Funzine interviewed actress Lucy Russell at the French Film Days showcasing some of France’s best cinema.
Budapest Funzine: As a UK actress representing the French feature Angel, at the French Film Days, just how French are you?
Lucy Russell: I work in France whenever I can! It started when I was 19, but by 21 I picked up fluent French. The English acting world is all so theatric, whereas the French have hundreds of movies produced every year, it’s really the land of cinema. There aren’t many roles going out to British actresses, but I try getting as many as possible. It’s such a thriving scene, the more I can work there, the better.
BF: Nora is such an odd sort of role, in fact Angel is an odd sort of film. How close are you to this peculiar background character?
LR: I have to imagine myself in that position, as a version of me in a different reality. I’ve played serial killers before, and everyone has the potential to exhibit every kind of human behavior. I’d read the wonderful pulp romantic fiction novel the story is based on, and that was far crueler than the film. Nora’s character has a martyr aspect, to the point of being masochistic. It’s an intensely emotional role, loving someone with so much passion as to live your whole life through someone else.
BF:
Angel is a historical costume melodrama, with references to Gone With the Wind. Do you enjoy this particular sort of work?
LR: Working with Francois Ozon is fun; he’s a playful director who’s always got a twinkle in his eye. There’s a strong sense of irony in this film, it takes a playful sense humor to get it. I definitely enjoy costumes, though all through this movie I only ever got to wear brown. Some referential sequences to Gone With the Wind were later cut, but not the sumptuous red dress scene. I was always jealous of [Romola Garai’s] gorgeous dresses – I just wanted to steal every costume and wear them all, somehow, even if they didn’t fit. Nora would creep around secretly by night and try on all her mistress’ clothes…
BF: Romola Garai is known to have Hungarian ancestry, what is your own take on Budapest? Are you Hungarian as well as French?
LR: It’s really my first time here. I do have a very early imprint of a Hungarian acquaintance though. He was an old Zichy count, around 70 and I was maybe 14. He kissed my hand – the first man who made me feel like a woman! I wished he were a few decades younger.
BF: A lot of Hungarian men are cycling this weekend, because there’s a public transport strike. On a warm spring day like this, wouldn’t you rather be out riding a bike than doing interviews?
LR: At home I love to go cycling, yes. But I think the traffic here would freak me out! I’d like to get out and explore, but I’ll only have time for a little sightseeing.
by Dányi Dániel