\u201cI don\u2019t like to travel, and I\u2019m always scared to fly,\u201d said Emmanuelle B\u00e9art as we began our interview. Today at Art Film Fest the French actress will accept the Actor’s Mission Award. Even yesterday, despite spending half the day travelling, she felt great upon arriving in Tren\u010dianske Teplice. <\/p>\n
After appearing in 1996’s Mission: Impossible, you were offered role after Hollywood role. Yet you refused them all. How come?
Too much flying and too much travelling to the US. As an actor, you have to be on-set, at the director’s disposal. I’m not trying to say I want to spend the rest of my life in France. I\u2019d happily go to China or Australia, and I\u2019m glad to be able to attend Art Film Fest here in Tren\u010dianske Teplice. But making a movie in the States just doesn\u2019t appeal to me anymore. Partially due to the fact that they always offer me the same kind of role: French girls, French women. <\/p>\n
So do you believe a good film has to be a work of art?
I\u2019d vastly prefer to act in films that aspire to be art than in ones that are shot purely for profit\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n
What do you see as your goal in life?
I’ve got quite a few. The most important part of life is life itself: Beauty. Love. Friends. The art of living\u2026<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve expressed your support for various social causes, like when you defended illegal immigrants in France. Do you consider social activism to be part of an artist\u2019s life?
In my opinion, social responsibility and the expression of social and political viewpoints are not just for artists, but for anyone who considers themselves a citizen. I haven’t limited myself to the cause of immigrants, either. I try to be active on many different issues \u2013 supporting the war against AIDS, alerting people of the situation with child soldiers in Africa\u2026<\/p>\n
Which is more important to you \u2013 civil engagement or acting?
For me they go hand in hand. As an actress I have a greater opportunity to draw attention to issues I\u2019m concerned about, because the media pay attention to me, giving me a venue to state my views. And at the same time I\u2019m interested in creative projects that voice a particular opinion, like my upcoming film The Righteous of Albert Camus.<\/p>\n
Do you think social activism is in what a good actor "does"?
There\u2019s no such thing as a good actor, nor a bad one. An actor is always only as good or bad as their role and how the director directs them. And that\u2019s why directors have all the responsibility. We actors can\u2019t be blamed.<\/p>\n
Sounds like quite the life.
You could certainly put it that way.<\/p>\n
But you can, for example, be satisfied or unsatisfied with your own performance or with the final product, can\u2019t you? What about when you appeared as a young girl alongside Pierre Richard in Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator, or when you acted in Fran\u00e7ois Ozon\u2019s 8 Women? Were those interesting experiences?
My god, you still remember Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator?! I mean that must have been my first or second movie. Even I don\u2019t remember it all that well… But I definitely remember filming 8 Women. Working with Fran\u00e7ois Ozon was fascinating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI don\u2019t like to travel, and I\u2019m always scared to fly,\u201d said Emmanuelle B\u00e9art as we began our interview. Today