What was your reaction on reading the script?
It was like reading music. Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri’s filmmaking is extremely delicate and precise in terms of tempo, mood changes and sensations. Everything is told in terms of mood, at times deeply sad and at times melancholic. Their dialogues are like the blues followed by a ballad and then swing. In the lines, there’s not one comma out of place. It’s wonderful. All that’s left is having fun.

How did the shoot go?
When Agnès is concentrating on her acting, there’s always Jean-Pierre who is looking on, watching and listening. I love their partnership; I find it delicate and funny. Agnès manages the technical side of the film, the camera, the sets, the lights and the costumes. Jean-Pierre is very present on the shoot and very involved in directing the actors.

What did you think about your character?
Early on, I thought my character could have been an architect, but Agnès told me she thought he was a journalist. It was funny she should say that because I’d just got back from Rwanda where I’d been playing a journalist in OPERATION TURQUOISE by Alain Tasma. I’d just got off the plane. I hadn’t even had the time to go home, and was still dressed for the bush. And Agnès asked me to bring those travel clothes for the film. I decided that given Agathe is a politician and he’s a foreign correspondent, they’d always be really happy to see one another, but that there would always be a part of their relationship that would be up in the air. Imagining that Antoine had come back from Rwanda also helped. It gave me a kind of gravity and philosophy: he’s at a point in his life where he’s thinking he’s only got one life and it’s important he doesn’t miss the boat on their relationship.
I felt very close to my character; to his willingness to simplify his life and get down to what is essential. He loves this woman. He’s not going looking for anything else. When he says that it’s better not to see each other again, that’s not a calculation but a way of indicating to her that his love is sincere and committed. He’s over 45, he’s thinking about having kids and thinking seriously about having them with her. He hopes to, in any case. Agathe’s complicated timetable at that point in the film is nothing but a micro-accident; nothing serious in terms of what he’s known in Rwanda. That’s what I told myself anyway.

What was your reaction on seeing the film?
Whether the movement of the film was fast or slow, there’s always a tension: the tension of life. I didn’t necessarily feel it when I read the script but it struck me on seeing the movie. For the entire screening, I had a physical sensation that everything was going to explode all the time. Explode with love, with anger or malaise... It’s pretty amazing to be able to create that. And at the end, when the film comes to a conclusion, you get a sense of what life could be like when you shrug off pointless anxieties. Once more, it’s a musical metaphor that comes to mind: their cinema is like a jazz riff – it speaks to you of an era, of an air du temps with accuracy and humor.