When Émilie Dequenne was told in 5 emblematic roles

In 2014, 7 years before she won the only César in her career, that of the supporting role for the things we say, the things we do, the Belgian actress confided in the 5 great roles of her filmography.

Rosetta (1999)

First role and immediate consecration for Fatty Émilie Dequennewho embodies a young woman determined to keep her dignity despite precariousness. Its raw and visceral performance in this film of Dardenne brothers earned him the price of female interpretation at the Cannes Film Festival at only 17, instantly propelling this young unknown on the international scene.

“Since the age of 5, I know that I want to play comedy … I took very young theater lessons. And it was a few months before spending my baccalaureate that I heard of Rosetta, thanks to my aunt who had spotted the announcement of the casting in a newspaper. I therefore threw myself on this opportunity. I sent a letter and polaroid taken by my cousin. Piercings, punk limit, perched on shoes with compensated heels. Two! “I went on vacation and as incredible as it may seem, I totally forgot Rosetta. What had become an obsession had almost erased from my memory … until I received a phone call from my parents told me that I was chosen.

“I signed my contract on August 29, the day of my 17th birthday.”

The shooting was special. I was afraid that the executive who accompanied me permanently, camera in the shoulder, fall! So I didn’t know where to watch and I didn’t stop blushing. Which had the gift of putting the brothers in pitch (laughs)! But my strength, at that time, it was that I had no constraints in my personal life, so I could completely dive into the daily life of Rosetta and this shooting. I had a crazy pleasure in playing a character so far from me. Especially with such demanding directors who, after fifteen days of filming, as they were not satisfied, decided to put everything in the trash and start again! Cannes was an unforgettable experience. I slammed two thousand francs from the time to buy a dress. Because I wanted to prove, on the red carpet, that I was not Rosetta but an actress who had played a role and who wanted to play others. I was thinking of the future … Obviously, I did not expect such a media ramdam. And especially not at the interpretation price! Besides, when I heard my name, I did not kiss anyone around me. As I get up, I was just repeating myself: “Don’t fall! Don’t cry your thing and be clear! And, of course, I cried like a madeleine. But it was a turning point; it remains a huge moment that triggered everything. The proposals of agents as well as films. However, the post-cannon in Belgium was painful.

“I was like Eddy Merckx after the Tour de France, expected at the airport by the press and onlookers. We jostled my family … It was I who had to say to the journalists” Break up! “And I was insulted by the Belgian press. But my relationship with the Dardenne brothers is still so strong, even if we see each other less. They have forever changed my life.”

A cleaning lady (2002)

Under the direction of Claude Berrishe imposes herself with delicacy in this role of young woman who upsets the life of a recently divorced man. Facing Jean-Pierre Bacriit deploys a sensitivity and a freshness which confirm its talent beyond the social register of its beginnings, proving that it can also navigate in softer waters with an irresistible conviction.

“It is by seeing me on TV, in” Everyone talks about it “, that Claude Berri thought of me for a cleaning lady. And I was very intimidated during our first meeting. Because the first film – outside cartoons – that I saw in the cinema, it was Manon of sources! You imagine the symbolic charge that represented for me to turn with him! Absences, Éric Gautier took matters into hand. As a concert to have removed. It is raw. You know he always says what he thinks. Did I doubt me? Yes, and this doubt persisted on the set of a cleaning lady. In fact, I have long had imposture syndrome in me.

“It took me a while to say that I belonged to the” family “of cinema. It happened with my appointment to the César for the teammate, in 2005. For the first time, I went from the hope category to that of the supporting roles. Without prenomination, so without being breathless. There, I told myself that people finally considered me as an actress.”

RER’s daughter (2009)

In this film inspired by a resounding news item, Émilie Dequenne meets the complex challenge of embodying a mythomaniac under the direction ofAndré Téchiné. Facing Catherine Deneuve, She delivers a disturbing performance of ambiguity, probing the psychological abysses of a character who invents himself victim of an anti -Semitic aggression. A pivotal role that demonstrates its ability to carry characters to fascinating gray areas.

“André offered me the role directly. As often in my career. And that’s good because I am zero in tests! But as with Claude Berri, I was terrorized at our first meeting. Because the shyness of others terrorizes me. And André is enormously shy. So I suffered at the start. Because André can be very clumsy with the actors. He knows what he wants, while continuing to find. It was feeling and logically concluded that he would never get what he would like to be prisoners of a vicious circle. André.

“And there, I had fun. On a set, I need to feel the confidence of a director. I find it hard to work in the conflict.”

To lose the reason (2012)

In this drama of Joachim Lafossethe actress delivers one of the most striking performances of her career. Embodying an ordinary mother who gradually switch into the unthinkable, she captivates by her descent into meticulously calibrated psychological hell. His performance earned him the price of interpretation in the Un certain look section in Cannes, confirming his place among the great actresses of his generation.

“Joachim had already offered me a naked property, but the role did not interest me, so I had declined his offer. While there, even if I was not his first choice, the scenario cut me off in two! And my goal was to follow it as much as possible from the news that inspired it. If only because reality necessarily exceeds, in this case, fiction. Infanticide, while keeping in mind the painful experience that I had lived with Mademoiselle Julie in the theater, and which I was not released unscathed. in psychosis.

“In fact, I am very sensitive, I needed to hear myself saying that I did not suffer from any psychosis (laughs). And to place a great distance between this character and me, before slipping into his skin.”

Not his genre (2014)

Change of register for the actress who shines in this romantic comedy of Lucas Belvaux. As a provincial hairdresser full of life that falls in love with a Parisian philosophy teacher, she deploys a solar charm and touching authenticity. Far from the intense dramas that have marked her career, she reveals here a communicative lightness and joy that still widens her actress palette.

“I was in interview with the press secretary to lose reason, Marie-Christine Damiens, when I saw, on her office, a script for Lucas Belvaux. And, the second stroke of fate, the one I expected for this interview was none other than … Philippe Vilain, the author of Pas his genre. Then, as often, I was not the first choice of Lucas but the planned actress To offer me the film, because he had just seen the reason and did not consider me a second in the character. Lightness. And there, I really gave up because I did not see how to find the lightness essential to the role. But this project was so strong and this character so important in my eyes that I decided to ignore everything. Lucas helped me. He is really reassuring. He works in sweetness, in kindness and in fun. But, however, with him, we do not lose a minute on the set. It is a locomotive that never lets go. We get out of these rinsed but happy shooting days.

“Fifteen years ago, my goal was to become an actress and live it. So certainly, I probably imagined a more rock’n’roll life and depraved than mine, between hotels and limousines (laughs). But, today, I feel in my place. Exactly where I always dreamed of finding myself.”