Anaïs Demoustier: 'You could very easily be a control freak and always disappointed by how you look'
The French actress takes on a Q&A and considers a big question: who said smoking was bad for you?
Smoking Causes Coughing marks your third movie with director Quentin Dupieux. What do you like about him?
He’s one of the most interesting directors in France. First, because I really like comedy and it’s very hard to find a good director of comedy. Quentin is very precise. And it’s like a music score when you read the script. He has a sense of rhythm, a sense of text and a really good sense of aesthetics. Comedies sometimes are not beautiful movies to look at. And with Quentin, there is this research of costume and sets; his wife, Joan Le Boru, is his artistic director and she’s so talented.
It’s such a crazy film. What do you think Quentin was inspired by?
He wanted to make a superhero film with the references he had; they weren’t my references because we’re not from the same generation! I was thinking about Power Rangers.
Did you ever think you’d be in a superhero movie? I didn’t think about it before but it was a pleasure to try this kind of character. It was so fun. And we all have this imaginary life. When we were children, we all played a superhero.
What was the costume like?
Very uncomfortable. We were shooting in autumn in the south of France and it was very hot. And it was kind of leather, so not very easy, and I had this wig which is warm too. But it was a perfect way to enter into the movie with the other actors. We didn’t know each other before. And to be wearing these ridiculous wigs and suits, it was immediately a way to connect to each other, and to have fun and say, ‘OK, we are here to laugh!’
Do you smoke?
No, I don’t. I quit. Three or four years ago. I was addicted. And now, I don’t care; I like the smell of smoking. I don’t know why. It’s not a problem for me when people are smoking. I love when you are allowed to smoke in a restaurant. To me, it’s a pleasure.
So what are you addicted to in life?
If I had to choose something . . . I’m addicted to work. I think it’s the only addiction I have, which is not a bad one. But, yeah, I need to work. But I think it’s a problem for all actors. We’re dependent on the desires of others. So it makes a kind of insecurity in life, and if you don’t work, you panic!
Given your character is quite shallow, how important is your look to you as an actor?
You have to deal with your face, your body. It’s a part of the work. You have to deal with the obsessions; not to be too crazy with how you look and how you’re getting older. I think the most important thing is not to become crazy. It’s really easy to be obsessed with social media, with pictures of you all the time. I think you could very easily be a control freak and always disappointed by how you look. So I’m trying to put some distance with this; I don’t have social media. And I am trying to make it like a game. To go to the Cannes Film Festival, let’s dress like a princess. But in real life, I’m kind of natural and not obsessed by my image. The most important thing for me is to make movies with big directors. That’s the point.
Talking of which, you just worked with Cédric Jimenez on November, playing an anti-terrorist investigator involved in the Paris attacks. How was that?
A very different experience but very fascinating. I really need both. I need comedy and I need serious films!