The Olympiads – Noémie Merlant: “On the set, Jacques is like a child”
The one who portrays a polyamorous woman in the vibrant Les Olympiades recounts her first experience under the direction of the filmmaker.
The Olympics returns this Wednesday evening on Arte (and in streaming on the channel’s website). When it was released in cinemas in 2021, we interviewed Noémie Merlant, one of the main actresses in the film, about her experience working with director Jacques Audiard.
What did Jacques Audiard mean to you before filming with him?
Noémie Merlant: He is obviously one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers. I discovered it by A prophet which upset me. And every time since, I have been completely captivated by his characters. By what he makes his actors do. And by its ability to reinvent itself. When I go to see an Audiard, I’m like a child who knows that she’s going to be treated to a surprise while also finding things that I like. As if he was going to look for an accident in every take, in every scene. I also love its ability to tell our world. Dheepan had a profound impact on me for that reason.
Is it that The Olympics marks a break in his career in your opinion?
No, I don’t think so. It’s a new way of reinventing himself, as he does in almost every film. Obviously, I was surprised when I read the script of the Olympics. To see him treat today’s thirty-somethings with that tone. But it is ultimately the perfect counter to the Brothers Sisters. And for a very simple reason: what interests Jacques is what he doesn’t know. He has this curiosity about what surrounds him.
THE OLYMPIADES: AUDIARD REINVENTS ITSSELF IN A GENERATIONAL FILM (REVIEW)
This is the first time you’ve toured under his direction. What is its specificity in your eyes as a director?
Jacques ensures that his actors are included in the creative process. He needs the living substance of the actor. Let us let loose in our proposals, let us surprise him. It’s a super enjoyable ping-pong game for us. We are really invited to play together. And in turn, we give more. Obviously, at the beginning, we are a little stressed to be facing a filmmaker that we admire so much but little by little this fear disappears. Notably because he had this great idea of organizing a filming, in a theater, of the entire film with all of his actors. A truly essential moment because as an actor, in cinema, you never have this global vision of things. This spinning allowed me to feel the film. Then, on set, Jacques is like a child. He’s having fun in the truest sense of the word. With constant energy. Its plateau is a playground. And at the same time, he is never afraid to sometimes show that he doubts. And that’s reassuring. It puts us at ease. It also gives us the right to doubt. He also always seeks to reassure us to put us in the best possible position. He lets propose. I, for example, often ask for more takes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And Jacques never said no on principle. Because he likes to play, to be surprised. And letting the actor go further obviously allows him not to slow down.
This is the first time he has tackled sex scenes in one of his films. How did he create them with you?
Jacques was super embarrassed, very respectful. I’m not modest about my body. From the start, he explained to us that he was letting us, his actors, take care of them. And, through this, he allowed us to be even more free and therefore to go even further. We always go further without constraint.
Did he advise you to watch films before filming?
Yes : Annie Hall for the clumsiness of the character, his lively side so that I always keep in the back of my mind the fact that my character is often lost. Comedy was essential for him in The Olympics. He reminded us all the time that we should have fun, let loose
What is your opinion of the way he views thirty-year-olds?
I don’t feel Jacques disconnected from my generation. I even find him younger than me in many ways! (laughs) In any case since I started working in cinema, I had never had the opportunity to play a character who spoke to me so much and with whom I was so immediately connected. Jacques’ energy is ageless and radiates throughout the set, every day of filming.
