Hardly any other actress is so inextricably linked to the Cannes Film Festival as Léa Seydoux. Here she received her first prize as a young actress for the drama “The Beautiful Girl” (2008). And here, in 2013, she finally rose to the ranks of acting Olympus with the love story “Blue is a warm color”, which was awarded the Palme d’Or, the main prize of the festival. Last year, Seydoux was even represented with a total of four films in the Cannes program – and then couldn’t come because she was infected with Corona.
That should be different this year. Seydoux, 36, is in competition with the thriller “Crimes of the Future” at the 75th edition of the festival, which starts on Tuesday evening, and she will of course be there for the world premiere. The exciting thing about Cannes is that no one has seen the finished films – so no one knows how viewers will react. That’s a thrill, even for veteran stars like Seydoux. Because it is not unusual in Cannes for films to be accompanied by boos. And with so many provocative works, the spectators in their evening wear have left the “Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière” in droves, where the big gala premieres take place.
“Crimes of the Future” is rumored to have what it takes to become a scandalous film. The story takes place in a future where people no longer feel physical pain and therefore develop a perverted relationship with their bodies. The film was directed by veteran director David Cronenberg, and that was also the reason why Seydoux wanted to make the film: “I always decide on a project because of the director. That’s the most important criterion for me.”
Actresses like her don’t let themselves be demoted to sidekicks
Léa Seydoux was born in Paris in 1985 and was well connected to the world of cinema through her family. Her paternal grandfather, the film producer Jérôme Seydoux, is one of the defining figures of French post-war cinema and was president of the Pathé media group for many years. Most recently, he produced the drama “Coda,” which won Best Picture at the Oscars in February. Her great-uncle Nicolas Seydoux is also an influential film producer and chairman of the board of directors of the Gaumont film company.
The fact that Seydoux now works in Europe as in Hollywood, shot with Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen and starred in two “James Bond” films is something she has worked for herself. She stands for a new generation of French actresses who, even in Hollywood, no longer allow themselves to be demoted to pretty sidekicks. “As a very young actress,” says Seyodux, “I had the feeling that I always had to play with my sexuality.” Many films would have “had an all-male perspective”. In the meantime, she refuses to use terms like “Bond Girl” in interviews.
Seydoux is also among the women who exposed former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s power system and accused him of sexual assault. In a guest post for the Guardian In 2017 she described in detail how he abused his position to get sex, that he stared at her “like a piece of meat” – and that there are a lot of Weinsteins in the film industry: “I’ve met men like him again and again. ” But we can and must actively do something about this misogyny by exposing it again and again.
What remains the greatest challenge for Seydoux, even after years in the business, is the “fear of playing”, which she overcomes with every new film despite the experience. But it is a productive form of fear: “I would probably be bored the day I was no longer afraid.”
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