Lea Seydoux covers the June issue of Elle UK. I’m a little bit surprised to see a French actress on the cover of a British magazine, but of course Lea is well-known around the world for her role in Blue Is the Warmest Color and the James Bond film Spectre. I saw Spectre in the theater, and let me tell you… I was not impressed with Lea. Granted, the script gave her next to nothing to do other than whine and throw tantrums. It was a poorly drawn character, absolutely, but she just didn’t have any pizazz on screen as a Bond Girl. Ugh. Anyway, Lea spoke to Elle about how she felt as a Parisian in the wake of the Paris Terrorist Attacks, how she views sexism in her industry and more. Some highlights:
On the Paris Attacks: ‘We were a few metres from where it happened. It was very strange…I stayed in my house for a week and I didn’t go out. I was obsessed by the news… I was just very sad. And it was like a big giant depression all over Paris and everybody was talking about this, obsessed with it. And for me, I mean, I don’t think I’m scared of terrorism. I don’t want to lose my freedom because of that. I want to still live like normal. But even me, I was paranoid for a few weeks.’
On sexism in film: ‘It’s a misogynistic world. It’s because of what we ask of actresses. We ask them to be sensitive, fragile, desirable. And men? We ask them to be strong and virile. But you can turn this into a strength. Because when I decide to do nudity, it’s something that I decide. I feel that I have the choice. I’m fine with it. I think it becomes a problem when you feel the victim, when you victimise yourself. I’m never the victim.’
On having depression: ‘It was terrible. I was extremely melancholic… For me the world was terrible. I wasn’t happy. You know, it’s almost maybe chemical. I was starting to work [as an actress] but I wasn’t famous. And for some people, it’s exciting. But for me… on a personal level, I was suffering. I think it was [coming to terms with] the end of my teenage years.’
On her sexuality: ‘I think [that] even if you’re not gay, you can have an attraction at a moment for a woman. And [on Blue Is The Warmest Colour] I think I had the possibility to experience this, you know? I’ve never had any relationship with women [but] sometimes cinema gives you the possibility to experience things. So it was like a way to experience that drive, that attraction for women.’
On being a Bond Girl: ‘I really loved everything. You know, for a little French actress to be on this huge film, it’s exciting. I mean, it’s James Bond, you know? It’s entertainment. And we French are not used to entertainment.’
I understand what she’s saying about the Paris Attacks, and how intellectually you can say “I don’t want the bad guys to affect the way I live my life,” but you still end up sitting on the couch and crying for hours as you watch cable news. I don’t really understand what she’s saying about women victimizing themselves in the industry though – she’s making it all about women making their own choices, which is fine, but sexism in the industry goes a lot further than whether or not an actress decides to do nudity and very rarely is it a case of a woman choosing to “victimize herself.”
Photos courtesy of Elle UK.
I use to like her a lot until I saw that interview where she called Woody Allen her hero, then I was out.
Eeeuuw. I’ve lost respect for a lot of actors and actresses for continuing to work with Woody Allen. Cate Blanchett, that’s you! I loved him before the step /incestuous pedophilia.
Oh nooooo, I really liked her 🙁
I read some where that her family owns the movie industry in france? Shes like royalty of cinema and thats why she gets so many roles. And that her family is known everywhere.
She is talented and magnetic though, so it’s not a waste.
She’s a snooze. Adèle Exarchopoulos was everything in “Blue is the warmest colour”.
I loved her in ‘Blue’, she’s magnetic and her chemistry with Adèle is amazing.
She’s related to some major names in the oil business, not movies. A lot like Rooney Mara, except she’s not a privilege-denying precious sourpuss, as far as I know.
The first thing I ever saw her in was a Levi’s ad, and I could totally see she had ‘IT’ even in that minute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARhMqxRr1uE
@teacakes : Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux owns Gaumont Pathé, the biggest french production company. His two brothers are also working in the film industry.
I read interviews where she explained that her career had absolutely nothing to do with her name and that it was unfair to ask her about her family.
Yes, she’s talented but that’s not the only reason she has a great career.
You can see her father interviewed in “Jodorowsky’s Dune” (might still be on Netflix). It’s a fantastic documentary about Jodorowsky’s take on the Dune novel (preceding the version that ended up getting filmed by someone else), with Michel Seydoux producing.
In the end, the project only produced a massive shot-by-shot storyboard, which was published in a handful of copies distributed to the major studios and which is considered to have had a huge influence on iconic ideas and shots in subsequent sci-fi films, including Star Wars.
I didn’t like her in Spectre either. I mean, Daniel Craig is my fantasy lover and when he, er, well James, left with her?!?!?!!?!? Ugh. Extra heartbroken.
As a french who saw her in english and in her own language, I have to say she’s better in french a bit like Marion Cotillard althought Marion has a better english.
She’s closely related to the leaders of the Pathé Gaumont group (the oldest french theaters group/chain). Theu olso produce movies, but I don’t know if they produced any of her films. She may not have asked for help from her familly, but her name alone was enough. She didn’t need to ask anything.
I migh be biased because I don’t like her, She has no talent and I find her very unpleasant.
“I don’t really understand what she’s saying about women victimizing themselves in the industry though – she’s making it all about women making their own choices, which is fine, but sexism in the industry goes a lot further than whether or not an actress decides to do nudity and very rarely is it a case of a woman choosing to “victimize herself.””
I think she’s simply saying that when you make the choice to be nude, you’re hopefully doing it because you yourself are okay with it, not because the male dominated system has psychologically coerced you into going nude. It’s basically the same argument other people make in the Kim Kardashian threads or any post that has to do with body shaming, so I didn’t find her train of thought hard to understand.
I have no idea who this lady is, but because of her cheekbones I thought she was a model. She has the type of angular face (at least in these photos) that the social media models seem to lack. Not sure if she looks like this all the time though since I didn’t know who she was until now.
Love her. Loved her in Bond and would happily steal her Spectre warderobe. She hooked me in Inglorious Bastards and Midnight in Paris. I just enjoy her outlook.
I was the opposite. I was unfazed by the attacks. I didn’t see the point of staying in. I couldn’t understand people who were scared afterwards. Maybe it’s because I’m American, I don’t know but, Charlie Hebdo too, I just got on with life. Even now I terribly oblivious to everything.
That said I always find it funny when French actresses cross over. French cinema seems like it’s own little world.