Double Lover ’s Marine Vacth on Her Provocative New Thriller, Our #MeToo Moment, And Starring in the Most French Film of the Year
Those who know French director François Ozon from his earlier work, including Young and Beautiful and Swimming Pool, won’t be surprised that his latest film, Double Lover (opening today), manages to be at once a complex psychological thriller and an erotic tour de force. Nor will they be surprised to see Marine Vacth—who was both memorable and memorably unclothed throughout much of Young and Beautiful and earned a César nomination for her work—in the lead role again.
Vacth, 26, who grew up just outside of Paris and first found success as a model—that’s her in Chanel’s most recent Cruise campaign—plays Chloé, an ex-model with a mysterious ailment who falls hard for her sweet-tempered psychotherapist and then for her psychotherapist’s sadistic twin brother (did we say that the film is French?). Along with the relentless psychosexual drama, Ozon infuses the film with inventive, terrifying, and occasionally transcendent camera work that recalls some Gallic admixture of Hitchcock and Michael Haneke. We sat down with Vacth—wearing a subdued gray Chanel cashmere sailor cape and a gray Chanel skirt—to talk about working with Ozon, our current #MeToo moment, and the pleasures of motherhood.
I understand that you’re a master of judo?
[Laughs] Today, I can do nothing! But when I was young, my little brother started judo, and when I was about 9 I said, Okay, why not? I liked it, and did it for years. I had a brown belt—one step shy of a black belt—and won a few competitions, but eventually I didn’t like it much, and I stopped.
Why?
Eh. . . I stopped.
And how did you become a model?
I was in an H&M store in Paris, close to the Opéra Garnier, to escape the rain with my mother, and a scout approached me. I was curious and just thought, Why not?
A couple of years ago you said something intriguing about being a model. You said, “I decided to take what I could take from it, leave what I didn’t like, and not get too caught up in what was finally pointless.”
I’ve had great experiences—to travel, to be independent, to meet great people. But it’s not my ambition. It just happened.
I’m guessing you’ve heard about this sort of great reckoning that’s been happening here in the U.S., as the film industry and the fashion industry have been confronting abuse and harassment and many women—models, actresses, and others—have been coming forth and speaking out about—
I didn’t have those kinds of experiences, if that’s the question.
That wasn’t exactly the question, but I’m happy to hear that. But is this an atmosphere you’ve heard of or felt, or is there a cultural difference between Americans and the French on issues like this?
I’ve heard about it, and I think it’s the same in France. French people also spoke up. I think that’s a good thing—it’s wonderful that women are speaking up now who were never able to speak up before.
This is your second time working with François Ozon. Is there something about working with him that just clicks, or is this more of a coincidence?
I don’t know—he and I just matched. At the time of Young and Beautiful, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do—I was just trying things. I was curious. But what I loved was that we didn’t have to talk too much to understand each other. I love the way François works—he frames his own films, and he works fast, so we don’t have time to think; we just work. His sets are very light and joyful. With Double Lover, it was the same, but better. I love working with him.
You play an ex-model in Double Lover. Is there anything about your time as a model that informed that role?
No.
Both roles are very alluring, very provocative.
How do you spell? [Spells it out] Allure, alluring.
Some would say the characters you play are sexy, or edgy. . . in Young and Beautiful, for instance, you play a teenage prostitute.
She’s not a prostitute. She toys with that experience.
Understood. And there are parts of Double Lover that could be characterized as an abusive sexual relationship. Are you drawn to roles like this? Is there something about taking them on that you’re using as a challenge to yourself, or to prove a point?
I don’t want to prove anything. It came to me. I don’t desire those kind of characters, but those characters went with François Ozon. But after meeting him and establishing the trust that we have in each other—maybe more from me than from him [laughs]—I decided. Especially for the second one I wanted to do it, because it allows me to do things I didn’t do before, to go further.
What kind of conversation did you and François have about what you’d be doing?
For Young and Beautiful I did an audition, and then we had lunch. When I read the script, I saw that it balanced on a thin line, but I thought that it could work. And of course I saw then about the nude scenes—and eventually François tells everything to his actors; it’s part about creating a trusting relationship. What I loved is that he wanted to follow this young girl without judging. I don’t like to say “connection,” but we had something. I trusted him, and I loved his work.
Is it tricky to do these kinds of roles and then switch gears and come home to your son and be a mom?
When I work, I have my costume, and when I’m done, I take it off. I don’t go home with my character. So it’s good—I love to see my son at the end of the day. He’s 4 now, and he’s seen me on the TV once or twice doing interviews—and while I don’t know what he thinks, it doesn’t seem to be weird to him. And it’s not weird for me either. [Laughs]
