The beauty of Louis Garrel is scientifically proven every time he comes up in conversation, ever since he was part of The Dreamers by Bertolucci more than twenty years ago. His could be considered a cheeky beauty, one that activates the silent envy of the rest of masculinity, less fortunate. What not everyone knows is that, in addition, he is very nice. This chronicler’s name is howled as soon as he enters the door of the María Cristina hotel room in San Sebastián, where we have arranged to take some photos on the day of the premiere of Couture, the film set during Paris Fashion Week starring alongside Angelina Jolie.
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The son of filmmakers Philippe Garrel and Brigitte Sy is in an exuberant mood. The breakup with Laetitia Casta, with whom he shared the last decade and with whom he became the father of little Azel, is still recent, but Garrel carries it with a smile. A smile and a thick chain, which he asks us to show during the photo session. Someone gave it to him to always wear; he doesn’t know with what intention… he adds, even more smiling. The eternal seducer, now in his forties, doesn’t let anything slip, and neither do we push him. Although the paparazzi will end up doing their job, catching him on several occasions with Anja Rubik, a model who could have walked, along with Anyier Anei, on the Couture runway, which premieres on May 8.
Being so handsome is an advantage, that’s clear. But does it have any drawbacks?
I couldn’t tell you… (laughs).
Why did you say earlier that you don’t know how to pose? You do it very well. On top of that, modest.
I don’t say it out of false humility. Lately, I’ve seen many models posing. They are so sensual and beautiful… There’s a whole science in how to position the body, look at the camera… Posing is an art, a choreography, a body language, and I don’t know how to combine all that. But yes, the session went very well. I immediately saw that the photographer was very good. He reminded me of Peter Lindbergh, the best of all I’ve worked with. He was very fast: he shot the photos in ten minutes. I changed clothes at full speed, and he took photos of me half-dressed. An incredible session. He has other great ones with Penélope Cruz or Uma Thurman.
Someone well dressed is not only worthy of admiration but also has their ethics”
When did you start getting interested in the world of fashion?
At first, I was a bit snobbish and didn’t give it much importance. I saw it as something superficial. When I started making films with my father, I wasn’t badly dressed, but always classic and basic. Then Armani started inviting me to his shows in Milan. I remember the first one very well, something very theatrical. I arrived at the hotel, got into the elevator, and there I found a very impressive woman looking at me. After a few floors, I said to myself: “But that’s Sophia Loren!”.
I remember that, as a child, it overwhelmed me that such a beautiful woman existed.
I also fell in love in that elevator. After the show, we ended up at Armani’s apartment. I went to greet him, and there were Sophia Loren, Dennis Hopper… All the splendid women, in colorful dresses, on those gray armchairs. I told myself that the fashion world wasn’t bad at all, that it could give incredible images. From then on, I started dressing a little better. I really liked the Armani style of the eighties and nineties, with those great pants.
Playing Jacques de Bascher in the biopic Saint Laurent must have been a turning point.
Of course, that’s when I became a true fashion victim, even a fashion admirer. Now I work with Dior and go a lot to Jonathan Anderson’s shows. He is very innovative, but at the same time, you feel comfortable with his clothes. Fashion designers are very important because, in the end, they influence how everyone dresses. Someone well dressed is not only worthy of admiration but also has their ethics. Now I pay a lot of attention to how I dress because many girls I talk to pay close attention to the signals men send through their clothes.
Don’t tell me.
Yes, already at twelve or thirteen years old, a girl told me that the first thing she looked at in a man was his shoes because they say a lot about a person.
In Couture you have a nude scene with Angelina Jolie the night before your character undergoes surgery for breast cancer. How did you approach it?
I immediately understood that, although it is not an autobiographical film, it deals with something she knew very closely and something only women can know: the relationship between breast cancer and sexuality. When we talked about how to tell that fear women suffer, we immediately decided that the sexual scenes had to be very intense and that even, strangely, the mortal threat had to be part of the sexual excitement. It was very good to do that with her because Angelina is a very unconventional woman. Beyond that preventive mastectomy, the many children she has adopted, or her multiple political commitments, there is a punk in her that can awaken at any moment.
