Interview with Celine Sallette [Julie] on Les Revenants

Claire Varin: How did you come to this project?
Celine Sallette:
I have not done casting, they called me. Haut et Court had distributed House of Tolerance (film for which she received a César nomination for "Best Actress", ed),
so there was a familiarity. And I immediately agreed.The idea of playing in a TV series...you were not afraid?
It is better to make a good TV series than a bad film (laughs). For an actor, a role is a proposed journey. That journey is exciting because we rarely get to play it. The story of Les Revenants is impossible, it helps develop the imagination. It's bound to appeal to children. The extraordinary events covered in the series are great to play. The best roles are rare. And we do not often ask an actress to dress as Catwoman.This character was already written before you accepted the role?
We worked with Fabrice Gobert, but, anyway, the series is great because it's him. This is not complicated: the result of a project, it is thanks to the work of a director. I brought my little stone to the building because they gave me the opportunity. Fabrice was very open to listening to what I could offer to the character. On a shoot, what an actor needs is to be able to jump ... off, sometimes. If it is very difficult to play then it is sometimes required to be a plant. We need a good director to guide us.Who is Julie, your character?
Julie was attacked by a man after coming out of a bar dressed as Catwoman. Seven years later, we find her, but she has still not recovered. We worked on this character as traumatized, undead. She dresses like a man because it protects her from the world and others. She is afraid. This little boy who enters her life will awaken her. Their story is like a blank page being written. Fabrizio had reference to John Cassavetes' film Gloria, this woman who finds herself with a kid and does not know what to do.
At the same time, she looks at horror films ...
There is a complacency in victim status. There are plenty of people who are locked up and are afraid to live. Emotional deprivation exists and it's great to be trafficking in it in this series. This is a great opportunity for an actress, to play it.Yet she treats others ...
She is a home nurse. It's only ten patients, it does not take much risk.What can you say about the evolution of her relationship with her ex-girlfriend, Laura, played by Alix Poisson?
They will find themselves ... a little. But you have to watch the whole season to know (laughs).
You accept to turn in a season 2?
For me, it was an eight-hour film. We had a lot of luck doing it. It was a beautiful shoot. If there is reason to do another eight-hour film, so much the better. But it must be really good ...What are your plans?
I'll make a film...with Corinne Masiero. It is a love story. Then I'm going to play Molly Bloom in theater, directed by Laurent Laffargue. It's the end of the book Ulysses by James Joyce. The theater is important to me, this is where I come from.