In Quentin Dupieux’s new satirical comedy The Second Act, which kicked off the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, the pic takes poke at myriad culture wars, including France’s latest #MeToo movement. Asked front and center about her take on the latest wave, the pic’s star Léa Seydoux said “It’s a wonderful thing that women are speaking out. It’s about high time they did.”
“This change has been taking place. The film also plays with this idea. It also talks about very current events, and this movement where women are now speaking out and that was a fundamental importance of that change to take place,” said the 007 actress.
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“I see there’s been a change, we’ve moved on,” said Seydoux, who came up as a young actress in the biz.
Later expounding, the actress emphasized the changes she’s seen in the industry due to #MeToo: “I think there’s a great respect when shooting a film. … I sense the change in very intimate scenes that are being shot. I can sense there’s been a great change.”
“I’m sure all the men likewise, tend to agree with me, there is something that should be self-evident,” she continued.
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Dupieux’s latest follows three actors — played by Seydoux, Vincent Lindon and Louis Garrel — shooting a banal rom-com. It’s a meta movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie, in which the filmmaker also pokes at actors’ egos, AI as a cost-cutting tool, and other issues impacting the industry.
“What I like is that the film talks about artificial intelligence and all these changes taking place in the world with a great sense of humor. Of course, it’s politically incorrect at times,” Seydoux said.
“I do believe in the film there’s a light touch: #MeToo is very important, however, it’s also necessary to talk about it with the humor in the film.”
The harassing scene that Seydoux’s character contends with in The Second Act involves Raphael Quenard’s character, who tries to kiss her.
Joked Dupieux, “This really happened! Raphael really tried to do this, he tried to kiss her! I made the most of it.”
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The conversation of #MeToo has surrounded Cannes this year with rumors that an exposé from French online newspaper Mediapart outing various filmmakers and actors in the industry via a list was expected to drop. The outlet has called “the media show” around the rumors “pathetic” and that there were no plans to publish a list.
Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux fielded several questions about #MeToo potentially impacting the festival; his defense was that the event is about the films, not the polemics.
Added Seydoux, “I’ve been a very fortune person as an actress. At the beginning of my career, I worked with people who respected me more or less and it’s difficult to compare. Some women were really victims but in my case I can’t compare with some women who really went through a very serious experience. I do sense today my stature, my standing, protected me. When you’re a young actress, you’re more vulnerable.”
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