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Mar 25, 2016 By Chris Tinkham Julie Delpy

Julie Delpy remembers reading screenplays when she was a young actress and being frustrated by the limitations of female characters. It fueled her already-existing desire to write scripts and bring to life complex women characters that reflected her own anxieties and wild thoughts. Rather than cute and pretty faces that appealed to everyone, Delpy was interested in creating women that could be mean, funny, angry and, at times, unlikable. As a writer and director, she’s accomplished this with her Academy Award-nominated screenplay collaborations with Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke for the Before series, her 2 Days films, and most recently, Lolo, a French-language romantic comedy she directed and co-wrote with Eugénie Grandval.

In Lolo, Delpy plays Violette, a 45-year-old Parisian single mother with a successful career in the fashion industry but unlucky in relationships. While on a spa retreat with her girlfriends, Violette makes advances toward Jean-René (Dany Boon), a socially naïve IT guru from the countryside. They hit it off, but their fate is at the mercy of Violette’s teenage son, Lolo (Vincent Lacoste), a self-centered artist who surreptitiously devises schemes to diminish Jean-René in Violette’s eyes. True to Delpy’s ambitions as a screenwriter, Violette is a thorny character. She engages with her girlfriends in crude discussions about sex, makes snide comments about Jean-René‘s habitats and fashion sense, and dotes on her son to an unhealthy extent. Still, her underlying warmth and insecurity make her an endearing match for the commendably agreeable Jean-René.

Under the Radar spoke with Julie Delpy earlier this week.

Chris Tinkham (Under the Radar): This is a romantic comedy with some horror film traits. At one point, we see a clip from Village of the Damned. Did you have a good idea of Lolo‘s tone from the outset, its balance between light and dark, or did you play with that balance at all during the writing?

Julie Delpy: I wanted it to be a French farce with a dark flavor to it. You know that film from the ‘50s, The Bad Seed? Which I love, and always loved as a kid. There’s something terrifying about narcissists, but at the same time, they’re something you can actually make fun of. It’s probably the best thing to do with narcissists, actually. [Laughs] Make fun of them. Because that’s the worst thing that can happen to them, to become ridiculous. That’s probably what they hate the most. What they love the most is to be considered evil, because that’s what gets them off, their own evilness. But yeah, I was inspired by comedy, dark comedy. I’m not comparing myself obviously—I’d be mental to do that—but I remember growing up and seeing films like The King of Comedy or After Hours, one of my favorite films, which is very dark and scary, but it’s hilarious, all the misadventure. This idea of comedy, when you see the character being hit on the head, which comes from even silent film, it’s kind of cruel but it’s funny. There’s something to it. Dark comedy can be very funny. I never explored that genre, because I always made comedies more with people that are neurotic, and nothing really terrible happens. It’s more their own neurosis; that’s the problem and the comedy. But here I was attracted to this idea of a bad person and to make it funny.

You’ve written and directed both English-language and French-language films. As a writer, do you feel more comfortable one way or the other?

I don’t, really. I go back and forth between the two languages. The truth is…. [Laughs] I have to tell you, I’ve always been very bad at orthography, like spelling. It’s worse in French than in English. And I’ve always been bad! I was a part of that teaching in France—there were a few years where they tried this new method of teaching spelling for kids that completely failed, and basically my French writing is like a joke almost. My producer always calls me and says, “I read your screenplay. It’s good, but the spelling is out of this world.” [Laughs] It’s bad. I have a little bit of that problem in English, not as much, believe it or not. I have better spelling in English. It’s also easier. English is a much easier language than French. Writing dialogue is not a problem. Fixing the spelling is a problem. [Laughs] The good thing is that there’s an automated system on computers. Also, you have people who read your scripts, and they fix the little accent aigu, accent grave. The accents in French, I’m always completely wrong. It’s pretty funny. Outside of that, I can write in both languages.

In the film, Jean-René calls Violette a screwball. In other films where you’ve had a hand in the writing, your characters have been called a pain, or in one instance, the mayor of Crazytown. Is this an extension of your own self-deprecation, or are you reflecting a male perception of femininity?

I have a big tendency to self-deprecate myself. I never take myself too seriously. I’m making movies. How can I take myself seriously? It’s great making movies. I take making movies seriously, but you can’t take yourself too seriously. [Laughs] I’m not fixing anything in the world. I’m just entertaining people. Also, as a woman, I don’t take myself too seriously because I’m clumsy, I’m far from being perfect. I’m full of flaws, so it’s better I make fun of myself. I don’t like people that take themselves too seriously. I’m surrounded by people that don’t take themselves seriously. Thank God. So much better. I always make fun of people that take themselves too seriously, because it’s ridiculous.

Have you had any interest in directing other writers’ work, perhaps for television?

