary Duff, le 2 juin 2009.

Marion Cotillard a définitivement mis Hollywood à ses pieds…

As previously announced, Marion Cotillard as the face of the new Lady Dior advertising campaign and as an environmental activist made a special appearance to show her support for the “Bike in Style Challenge” project. The challenge was to create stylish, practical and affordable bike clothing and gear in support of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s bicycling promotion initiatives, which should help create a greener, greater New York City.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (the company also owns parts of Dior) organized the event as part of its longstanding commitment to the environment and next to Marion also Hilary Duff and iconic designer Donna Karan announced the winners earlier this afternoon. Read Press Release

She looked absolutely perfect, with alluring blue eyes, and honestly, could she have looked any more classy?!

109 Bike In Style Challenge Ceremony

[edit:] added 16 more
[edit June 3:] added another batch of pics – replacing many mq pictures – bringing the total count up to 109.

from BlackBook Magazine / by Ray Rogers

Marion Cotillard is having a New York moment. The new face of French cinema, who took home a treasure trove of gold statues from far-flung corners of the world for her memory-searing role as Edith Piaf in 2007’s La Vie en Rose, is slathering cream cheese on half a bagel as she readies for our daylong cover shoot. So much for the spread of organic salads, fresh vegetables and hot water with lemon she’d requested.

It’s no wonder she went in for the perfect morning-after food. The previous evening, Cotillard clinked glasses with the A-list of sartorial stars, Hollywood bold-faced names and music royalty at the American fashion world’s most fabulous night out, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Ball, hosted by Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Justin Timberlake and Kate Moss. Her escort? None other than John Galliano—only fitting as she is the new face of Dior. Cotillard’s night stretched on until the wee hours of the morning, winding down in Moss’ hotel room at the swank Gramercy Park Hotel.

If it seems she’s living the high life, she’s certainly earned it. But she’s also very much got her feet rooted on the ground. You’d never guess she’d been out all night from her composure on set—pleasant, polite and ready to work. In conversation the next day at The Bowery Hotel, as the chic set get their happy hour cocktails on at sidewalk tables, Cotillard, cloaked in grey cashmere that brings out the blue-gray of her eyes, sips water at an inside booth and seems most at ease discussing her craft. The hoopla surrounding it? She can do without. Not that it’s going to stop.

She’s at a crossroads right now, ascending quickly from esteemed actor to international star. Her first big screen performance after her 2008 Oscar win for La Vie en Rose comes via a Michael Mann summer blockbuster, Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp as 1930s Chicago gangster John Dillinger. In the role of Dillinger’s girl, Billie Frechette, Cotillard delivers another bang-up performance. After that, she plays opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in a star-studded cast that includes Penélope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Fergie (yes, you read that right) in Rob Marshall’s Nine. And if further proof of her skyrocketing fame were needed, she was recently cast by The Dark Night director Christopher Nolan to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife in Inception.

While she’s had small roles in a few American movies, including the forgettable hokum that was Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2003), and opposite Russell Crowe in A Good Year (2006), Cotillard, 33, was already on the verge of superstar status at home, where the French tabloids routinely refer to her and her partner, actor-director Guillaume Canet, with whom she lives, as the French “Brangelina.” She’d appeared in more than 25 films before Olivier Dahan’s La Môme (as it was titled in France), and already had a César under her belt, for best supporting actress, for a particularly potent performance in A Very Long Engagement (2004), alongside Audrey Tautou.

She comes from a family of artists—her mother and father are both actors (her father a director, and former mime), and her younger twin brothers earn their livings as a sculptor and writer. Growing up in Orléans, France, surrounded by a creatively fertile household, nevertheless she says she was tortured inwardly. Maybe some part of her is still working out those demons. To say that Cotillard is drawn to grueling parts is an understatement. Her commitment to the role of Edith Piaf saw her completely transform herself into the tortured genius of the French chanteuse as she rose from scrappy beginnings to the heights of fame, and then, ravaged by her fears, insecurities—and drugs—ultimately succumbed to cancer by age 47.

For director Michael Mann, witnessing her performance was a revelation. “When you see that kind of work, you recognize it for what it is: This is a brilliant, brilliant artist,” he says. “Even in the smallest gesture or expression, you can tell that there is total truth in what she’s doing; she is completely committed to every single moment. It’s not performance, it’s not artifice. It’s beyond skill.”

He took full advantage of that complete conviction. Cotillard gets pushed to the limit again in Mann’s Public Enemies, out July 1. As Billie, the round-the-clock bruising she takes from FBI interrogators leaves her sleep-deprived, bloodied and with a soiled dress. This scene is just the kind of challenge that ignites Cotillard. “I’m totally aware that it’s weird to find pleasure in that state of emotion—in violence—but,” she says with a laugh, “I like it.”

