Publishing my short film “Sunday”… this Sunday

Hello dear readers, I hope you had a wonderful month of February. It was a busy one, right?

First, there was the Oscars. Parasite! My opinion is that the Academy didn’t want to reward a period piece this time. So the foreign film won! This is surprising, refreshing, and a shift in the industry. Also this shows what I believe: we want to see more stories about today.

Then, I acted in a short film called The Truth (made by passionate and professional students from Hertfordshire University). The film is currently being edited and I am grateful and proud to be part of it. If the script comes to life as I imagine it, it’s going to be tense and gloomy – a true dystopian piece. My character is a woman living in a squat and hoping for a better life that can only be given to her by creepy bureaucrats.

I also got pictures taken in Greenwich Park with photographer Anna Rakhvalova. The photos will be ready in a few days, and I can’t wait to share them.

I was back on stage for three days at the Hen and Chickens for One From the Heart, revisiting a role I had played a few months before. I got to love my moody and frustrated character Beatrice even more.

Finally, Un Dimanche! My French short film will be published on YouTube this Sunday. I do want to celebrate this, as it was a true passion project and I am super flattered that so many people stepped in to shoot it. Stay tuned this Sunday on my social media. If you can’t wait that long, you can see one scene on my French showreel on Spotlight.

Until then, here is a still.

Toodloo!

Comments on last show and published film

Performance

Following the other week’s cabaret event “Don’t Judge Me By My Accent”, I wanted to go back to the process of preparing my part of the show, and what I discovered on the night.

In May, Beatrice Mori, a talented actress, singer and producer, asked me if I wanted to perform a monologue at her event. She first mentioned a German accent, which I don’t quite feel comfortable in at the moment. After growing up in France, I feel that my oral muscles are able to speak naturally in English with a French accent, so I suggested that instead. I then started looking for French actresses who also act in English for inspiration and a script. Cotillard came to mind, as well as Gainsbourg, but I chose Julie Delpy and remembered the final voiceover in her film “2 Days in Paris” where she describes her relationships with men and deep love for her boyfriend Jack.

I had a month to prepare, so I took my time to learn the speech inside and out, but until the day of the show, I didn’t really know how I would interpret it. It’s funny, sad, provocative. There were things I could relate to, but others I couldn’t. Moreover, presenting a monologue out of context on a cabaret night is not like an audition, it needs to entertain the audience and tell a story from start to finish, right? I broke the text down multiple times, going through the intentions, thought changes and the overall arc. Beatrice told me that she once felt completely lost just hours before performing a piece, and this reminded me that sometimes things need time to click.

And that’s what happened. I arrived at the venue early, where a few of the performers had the chance to rehearse in front of each other. I walked on stage, started talking, and then realised where the speech was going. I found the humour, the rhythm, and noticed that even though the piece is not that funny, I brought my own humour to it. It was the first time I was speaking this text in a big room, and it made all the difference.

The atmosphere and the audience that evening were magical, and we all had a great time, it felt like a collaboration although we had all more or less just met that afternoon. During the show, Beatrice spoke about the origins of this show that embraces all accents and encourages us to be ourselves, to use what makes us unique instead of trying to fit into a box.

You hear this a lot: embrace what makes you unique, don’t try to fit in but communicate in your own voice. After close to a decade away from France, my French is shifting, so is my English, which I’ve inherited from my American mother – not to mention my German which is underused at the moment. But that’s who I am! To quote my friend Margot, I’m a “Euro-merican”, and the movies and plays that move me are those that have characters who don’t just identify as being from one culture. Inside ourselves, we are a rainbow (quoting Maya Rudolph here), and if we work hard enough and keep pushing, I believe the industry will become interested in that rainbow.

Film

On another note, an exciting and dark short thriller/horror shot in 2016 called “Echoes of the Passed” is out on YouTube! This was my third short film with filmmaker Scott Lyus. I loved the experience of acting in this, as I feel I made friends, got to have fun with my three co-stars, and had my first experience with night shoots. Working with Scott is a true pleasure and on this film, it was a real collaboration.

Dear Mum: in the can

Every filmmaking experience is unique. It depends on the people you are working with, the chemistry between them, and the story that is being told. Working with my friend Donovan Swart over the last six months to prepare for Dear Mum has been a wonderful creative experience. What I felt I brought to the table was my experience on multiple short film sets as an actress, and also producer on Der Gugelhupf earlier this year. What he brought was this tremendous short story of grief, family and human connection. As we quickly noticed, the characters that he wrote were so full of life that what happens after or before the events of this short film could go in many directions. Donovan’s love for films, books and storytelling as well as excellent people skills were the fuel supporting our experience.

