Acting Courageously: An Interview with Irène Jacob (Web Exclusive)
by Mark Lager

2021 is the thirtieth anniversary of The Double Life of Véronique (1991), a Polish–French co-production by director Krzysztof Kieślowski that won Irene Jacob the Best Actress award at the Cannes International Film Festival for her dual role as two women whose lives are mysteriously linked. 2021 has also been a momentous year for the Swiss-born stage, TV, and film actress. Both The Double Life of Véronique and Three Colors: Red (1994), that also starred Irène Jacob, along with the other two entries in Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, recently received 4K restorations, which were shown at the Cannes Classics series in July. From August 7 to October 15, the Gare Saint Lazare train station, where some scenes were filmed for The Double Life of Véronique, displayed an exhibit featuring photos of Kieślowski, images from his films, and portraits of his actors. The Cinémathèque française in Paris presented a retrospective of Kieślowski’s films, beginning on September 29 with The Double Life of Véronique, presented by Irène Jacob. And following the death of filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier in March, Irène Jacob was elected on September 30 to succeed him as President of the Lumiére Institute in Lyon, France. The following interview was conducted via email in September and October.—Mark Lager

Cineaste: What formative experiences influenced you to pursue an acting career? Were there specific films or particular performances that inspired you? 

Irène Jacob: I came to Paris when I was eighteen years old to study at a national drama school called La Rue Blanche. We went to cinemas and theaters and saw a film or a play every day. A lot of retrospectives were showing in Paris at independent cinemas, so I discovered Rohmer, Rivette, Antonioni, and Fellini. I was really inspired by the performances of Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, Giulietta Masina in La Strada, Anna Karina in Pierrot le Fou, Fanny Ardant in Truffaut’s films, Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, and Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence.

Cineaste: Kieślowski discovered you through your performance in Louis Malle’s Au Revoir les Enfants [1987]. What memories stand out to you from that film? 

Jacob: I got the part because Louis Malle wanted an actress who played the piano. It is thanks to music that I was cast in the film. I went to see all of his films, starting with Lacombe, Lucien [1974], which Louis wanted us to see. When Lacombe, Lucien was first released, the French audience didn’t appreciate that his young hero first wanted to fight for the Resistance but then found himself collaborating with the Gestapo. Louis always wanted to explore the fine lines that for some separate one side from the other. He made several films in America and came back to direct Au Revoir les Enfants. It was a film that was very dear to him. He used to say that he had become a director so as to be able to make this film. I felt very privileged to be a part of it. I am proud that it was my very first film acting experience.

Cineaste: Your role as a piano teacher in Au Revoir les Enfants was the reason Kieślowski invited you to a screen test for The Double Life of Véronique. It is said that Kieślowski preferred no more than three takes. Did he believe this made your acting more genuine, honest, or natural?

Jacob: Krzysztof liked to rehearse the previous night or the very next morning, when he would discuss how the actors wanted to move, what they felt, what camera positions he would adopt. He insisted on finding the real tension in the scene. His characters never said “Hello” or “How are you?” They immediately burst into an argument, a strong emotion, a fight, or a kiss. Krzysztof did very few takes because he used to have only a small amount of film stock. At the end of each day, as a habit, he calculated how much celluloid he had used; it became a game. He also liked to shoot his scenes from many angles, so when he was filming he knew exactly what part of the take he would use and when. Shooting only one or two takes is a risk. It made all of us on the set really concentrate, which he liked. 

Cineaste: You have mentioned that the action and dialogue in the The Double Life of Véronique screenplay (co-written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz) weren’t “immediately obvious” to you and that you created sets of different gestures for the characters of Weronika and Veronique. Can you explain how you explored these gestures?

Jacob: Krzysztof wanted to help me be very concrete with the two characters. I suggested to him some gestures that they could do. For example, when I am flustered, I would cool my cheek on a glass of water or a window. He wanted to make sure I would fully embody my characters. Nothing cerebral. He liked to make the character run, enjoy the rain, the light, and struggle hard.

Cineaste: The original ending of The Double Life of Véronique is ambiguous and enigmatic. The ending filmed for American audiences is less mysterious. What is your interpretation of the character’s motivations in the original ending?

Jacob: I would say she is trying to connect.

Cineaste: Kieślowski said about actors, “If they don’t give the character something of themselves, something very personal, the character will be two-dimensional and will never come alive. You mustn’t be afraid that you will reveal your weakness. Perhaps once in a while you should.”What do you feel is your personal weakness?

