The Patient English Woman
Diastème
(translated by Malcolm Coupland)
From the rue Blanche [drama school] to Hollywood, from Maigret [TV series] to Mission: Impossible, Kristin Scott Thomas, the lover of "The English Patient", has taken fifteen years to reach the pinnacle of her art. Expected to make her mark at the forthcoming Oscars.
She arrives early believing she must be late. She's got the time wrong. She ran like mad to be on time and now understands why the taxi wasn't there when expected. "Could you give me a minute to calm down..." she asks. That morning she looked everywhere for the train tickets for the kids to go skiing on Saturday. She turned the whole house upside down looking for them, and finally found them in her handbag.
In the deserted cosy salon at the Costes hotel, she orders a breakfast of toast and orange juice. Having seen The English Patient , to know that Kristin is going to eat something is a great relief. She is very elegant. Not aristocratic, as is so often said, but elegant. She wears a wacky wrist-watch that she playfully turns round her arm.
The first time Kristin Scott Thomas appeared in the French press it had nothing to do with cinema, but with deely bobbers . Kristin, the young drama student, and François, the young medical student, got a piece in Libération to advertise their business. By the way, Kristin, what exactly is a deely bobber ? "It's a head-band with two springs and balls on the ends, and it's very funny. In the summer of 82 we were selling them on the beach at Palavas-les-Flots." From the beach to the boards of the rue Blanche, Kristin continued her apprenticeship. Fifteen years and two children later, the couple have plainly flourished. He in the field of obstetrics, she in world cinema. Which brings me to the first question.
PREMIÈRE / Does it help to have a business sense when making films?
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS / Oh, that really wasn't business sense! We had two thousand deely bobbers left over in the cellar that we could never shift! I think the only thing that's really important in a career -- and I go on believing it, even when I screw up -- is to know what you like and what you don't like, what makes us laugh and what touches us. Knowing one's tastes. This can mean being pretty eclectic, but you mustn't do anything that you're not sure you like.
Lesson no.1: Apprenticeship
Is it true you had a couple of witty exchanges with Commissioner Maigret?
Yes! During the titles. I was the "second blond hairdresser", even though I was brunette at the time. A crazy character role! I said: "Ah no, we haven't seen him!" and "She was in here last Tuesday!"
You were also in Mistral's Daughter [L'amour en héritage ], that outstanding mini-series sung by Nana Mouskouri...
Ah yes, marvellous! It was my very first film, and I didn't know you had to repeat the same thing twice when doing a closeup and a wide shot. I'd never done that before. Stacy Keach was charming. I said [urbane tone] : "I'd love to visit your studio... It would be so interesting..." I played Lady Nancy, my first English aristocrat!
Then in 86 there was Under the Cherry Moon with Prince.
It was an utterly magical affair. Straight after being in a play by Marguerite Duras, in a field in Burgundy, all of a sudden I found myself at the Crillon [luxurious Paris hotel], with people asking me who I wanted for my makeup and who for my hair stylist... It was so far from what I'd known before... My first big role, in an American film, with stars... Crazy!
How do you address Prince nowadays?
Well exactly, I don't know. I saw him a short while back, and he said I could call him whatever I liked. I think I'm going to call him Art, like Art Garfunkel, and as in "Artist Formerly Known As Prince"! I don't know if he'll appreciate it...
You were next seen in 87 in Agent troublé , by Jean-Pierre Mocky...
Ah yes! Mocky had me wear little lamps on the ends of my breasts and I had to say: "Like this, that's better!", and click, my breasts lit up! It was also the first time I uncorked a bottle of champagne. I've recently remembered that I played that scene with Richard Bohringer. I saw him the other day and I said to myself: "I'm sure I've met him before." I'd completely forgotten that we'd made a film together! And Richard Bohringer is an actor you do not forget!
Did he remember?
I don't think so. But I admit I'm a bit paranoid. When people smile at me, I'm always thinking they know something I don't!
