How did you tackle the task of ageing across 30 years in your role?
I thought a lot about that and I was wondering how I could do it. I realised that I would never see 18 years old and never see 50. Something had to happen inside, and I had to make the journey inside of myself. So I worked a lot on my own memory: the first time you look at a man, that very special time when things are a mixture between innocence and audacity. For 50 years-old, I anticipated my own ageing. I didn't want to have any models. I wanted to find it in myself. I have a grandmother who is 98, but I didn't want to find her - I wanted to find Pauline.
What do you think of Pauline?
She's a warrior, she's a fighter, she's very strong. Rather than be a sad old woman, she had to be a very positive person. I think she's tired, and I wanted to slow everything down - the way I was moving and looking at things. I also kept thinking of the day you accept reality. Pauline does this, she accepts Jean like he is and transforms this into something positive. She's not religious. She doesn't believe in God. She's very 'from Earth'.
What did you think of Olivier, your director?
I would have never done this movie without someone like Olivier. This very particular movement he has with his camera - the way it shifts all the time - is not because it's fashionable. He comes very near to the actors and then he'll go down on his hands, and then pull away. You'll never know where it will be and you don't need to know. You just need to be there. It was difficult. It was love: it was being loved.