I imagine there was an intimacy coordinator.
Yes, a coordinator, although Angelina and I quickly agreed on what we were going to do and what not. It was more so the team felt comfortable on set with our nudity or, if they preferred, that we kept the sex covered. It was good because it was approached from a very technical point of view. Often, jokes are tried to relax the atmosphere, and that’s what generates more tension.
You are already an expert. I think the first time I saw you was in The Dreamers…
The first time he saw me, he already saw me naked! You could say I am a skilled worker in intimate scenes. I have shot a lot. Then I did My Mother with Isabelle Huppert, which had many sexual scenes… I’ve done so many that I’m starting to know what can be more or less interesting in a sex scene.
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It’s known that they are very choreographed, but have they ever caused jealousy in your partners?
No, there has never been anything like that. Although I agree with Truffaut, who was very modest and said the camera had to withdraw at those moments. As a viewer, they can seem erotic when I feel there is chemistry between the actors. Then you are like a voyeur looking through the keyhole. But usually, I immediately realize it’s something mechanical and professional, as if they did it especially for me, and that makes me uncomfortable.
Many girls I talk to pay close attention to the signals men send through their clothes”
Another lesser-known skill is that you sing very well. Haven’t you thought about pursuing that?
No, I find the idea of the actor who sings a bit ridiculous. You have to be Yves Montand or Serge Reggiani. But at the same time, I still record things from time to time. With Woodkid, I recorded L’aérogramme de Los Angeles, a version of Yves Simon, and with Clara Luciani another by Maurane, Sur un prélude de Bach. I really like French song, and Italian, like Riccardo Cocciante. I like the popular.
You have also evolved from auteur cinema to a more popular one
Yes, lately I’ve done things like The Three Musketeers, which could be shown in the town square. As a viewer, maybe it’s not my thing. But as an actor, it’s more fun because they are more character roles, more theatrical, which force you to get out of yourself, unlike auteur cinema, where everything is more contained and naturalistic.
That’s why the films you have directed are very theatrical, right?
Yes, I hope so. Theater was my first passion. My mother did a lot. My grandfather too. At eleven, I went to see him in a play playing Sigmund Freud, and that made me decide to enroll in the Conservatory.
And you started making films with your parents at five years old. Do you keep any memory of that film?
I watch it again from time to time with my mother. There is a scene where my mother dries my hair. I thought it was a moment of family intimacy. I couldn’t distinguish reality from fiction. Strangely, what I remember most are the cold hands of the sound engineer putting a small microphone between my clothes. Those cold hands…
Would you like your children to follow the family artistic tradition?
I would like my son to be a lawyer, or better, an architect, and I would love Oumy to be a diplomat. Although she has already appeared in several films, she is not passionate about it, and that makes me happy because she is a thinker.
My favourite things
A book to carry in the suitcase: I am reading Spiritual Energy, by Henri Bergson, which fascinates me. It distinguishes, for example, pleasure from joy. It says that joy can only come from creation.
A photographer: William Eggleston, a North American classic. Recently I was in Turin, and in the hotel there was a photo of Philip Glass by Robert Mapplethorpe that impressed me a lot.
A fetish object: My electronic cigarette. I quit smoking tobacco six years ago, and since then I always carry it with me. I try to do like Catherine Deneuve, who says they let her smoke anywhere because she is Catherine Deneuve, but they always tell me to turn it off…
A song I listen to on loop: Now I listen a lot to Alesis, by Mk.gee (he looks it up on the phone and plays it for us, while moving his head to the rhythm): he is a 25-year-old guy, I like all his songs. I went to see him in Paris, at Elysée Montmartre. He doesn’t like to show his face, and he put a projector so only his shadow was seen. It was incredible.
Photographer: Andrés Garcia Luján. Styling: Florene Reveillaud and Isabel Ottino. ‘Grooming’: Yos Baute for Dior Beauty. Production: EmmaMonreal. Thanks: Hotel María Cristina, San Sebastian
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