Lesson no.2: Tenacity
After leading roles in two "small" films, La Méridienne (88) by Jean- François Amiguet, and A Handful of Dust (88) by Charles Sturridge, in the same year Kristin made a film for television alongside Anthony Hopkins, then another the following year with Jeff Goldblum. She appeared in Force Majeure (89) by Pierre Jolivet, with Patrick Bruel and François Cluzet, and we find her blond and staring in Bal du Gouverneur (90) by Marie-France Pisier, with Laurent Gréville.
After a frustrating part in Autobus [Aux Yeax du Monde] (90), by Rochant -- "The role of that school teacher seemed to me to be just a prop. Rochant had persuaded me to do the film when talking about other scenes that were to be in it, but they were all cut. It was a rather disagreeable shoot because it was very hot that summer, and I was pregnant..." -- in 92 Kristin made Bitter Moon by Roman Polanski.
"My husband's grandmother, who worked in the cinema, had predicted that I would make a film with Polanski. And she died the year I made my film with him. I don't quite know what to say... Polanski, that's it. Full stop.
Was it there that you met Hugh Grant?
No, I met him while he was making that film about Chopin [Impromptu by James Lapine, 91], through Julian Sands, who's been a friend of mine for a very long time. We met up in a cafe in Montparnasse, and this boy made me weep with laughter. He had such a very funny pessimism about him. He strung me this irresistible yarn about his being worthless, really really bad, that he was ashamed to be an actor, that he was going to quit. When I came across him again on the Polanski, I told him that I couldn't understand why he was still at it! Actually, I think he's really very very good in that film, and also in Four Weddings...
Right, let's talk about Four Weddings and a Funeral...
It's a very important film in my list. And I was very surprised by the reaction my character created. It brought me far more than I could have believed possible. Ah yes, I've actually got an anecdote! During the shoot, I was a friend to Hugh Grant, his ally -- anyway, we hung out together, whatever -- and one day he came over to me and said [imitates him] : "Agh, I'm useless, useless! I don't know what to do to not be so useless..." And I said to him: "Stop! This film is gonna make you a star!" And as I spoke, I was thinking: "Shut up, you old dodderer. Everybody says that!" But I was certain of it, and I was right!
And An Unforgettable Summer , by Lucian Pintilié...
Unforgettable, yes. Filming with Pintilié was the opposite of a poisoned gift: poison, but truly a gift. Extremely difficult, ex-treme-ly, but really wonderful. I've only cried once on leaving a director, and that was when leaving him.
You took part in Plaisir d'Offrir , the short by François Morel...
I'm very pleased for François because we were at the rue Blanche drama school together. I've always found him to be so offbeat in relation to "French humour"... His humour, and also Jérôme Deschamps', is much closer to what I know from England. François is... well, very good. And the film is lovely.
Lesson no.3: Liftoff
It starts to work out. In 95, Kristin is presented at Cannes for two films, Le Confessional by Robert Lepage ("He's a real genius"), and Angels and Insects by Philip Haas -- "The casting director told me that I could chose whichever role I liked best. Since Four Weddings... I've rather got that image of the haughty girl, untouchable, and the character that pleased me was this frustrated intellectual, feminist, socialist, the opposite of all that." The same year she was in the cinema adaptation of Richard III by Ian McKellen: "I like that film very much, but not at all my part in it." Then she takes on the Mission: Impossible of Brian De Palma: "Wonderful experience... For me, a shooter! For me, a special wrist watch! For me, a spy! For me, an action movie! I love all that... And then I've wanted to work with De Palma for a long time. Though the next time I'll try not to die after the first ten minutes!"
At which point did you start to realise that you were sought after by casting directors?
After Four Weddings... But I've never had much contact with those people. Since I don't live over there, it's a bit hard ("To call France you have to dial a fancy number... And then you can't just meet up that afternoon... You have to organise everything... You have to be careful because it's going to cost a lot...," etc.) When someone really wants me, they come looking for me, and vice versa . I think it's pretty shrewd, conducting your career at a distance. If it works. But it is the distance that makes it work. It fascinates, [but] there's a bigger risk.
What's happening now is that I have another area of choice. I'd like to make a Hollywood movie, but it's very difficult to find something that would justify my being away from home for three months. Also, as I said to you before, I mustn't betray myself. And that's not easy. It's also the case that nowadays things are accessible that used to be inaccessible. I find myself in projects alongside names that I've only dreamt about. It's very strange...
