What do you do when the person you love, the person you thought you knew, turns out to be someone completely different? That’s the question faced by Léa Seydoux in Marie Kreutzer’s devastating drama, Gentle Monster, which is open in select theaters now ahead of a Netflix release on November 18th. The film stars Seydoux as Lucy, a famed pianist who discovers shocking criminal secrets about her husband, and finds her life thrown into chaos as a result.
Seydoux is someone I’ve long admired and wanted to speak with, beginning with some of her early work in Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, and Midnight in Paris. She’s done so much since then, including starring in the final two James Bond films with Daniel Craig, that it’s tough to predict what she’ll do next.
A couple of weeks ago, Seydoux attended the Middleburg Film Festival, where she received the Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award for her fearless performance in Gentle Monster. We talked about the timely nature of a story dealing with this issue, the challenge of stepping into Lucy’s shoes and doing justice to women like her, and working with Kreutzer in her follow-up to the acclaimed Corsage.
I found Seydoux to be a real pleasure to speak with. She’s soft-spoken and thoughtful, with a lot to say about this film and her career as a whole.
You can check out my interview below and my review of Gentle Monster here!