I have had opportunities. It’s been offered to me, and so far I haven’t done it. I have many screenplays I’ve written, and it’s hard to make films, so I’m waiting to make all my films. And then, whenever that is done, I will start looking at other work, unless my agent sends me something amazing, and I’m like, “Oh my God, this is for me.” And I have been sent really good work. There was one job that I was sent that I really liked, but then I found out a friend of mine had been fired from this job. She’s a woman, and being supportive as a woman—stupid me, because she probably wouldn’t have done that—I decided not to do the film. But that’s just me, because I’m the opposite of a narcissist, and I want to be supportive to other women. In a way, it was sad, because the film didn’t happen, and that was a beautiful screenplay. So, you know, sometimes you gotta do things for other reasons. I want to be respectful to other people and not step on their heads. I’m the opposite of most people in this business. [Laughs] I know it’s a problem. I should stop being supportive and just think of my own self, but I can’t really do that, so sorry about that.

On Friday night at the Aero Theatre, you mentioned how at 14 you told Godard that you wanted to be on his set in any capacity, not necessarily as an actor. Did that conversation happen during auditioning for Détective?

Yeah, that happened in the audition process. I had [given] my picture [to] casting. My parents were both actors, and they were not doing well financially. They were doing just OK. It was time for me to try to make a living. So, I knew the best, fastest way to make a living was probably to become an actress. Especially at 14, it’s hard to do many more things. I worked in a café. I just basically worked in a bar and got fired very quickly. That wasn’t for me. [Laughs] I had been acting since I was a kid with them, so I [submitted] my pictures, and I met Godard that way. I told him, “I could act in your film, but if you don’t want me to be in the film, please let me come to the set.” That’s when it happened, and that’s when he hired me, basically.

Before you were 25, you already had worked with several esteemed directors and actors. Were you ever intimidated? And if so, was there a point where you no longer were intimated by fellow artists?

I’m always a bit shy at the beginning. It always takes me a little bit of time, even now to break the ice. Not people I’ve worked with before, obviously, but [with] people that are new, I’m always a little more nervous. I’m not the most secure person when it comes to talking to people. I’m a little bit socially inept at communicating. But then, when I break the ice, when I feel comfortable with people, I’m very good at communicating. But I’m extremely shy at the beginning. It’s hard for me to step up and talk to people, but once that is past, it’s really easy for me to communicate. So there’s a little period there where I’m intimidated by people I admire. It’s harder for me to feel comfortable at the beginning.

I first became familiar with you not through a movie, but I saw your face and name on a bus stop poster, I believe for a GAP ad in the early ‘90s. Do you remember seeing those?

Yeah, I remember that ad. It got me a boyfriend. [Laughs] Some guy was obsessed with me afterwards and became my boyfriend for three months. That’s what you get when you fall in love for a poster. [Laughs] Annie Leibovitz did that picture, yeah.

It’s my understanding that, for the Three Colors Trilogy, the ferry rescue was the first scene shot. Did Kieślowski explain to you how that scene would relate to the final image of the trilogy?

You know, we weren’t explained too much as actors. He was pretty secretive about the whole thing. We were somehow connected; we knew that. I had read Blue. I had not read Red, because he had not given it to me. Of course, I read White. I knew [White] was before [Red], not after. So I didn’t know about the ferry thing.

You said that you read Blue. Were you being considered for it?

He wanted me to play one of the parts in Blue originally, and I didn’t want to play that part. I didn’t really connect to Blue. I told him frankly. First of all, the screenplay was about 40 pages. And then I read White, and I loved it. So it was very funny. I love his work, but I was not understanding Blue. The shortness I think made it very difficult for me to understand that it was going to be a feature.

There’s a scene in Before Midnight where Celine talks about sacrificing her music. It reminded me that I saw you sing at the old Spaceland here in L.A. some years ago.

Oh my God.

Do you still perform?

No. I stopped music, at least performing. I lived with a composer for seven years, and I was told I was not very good. [Laughs] That I should stop. I’m not the most secure person, so if you tell me I’m shit every day, I believe it very quickly.

And if more people tell you that you’re good, you only focus on the negative?

[Laughs] It’s easier for me to see the negative because I’m an insecure person, so I will quickly hang onto that. The truth is, I’d love to go back to music, because it made me very happy. I don’t know if I was very good, but it made me happy. It put me in a good mood, so I should probably do it again, but castration is a very powerful thing. When you break someone, it’s hard to build their confidence again.

What’s next for you? I understand that you’re shooting a film right now.

I’m shooting a film I’m acting in. It’s called The Bachelors. It’s with J.K. Simmons. And then I’m directing a film. I’m starting preproduction in June. And I’m developing a TV series as well.

Your film, is it English-language or French?

It’s an English film. It’s set in London.

Are you going to be in it?

Yes. It’s the last film I’m going to be in. I promise! [Laughs]

Wait. You mean the last film you’ll appear in that you’re directing?

Yes. After that, I’m going to have a long series, at least for a while, of movies I’m not in that I’m gonna be directing.

Lolo is now playing in select cities. Julie Delpy will appear in person for a post-screening Q&A in Santa Monica on Friday and Beverly Hills on Saturday. Click here for details.

filmrise.com/lolo