Which are the names that impress you?
Plenty. Dustin Hoffman for instance. Or Robert Redford. I went to see him a year ago, and that really impressed me. But I think I was mostly impressed with myself: to be able to go to the airport, buy a ticket for Los Angeles, leave Saturday morning, come back Sunday evening, just to have a meeting with someone! I've also met Paul Newman, and that did impress me! He came onto the set of Mission: Impossible because he was shooting nearby and he's a great mate of Tom Cruise. I shook his hand, and I was like that [trembles] ! Really idiotic. Yep, I'm very impressionable... There you are, I'm really impressed right now!
Now!?
Yeah. Sting just walked right behind you! [And yes, in a black coat, his wife on his arm, Sting walks around our table...]
Lesson no.4: Fulfilment
Did you read The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje?
Yes, in Roumania, and it was a revelation. It's an extremely disturbing and affecting book. I read it three times: I came to the end, and I couldn't bear not to have it any more each evening, so I started again. Back in Paris, I phoned Duncan Kenworthy, who produced Four Weddings and a Funeral , and I told him I'd read an absolutely wonderful book that he absolutely must buy. He replied: "But it's already happening, dearie", and he let me know that it was a friend of his, Anthony Minguella, who was going to make the film. I said to myself: "Great, a little British production, maybe there'll be a part for me...," even though I couldn't quite see what role was there that I could play... In the book, Katharine Clifton [played by Kristin] is a very remote character, a bit like a dream... The main role is Hana [played by Juliette Binoche] , and I didn't feel at all capable of playing a nineteen year old Canadian nurse! When I read the screenplay, I saw that Anthony had rather turned things around and put Katharine at the centre of the film, as if he'd brought her out of the shadows. She had become a tremendous character for me -- tremendous, and for me! The idea that anyone else might do it seemed unbearable to me. It was the first time I'd ever felt that to such a degree.
I got some information about the film, and I discovered that it wasn't a small British film, but a huge budget American one. Well, huge American budget means huge American stars, the likes of Demi Moore, Uma Thurman... Or, if they insist on having an English woman, Emma [Thompson] or Miranda Richardson... So, Kristin Scott Thomas...? But I insisted. Loudly, I would even say. I wrote to Anthony in order to meet him, and I did meet him. During the lunch I was completely hopeless. Sometimes, when you badly want something, you do exactly the opposite of what you should! I wrote to him again to say that I'd been useless and that he mustn't judge me on the basis of that... I asked him for an audition, and he gave it to me. There, something happened between Anthony, Ralph and me. We read through every scene in the screenplay in one afternoon, and there was something magical... The three of us came out of there all smiles... It's so great when you manage to journey in an office with just two plastic chairs and a sheet of paper in front of you... I know that Anthony saw many other girls; but he could never escape from what was felt between us that day, and he gave me the part.
The studio didn't want to, but the producer Saul Zaentz and Anthony insisted on keeping me. Then one month into shooting, the studio pulled out! For two weeks, there was no more film, nothing at all. I was terribly upset: I knew I had the part, but I didn't have a contract! I'd gone to the countryside for the summer, and one day I got a phone call from the director of production who told me that my plane was on such and such a day at such and such a time. I asked her: "You're really certain... I'm going?" In fact Miramax had taken over the production at the last minute. And so it's thanks to the courage of the Weinstein brothers that the film has seen the light of day with me in it. When I arrived on the set, I felt a dreadful responsibility... I had to be good in this film. What would happen if I failed? Where did I get this certainty that this part was for me? Did I in the end want the part simply out of vanity, just so that no-one else would have it? But bit-by-bit I gained in confidence, and by the end of several weeks, it was a joy....
How many times have you seen the film?
Five or six times.
Did you cry every time?
Yes. The moment that moved me most each time is right at the end, when Juliette leaves the monastery and gets into a truck. There's a little girl in the truck who looks at her, and Juliette smiles at her. The truck leaves, the trees rush by, faster and faster, and at the end of the lane, there is the sun. That, that's something that... There's innocence gazing on experience, and experience smiling back...
