NEWS

Juliette Binoche: Acting is like cooking

1st August 2011

(Cover) - EN Movies - Juliette Binoche has likened acting to peeling onions, because they are both about peeling back layers to hit "transparency".

The French actress has appeared in a host of successful movies such as Chocolat and The English Patient, for which she won the best supporting actress Oscar.

She's famous for giving parts her all, sleeping on the streets to help accurately portray a homeless woman in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf and mastering the art of dance ahead of her turn on the London stage in In-i. The play didn't go down that well, but Juliette remains philosophical about the experience.

"London was quite rough. It was a painful experience, on some levels, but it's been really fulfilling," she told British newspaper The Guardian. "I move on stage differently. The more you act, anyway, the more you live, your perception of life becomes more and more accurate. It's like peeling onions, you know? You're peeling and peeling until you try to arrive at a sort of transparency."

While many older actresses in Hollywood will publicly bemoan the lack of strong parts for women of a certain age, Juliette doesn't enter into the debate. The 47-year-old thinks the subject has received too much publicity of late, which is one of the problems.

"That debate has been there for ages! It's boring! We're kind of feeding this thought in talking about it. If we talk about something else, people will think differently, and we'll change it. Because we're responsible, as women journalist, actress, whoever just to move on," she said.

"No [I don't consider myself a feminist]. I'm aware of my feminine and masculine parts, sure. [But that term] just puts people in a stereotyped way of thinking. I think creation and doing, being active, is more important than talking about it." (C) Cover Media

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