Jacob: Trying to avoid tensions. This is what my characters are not supposed to do. They are supposed to confront tensions and act courageously.

Krzysztof was amazingly personal in the writing of his films, and he also required that his actors be very personal. During a scene, he would stand very close to the camera and the actors. You could sense him react during a scene, asking you to slow down, to hesitate, to go. He liked to be part of the scene in a way. It was a shared experience. So, yes, profoundly personal but, as he would say, “When it is too explicit, I cut,” making sure to leave a good place for the audience to project their own personal experiences into the scene.

After one screening of The Double Life of Véronique, a spectator said to Krzysztof, “I really loved the film and think I’ve got a good sense of its meaning, but I would like you to tell us your own vision.” Krzysztof answered, “But if I tell you what I think of the film, I think I would lack your respect.” Krzysztof would never tell anyone, even his actors, what he wanted to express in a film. He would say to each of us, if we would ask, “I prefer to listen to your own vision.” He was very collaborative with his cinematographer (Sławomir Idziak) and left space for the music (Zbigniew Preisner), too.

Cineaste: You remembered scenes in Three Colors: Red as “demanding” and “intense” because your character Valentine was always “angry” and felt “revolted.” Can you share what made these scenes so challenging and difficult? 

Jacob: We first started with three weeks of arguments between my character Valentine and the character of the judge played by Jean-Louis Trintignant. The real question for me with this character was—since she is revolted by what the judge does, why does she keep coming back to see him? Why is she not avoiding him? Here lies, of course, the key to the film—brotherhood. The two characters are far apart in their ages and personalities, but, through their opposition, they help each other profoundly, which is amazing. 

Cineaste: You named Michelangelo Antonioni among those directors that inspired you. How did you feel about working with Antonioni and Wim Wenders in Beyond the Clouds [1995]?

Jacob: It was a privilege. Antonioni loved my role in Kieślowski’s Three Colors: Red. I was so touched that he would ask me for this performance [as a spiritual girl who plans to enter a convent]. I loved our story. His way of filming was very different, with long sequences and takes. There was very little editing. His personal interests, his love for cinema, and his characters were similar.

Cineaste: You recently played roles in several television shows or series, including The OA in 2019 [a miniseries available on Netflix], and The Affair [a Showtime Original Series] and The Collection [available on Amazon Prime] in 2016, as well as on the stage in an adaptation of French author Marguerite Duras’s novella La Maladie de la Mort in 2018.

Jacob: I really liked working on The OA and The Affair. I enjoyed the characters I played, the scenes, and my partnership with the other actors and directors. I would have loved for my characters to have continued. I recently also worked in the theater with wonderful directors such as Thomas Ostermeier and Katie Mitchell. I performed the same part and text throughout the year. Theater encourages me to explore new fields, a new world. It engages me differently.

Cineaste: How do these experiences in television and theater differ from your film acting?

Jacob: In a film or a television show, I am preparing everything for a scene to be discovered and explored on a particular day. Once the scene is done, it is done. In theater, I am preparing a way to come back every day to the same emotion—letting it be, of course, what it is, yet allowing changes and differences to happen. Scenes can be returned to again and again. Both film/television and theater are wonderful experiences. 

Cineaste: As the new president of the Institut Lumiére, what do you feel are your most essential goals?

Jacob: The institute is a public house that welcomes great, timeless films, wonderful forgotten films, lost amazing films, and historical films from all over the world. It is a house where our memory is kept alive, shared, and cared for. It is also a house of restoration and transmission. It is a cinema adventure and, thus, a human adventure. I am very moved and eager to spend time with great films and passionate lovers of cinema, such as Thierry Frémaux [Artistic Director of both the Institute Lumière and the Cannes Film Festival] and his wonderful team. 

Cineaste: What actors, directors, and films are you most interested in featuring for programs? Why are these important to you?

Jacob: I am eager to start discussing this topic. The program has always been very carefully thought of as a multicultural, timeless selection. The goal is to accompany the programs with debates and events to attract new cinema lovers and celebrate cinema beyond cultures and time.

For information on the Institut Lumière, visit here.

Mark Lager has written for CineAction, Cinema Retro, Film International, and Senses of Cinema. He has also written a screenplay (To Death with You) and a novel about Aleppo and the crisis in Syria (The Dust Shall Sing Like a Bird).

Copyright © 2021 by Cineaste Magazine 

Cineaste, Vol. XLVII, No. 1