Do the Oscars mean something for you?
Yes, I'm very silly about those things. I honestly think that an Oscar isn't possible, except perhaps for Juliette. For a "leading actress" role there has to be substance to it. The performances in this film are too, what would you say, not restrained, but dry...
For an Oscar it's better to play a mentally retarded alcoholic who shoots up?
Yes, I reckon. I would actually like to do that one day. All at once! What I particularly like in this film is that there isn't one aspect that is more impressive than any other. It's a blend. And that's why I think it's a great film. In its writing, its structure, its lighting, its directing of the actors... Am I saying nothing here?
No, no. Are there parts that you've regretted not getting?
Oh, I would've like to play any role of Emma Thompson's! And any of Miranda Richardson's! But I've never had to regret losing a role. Ah yes. I tell a lie... In Love, etc. I would very much like to have played that role. I would have done, but Marion [Vernoux] had a change of mind.
Who would you prefer to lose against at the Oscars: Frances McDormand, Madonna, Emily Watson or Brenda Blethyn [list made up before the nominations]?
By elimination, I'd say Frances McDormand, but I haven't seen Fargo . Otherwise, I would not like to lose against Madonna. Not because of her, but because I don't like Evita one bit. I haven't seen the film, but it's enough to hear the music for me to come out in spots! Breaking the Waves I find very psychoanalytic, and although I'm all for psychoanalysis, I prefer that to be tackled in a play... Secrets and Lies is a film that really shook me. Also, my favourite actor in the world, I think, is Timothy Spall, who plays the brother. Why wasn't he nominated? And Ian McKellen for Richard III ...
You never know. But it's true that I would like it. At the Golden Globes, for example, it was a scream. It started off very badly: Juliette didn't get hers... As the evening went on, we won less and less, and our table became sadder and sadder. Well, I generally clown around when people are sad, I play the fool, and I make myself ridiculous. By the end of the evening I was exhausted! Even when it came to the "best actress" section, I was so into my thing of amusing everybody that I didn't register that I was on... I'd forgotten... I heard Brenda Blethyn's name, and I jumped up and shouted out: "Yeah! Yeah! Brenda Blethyn!" Then I sat down again as I realised: "Aha... Brenda Blethyn..."
What is the latest compliment you've been paid?
As I'm in my silly mode, Lauren Bacall comes to mind. It was actually at the Golden Globes where she saw me, and she pointed a finger and said: "You are fabulous!" I was idiotically, stupidly pleased.
Lesson no.5: Joys of home
Can we finish with a few silly questions?
Yes, go ahead, I love that!
Between you and Jane Birkin, who is "the most French English actress"?
No, that's an impossible one! I think she is. In fact, I don't know her. I met her twice over an unbelievable incident... She wanted me to bring her a parrot back from New York! She seemed to me to be very funny and very nice... I think she's more "French" than me because she has that Saint- Germain aspect that you don't find any more.
Have you noticed that in all the articles about you, journalists are always very interested in how you're dressed?
I must say that I do make an effort for interviews. By nature I'm very lazy, and I dress the way I should no longer dress at the age of 36! Scruffy jeans, or army trousers... So, I've made an effort for you, sure. Sometimes I even get told off by my children: "Mum, now don't wear that! "
Have you yet visited any of the numerous Internet sites dedicated to you?
No... In our house, like most average French people, we don't "surf"!
What do you have in the Yonne that you don't have in Hollywood?
Oh, I don't know, I love that region. The people there are the kindest you could possibly imagine. It reminds me of my childhood... The house is always open, the children run here and there, to neighbours, in the fields... Everyone mingles... And then, it's calm.
Ah yes, the Yonne, it is calm...
The nearest town is 12 kilometres away! And you can't even have a mobile phone because it wont work! Whenever I can, I rush down there.
That's because you're the only star in the area...
Not at all! Leslie Caron is at Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. She has a restaurant called La Lucarne aux Chouettes.
It's the new Luberon then [trendy region]!
No. The weather's too bad... And there are too many tractors!