Cotillard doesn’t take the easy way out in Public Enemies. In the hands of a lesser actress, we might have drowned in an ocean of sobs or been deafened by a histrionic breakdown. In her final scene, Cotillard lets out a quiet tear, the emotion transmitting from her eyes telling the whole story.

BLACKBOOK: My heart is still beating very fast. I just came from a screening of Public Enemies.
MARION COTILLARD: You liked it? I saw it yesterday… I’m very happy.

I found myself really rooting for John Dillinger and for your character. What appealed to you about playing Billie Frechette?
She’s a real product of this really tough period in American history. Out of the Depression came all of these people who struggled to live. Billie had no money, and she came from an Indian tribe, which, at the time, was not easy. By the time she came to Chicago and met Dillinger, she had already lived several lives—she had been to military boarding school, to learn military manners, to “get the Indian out.” She’s a mix of someone really sweet and tough.

How familiar were you with this period in American history, when gangsters were writ large in the culture?
I loved gangsters when I started watching movies—I love the idea of freedom, perfect freedom, which I will never reach. Those characters who expressed their dark side fascinated me. It can be totally scary, because it drives you to do things that are unacceptable. But I think that kind of confidence is attractive. That is what’s great about my job—I can express and feel these things, because they’re real. Well, 90 percent real.

It could have just been a decorative role—“the girlfriend”—but you brought a real sense of integrity to her.
In Michael Mann’s movies, women aren’t just there because he needs a love interest. In the movie, you feel for Billie, because you have the time to discover who she is, to see that she was really in love.

She wasn’t just in it for the money or the adventure.
Absolutely not. And when they caught her, the interrogation lasted two days and one night, and they would not allow her to sleep. But she never said anything. Not one thing.

That scene must have been difficult to shoot.
Oh, I’m used to extreme scenes. [laughs]

You’ve done quite a few of them now.
When I did La Vie en Rose, it was harder to get back to normal, because we filmed for four months and I was so deep in it when it ended. It was kind of hard to come back to myself right away.

What was the vibe like between you and Johnny Depp?
I met him with Michael Mann before we left to shoot the movie. I was looking forward to working with him, because I think he’s an amazing actor. And I was looking forward to this experience with Michael Mann—really, I had sparkles while working, during the preparation. I was thrilled. He’s a real gentleman, a real, simple person—easy to talk with.

Johnny is, on one hand, a huge Hollywood star. But on the other, he lives in France, away from the celebrity culture. Does his lifestyle choice resonate with you?
I think that when you are an actor, and you tell stories about people, especially when you are that big, you have to find a way to stay normal. And he is. I think you just have to find a way to stay close to reality. You find, inside yourself, the way to stay close to who you are.

How do you do that?
When you start to think about your own fame, you’re in trouble. I’m not in trouble. [laughs.] People who leave their road for perdition, because something is too hard to handle, well, it comes from fear. And I think that almost everybody has fears, but the way we deal with our fears, the way we turn our fears into something else, allows us to stay close to life, to people, to reality, to authenticity.

What has struck me about your better-known performances, at least over here, is that there’s a real strength, and yet, a vulnerability about your characters. What aspect of your personality is drawn to these parts?
I’ve always needed characters who allow me to express several things, and I find that kind of person—someone who is strong, but also emotional—very beautiful.

Is that who you are?
I think that’s who everybody is. All of us are living, standing, walking and loving. We have the strength to do all of that.

What were you like as a kid?
I was very, very scared. I didn’t know how to speak to people, and I didn’t know how to express myself. I was very complicated, tortured as a kid. I didn’t know how to share things.

Why do you think you were tortured as a kid?
Too many questions too soon.

At what point were you able to move forward?
When the desire to live becomes stronger than your fear, I think you start to see things differently.

Is there a part of you that still feels tortured?
Yes. It’s tiny, but it’s there. It’s in the package. I think every human being has that kind of package. Even the happiest man in the world has a dark side. Otherwise, he would not be complete. We have to deal with that, and it’s an amazing experience.

Let’s talk a little bit about La Vie en Rose. I was blown away by it—I’m sure you hear that all the time. How did it change you?
When you abandon yourself to a character who was a real person—to live with this character, to know that she was real, that her story really happened—you discover some strength. Not that I’m more confident now, although I would love to be.

