…It’s hard to believe, but we will be seeing her in Latvia in August: Fanny Ardant promises to come to the festival “The Baltic Pearl”.

My private life.

I have to do many things because of my profession: go to different receptions, presentations. But endless parties are not for me. Social events frighten me. I am a very shy and indecisive person in life. But I am completely different on the stage or on the film set.

In art – absolutely. But in life I try to do up all the buttons. I cannot be absolutely sincere: I have to pretend and to say only a tenth of what I think.

My heart.

I have never done anything because of money. That is the luxury I can afford. I don't have a mansion, or money, or islands in the ocean, but I have got freedom. That’s much better than diamonds or a fur coat.

Money gives even bigger dependence. One cannot stop, one is afraid to lose it, one doesn’t know what to spend it on or where to invest it. That’s a hard burden.

Certainly. When I do not want to do something I say to myself: “Imagine that you are playing a role.” On the whole, life is a small theater. And everybody has his own play. It may be a comedy or a drama but every morning your curtain rises and a new performance begins.

If you are happy in your private life, you are unlikely to become a successful actress. At the same time, if you are an unsuccessful actress, you won’t be able to become a happy woman. On the whole, I think art is more important than everyday life. For art needs sacrifices, needs big efforts, but in exchange it gives something genuine and stable. And life – alas! – does not. It is impossible to have everything. I have always sacrificed my everyday life for art. Life was passing by and I have always said to myself: “I’ll think about it tomorrow…”

I would like to be a woman who goes hand in hand with a man, a woman in a man’s arms. To live just for one person.

«I don’t give a damn about people’s opinions!»

If I had a choice to have a cup of coffee with Sarah Bernhardt or Maria Callas, I would have chosen Callas. We would have laughed a lot, talked about the roles, the real people, the outstanding people. She lived for art – real art of the highest standard. She was called a diva not without reason, and a diva means – of divine origin. Sarah Bernhardt was different. She would work in a circus company just to cross the USA. Her figure, her life are not as tragic as Callas’s. She was one of those women who are used to give orders to men, to whip them and to let them approach only with a special permission. This woman has never taken anyone in consideration. At the age of 70 she had 25-year-old lovers!

No, I don’t give a damn about them! The most terrible thing is to be a conformist. Of course, it is important to respect other people, but one shouldn’t strive for their liking. Of course, I would like people to think well of me, but I don’t want to be liked by each and everyone.

I don’t think so. I remember myself at the age of 15 – I have the same fears and apprehensions, the same affections and antipathies. I have often had to compromise but I have never sold myself, have never betrayed my ideals.

Sometimes I have a feeling that I’m not afraid of anything. And then fear falls on me like a black veil. I have been fighting it since my childhood. Sometimes it seems to me that it’s impossible to fight it. Fear of the future – it’s terrible. I like watching elderly women, I am delighted by their nonchalance and even audacity toward the outward things – they are no longer afraid of anything. I am only striving for that.

Old age doesn’t exist. After all one hasn’t changed – what has changed is how other people view you.

I have always failed in that. Planning bores me, it even brings thoughts of death.

In a woman I like lightness and flippancy. A woman must be like champagne. A sensitive and flippant woman is capable of real passion, of a very strong feeling. I like small caprices, oddities and whims. There’s a taste for life in that. I can’t stand moralities, false truth, and hypocrisy. One should enjoy life; after all we only live once!

It is very wise. And it is just about me. I wasn’t pretty in my childhood. But I created myself, my style, I learned to be strong. And that’s because I was very happy in my family, everybody loved me.

I think it’s unbearable for men to live with such women. Life creates the family and makes it very balanced. The family of my parents was like that. A man must take his stand, his right place. One shouldn’t steal it from a man. I have always liked real, strong men who are respected by everyone and who are able to defend. At the same time, I hate it when a woman turns into a maid for men. Unfortunately, I have never had time to devote myself to my own family.

Because of my permanent work I have always lived in chaos and disorder, but at the same time I tried to live, not to exist. I blame only myself for the failure in my family life.

No. But I enjoy watching married couples anywhere in hotels or restaurants. The way they look at each other, the way they talk. It’s like a real piece of art, like a masterpiece. I admire them like one admires Notre Dame de Paris. My parents were such a couple.

Many men try to win my heart but… To be with me a man must be extraordinary, extravagant, crazy, elusive. And certainly not a classic spouse. I have always thought that the best husband is a sailor: meetings, partings, waiting…

Yes, let it be a hard life. It is important how full and rich your life is, not how happy you are. The most unforgivable thing in life is boredom. I hate it.

Fools and politics.

I never speak about politics.

No. A politician is always led by mind and an actor is led by emotions. Politics is always a lie, and an actor is always sincere. An actor gives himself away entirely and demands nothing in exchange for that. Money has never been a governing factor for the actors. Of course, a politician who wants to be liked by everyone can behave like an actor – be charming, pleasant. But he does it cynically, he’s led by self-interest. And an actor has no self-interest.

At that moment I thought that it would be another play. But it turned out that the Russian president had a tremendous influence, really magnetic. He has a very strong personality. Of course everyone played a part, but there are meetings which their tension is equal to spending 12 hours in a plane with terrorists.

Oh, no! Not that!

I have only one method of upbringing – love. Love is the most important thing, the core of their future life. What is also very important is that a child, when choosing a future profession, makes his/her own choice. It’s not important who he/she will be – a hairdresser or a writer. The main thing is to tell oneself: “I have to be the best!” If one didn’t make a mistake choosing a profession, one would wake up happy every morning and wouldn’t give way to anyone. Even if one has problems, unhappy love or something else – the right life choice would make one go on in spite of everything.

I don’t know. But this is a love that was born inside me from childhood. Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev – I’ve been reading them since childhood. Though I was reading Balzac and Stendal at the same time. I’ve always knew the history of Russia better than the history of England or Italy. Russia is a great country in poetry, music, theatre, literature. One of my daughters learns to play the piano. And I keep asking the teacher: “When will she be able to play Rakhmaninov?” The answer is always the same – one should wait a little because Rakhmaninov is very difficult. But I adore Rakhmaninov. Why? I don’t know.

Yes, I do. You know, a Russian man told me that there was a music teacher – if I am not mistaken – his surname was Stolyarsky, and he did the following. When a group of children - out of which he had to choose his pupils - was brought to him, he asked: “Do you want to learn or does your mother want you to?” He turned away the children who answered: “I want to” and took only those who confessed that their parents want them to learn. He was a wise teacher and he knew that the children who would be watched by their mothers would achieve success.

My grandparents were very talented. My grandmother played the piano and my grandfather played violin. Only two of my three children have learned to play. Like all children, they say: “Well, mom, let’s skip it today…” But I answer: “Go and play!” I play myself but badly. As soon as the shooting of a film finishes, I start playing. Time goes faster and grief and anguish recede.

But returning to Russia. When I was asked in America: “Mademoiselle Ardant, would you like to make a career in Hollywood?” – my answer probably sounded boorish: “I’d love to work with Russian directors”. But I didn’t control myself – a kind of madness, indeed!

Alexey German, of course.

Yes, I know, and he told me once that he would never be able to work with me. Because voice plays an important part in his films. I also liked the work of the director who shot “The Oligarch” (Pavel Lungin, who lives in France, by the way). And of course I’d love to work with Mikhalkov. All of his films are great.

© FANNY ARDANT Online

Translated by Irene

Edited by George Sand

Home  News  Biography  Filmography  Reviews  Photo Gallery  Articles & Interviews  Lyrics  Art Gallery  Forum  Links  Contact Info