Acting wise, this has probably been my most challenging role due to the emotion it required. However, by being a producer, I feel like I’d been living with my character Katie for months. This helped me take my time to research her life, make personal decisions and, once the other actors were cast, develop her relationships. Once we got on set, I think the culmination of it all was a big help. In fact, a few days before we started, I was really itching to GO!

I had the majority of my scenes with Daniel Barry, a generous and very friendly actor who I got to know a bit before shooting. He played my husband George, and it was great to have him as a partner. My daughter was played by Lucy Allwood, who had been perfect in the audition already, and I wish I had had more than one scene with her! It was great to act alongside people of different ages on this project. My father was played with so much focus and generosity by CJ Barton. Without lines, he still stole the show in my opinion. My mother Fiona was played by Chrissie Grech, who I acted in flashback scenes with. I became attached to her and it was fun imagining some of our past together.

During the five-day shoot (four in a house in South West London and one in Botany Bay), I often had to pinch myself that people were working tirelessly for this one story. We had a great crew, starting with the brilliant director of photography Ariel Artur, who brought along his great camera team Steven Fairman, Felix Dembinski and Clare Brittain. Our assistant director Andrea Ratti is out of this world, so organised, sweet and strict when needed. The skill of developing a stripboard is a mystery to me. Andrea was assisted by the lovely Rama Amkie. Our sound technician was Lee Viesnik, and our make up artist Joan Karimi, who I was happy to have interesting conversations with, especially on our last day. Continuity was handled by Valentina Marciano (also a runner), Hannah Rogers and Sandra Tomalka. I had not realised early enough during pre-production how important this role was, which is why we couldn’t find one same person for all days. Better next time! Our super duper runners were: Orhan Toprakci (also producer), Cat Scambler (also executive producer), Liam Bland (also acting as the barman and assisting Donovan on script work), Marina Lacoste and Valentina, mentioned above. On set photography was handled by Luisina Fascendini and Ivan Troopa.

What I care about as producer is that: nothing broke and no one died! Seriously, I feel that that’s the job of the producer: make sure everyone shows up and stays healthy, and that things get done. A film team is a house of cards. Take one away, and it all falls apart. I am so pleased that I could play this role in Donovan’s first film. As a director, he was a great leader and this is definitely only the beginning for him.

Post production has now started, and I will be keeping you updated on edits and more photos. In the meantime, I’m now in rehearsals for an immersive show called The Curious Voyage, so I’m out of here! Toodloo.

It's September!

Temperatures have cooled, international film festivals are in full swing, and we are approaching our shoot for DEAR MUM. With the help of the wonderful producing team Don, Cat, Orhan and Andrea, I feel we are on the right track. Our 2nd AC and gaffer have been locked, which is great news!

Rehearsals: To prepare, I have been taking in text, audio and videos about mother-daughter relationships and bipolar disorder over the summer. I met my fellow actor Daniel Barry this week, and am so pleased that he is even more of a character geek than me! I've been chatting with Lucy Allwood (playing my daughter Lily) and Chrysanthe Grech (playing my mother Fiona) about memories. This is wonderful, and I am in the process of writing my full life backstory as Katie. Next week, actors will be meeting with director Donovan to work on scenes. 

Costume: the next week will be about tone and locking down costume. This is always a tough one for me: you don't want your own taste to get in the way. I am happiest when someone just hands me what I have to wear (this has only happened to me twice thus far) - is that lazy?

Set design: we are meeting with set designer Sunny Jeon this week at the house, the location where we will be shooting for four days.

Catering: apart from the fact that looking at websites of catering menus is mouth-watering, this is an important part of our budget. As an actress, I notice the disappointment when you are simply served supermarket sandwiches and soda - no go!

Toodloo!

Casting almost complete

Yesterday we had our audition day, meeting ten candidates for the various characters. It was an incredible learning experience for me and the other producers Cat, Donovan (our director) and Orhan. We asked the actors to read a specific scene, and then chatted with them. I was very grateful have two friends Tony and Elena coming in to read with the actors. We now have confirmed three out of the four actors we were looking for, and are still deciding on the last one. The casting announcement should happen soon though!

We have now also hired a make up artist and... a 1st assistant director! This is wonderful news, as they are a great addition to our team, have an excellent eye for detail, and I can now focus more fully on the acting - yes!

Next week we will be traveling down to Margate to scout two more locations, and our cast rehearsal will happen in September.

Thanks for following our progress!