Did you learn anything from Edith Piaf, in terms of how she handled the pressures of enormous fame?
I don’t share her fear of being alone, the way she dealt with fame and the things she wanted, which never fulfilled her. Her celebrity was very important to her, but she searched in so many people for something that was hard to find: the love of another person to replace the mother she didn’t have. I don’t share that with her.

Are you enjoying the glamorous part of your job? I heard you had quite a fun night out at the Met Ball.
Fame brings you fun things, because you get to meet very interesting and funny people.

Is that a big part of your life now: hanging out with Kate Moss until all hours of the morning?
It’s been a part of my life to enjoy good times with people, and sometimes people that I’ve just met. Sometimes the people you hang out with are people whose names you know, whose faces you recognize, but you never really know people until you meet them.

John Galliano was your escort to the Ball and you are the new face of Dior. Is your involvement in the fashion world a new thing?
I have to confess that fashion is a world I don’t really know. I have to be interested in fashion, in a way, because it’s a big part of an actor’s life, but I’m not very good at talking about fashion. I like it, but it’s not a major center of interest for me. But I really admire Galliano.
He’s such a unique artist. He has always taken risks. His creativity is always alive. When I met the people at Dior, I met him. And that’s how that story begins.

Had you met Kate before the other night?
No.

What is she like?
She has a strong personality. And she’s British—I love the British. And the way she gives life to the character she is and everything she does… it’s really something. It’s not just about being pretty and wearing clothes for her. Giving your personality like that to the art of fashion is something I couldn’t do. I need to have a character. That’s why when Dior called me and said it’s going to be little movies, and I could actually play someone, I said, Okay, yeah, that is something I can do. I get to hide, a little bit.

Soon after you won the Oscar, there was some controversy over statements you made about conspiracy theories and 9/11. I’m curious what that meant to you. I’m not looking for any defense or apology.
I don’t have to defend myself. What can you do against something that is totally different from what you really think? It was hard to live with that, because I’m not the person described in that ridiculous story. I was not happy that this story could hurt people. But I felt sorry for those French journalists—that was the thing. I felt sorry for journalism, in general. We live in a world where there is so much information, but what I said was taken out of context. It’s so common for someone who gives interviews to say that, but a cliché becomes a cliché because it’s true. Some of it was funny: the part where I thought that man didn’t walk on the moon? Man, please! It’s so ridiculous.

You didn’t say that, then?
I talked about being fascinated by Internet conspiracies, because they are fascinating. And I asked a question like that: “Did man walk on the moon?” Because the conspiracies are out there, not because it’s a question I believed.

Any regrets?
There are no regrets about what I think or what I said, but I regret being put in a situation like that, bringing water to the river of unreal and mean things. I don’t belong near the manipulation of information.

It must have messed with your sense of trust.
As an example, I did an interview in France and the journalist asked me about the houses I’d lived in, and I said I’ve always lived in apartments on the top floor. And that became this: “I’ve always lived on the top.” It’s so easy to become this full-of-yourself person who says, “Nobody has lived above me.”

Tell me about Nine. You sing in that movie, which must have been a relief. You’ve spoken about how difficult it was to learn how to lip-synch to Edith Piaf.
It was more than a relief—it was a dream! My dream was to do an American musical. When I was a kid, I knew all of the choreography for Singin’ in the Rain. I would play the video again and again to learn everything: the songs and the dances. I thought that it was a dream that would stay a fantasy, until Rob Marshall arrived. I love to sing and I love to dance, but I didn’t know that I didn’t know how to dance. When you’ve got to dance Broadway musical-style, then you suddenly discover that you absolutely don’t know how to dance.

Do you and your boyfriend go out dancing?
My boyfriend is an amazing dancer. When you have a very good partner that makes you dance, and you know that no matter what happens he will catch you—it’s amazing.

You just finished shooting The Last Voyage of Lancaster together in Morocco. Is it hard to do a scene with him?
It’s another level of sharing. It’s weird at the beginning, but then you find the pleasure to forget that you know that person. You become someone else. In one particular scene, I thought he was so good. And I missed my line, of course—it’s dangerous because you really have to stay there, stay in the character.

What has been the most surprising thing about this journey that life has taken you on since La Vie en Rose?
Each time a director calls and wants to see me. It’s a great joy and it’s always a surprise, because my dream is still going—it doesn’t stop.

Nine’s cast is amazing. What was it like to have all of those people in one room, working together like that?
We were all so happy to do this movie. We wanted so much to make Rob happy, because he’s so smart and nice and talented. We were like a troupe of, you know, dancers.

New friends out of the experience?
Well, I love Penélope Cruz; she’s an amazing person. And Kate Hudson, too—so down-to-earth, so easy, so simple. We’re actresses, which means it’s not always that way.