Bérénice Bejo Interview For ‘The Artist’

Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), it seems the sky’s the limit – major movie stardom awaits. ’The Artist’ tells the story of their interlinked destinies. Directed and written by Michel Hazanavicius, the film also stars John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller. ‘The Artist’ is out now.

How did you first face the challenge of communicating without actual sound?

Bérénice Bejo: I think the approach of the character for us is the same in a silent movie as in a talking movie because we had balance, we had lines to learn. Actually the challenge is more for Michel Hazanavicius (director) who has to tell the story without any sounds or dialogue and just images. But for me, I worked the same. I tried to find a character and how I would be an American actress in the 30’s. But if this was a talking movie, I’m sure she would be exactly the same for me.

What was the research process like? Did you watch a tonne of silent movies? Did you try to move differently on screen?

Bérénice Bejo: Yes, definitely. You have to find a character, so yes. For me, it was to find how the actresses were in the 30’s. I never thought about how I didn’t have a cell phone or I’m in 2011 (laughs). I was just so happy to be able to be a character in the 30’s and there are these actresses that I really liked in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s in American movies that I’ve seen since I was a little girl. But you don’t really think like that when you prepare for a role. You just try to embody a character and have fun with it and try to find how she moves, how she smiles. It was five months training for the tap dancing, that was the most difficult part.

Did you look at any Hollywood icons specifically to inspire your performances?

Bérénice Bejo: I connected very much with all the work of Joan Crawford because she started as a flapper. She used to dance and sing and she was very cute. She had something that was so different from what she is at the end of her life…and she started in the silent movies and then went into the talkies. I thought the energy she had in the movies was something that Peppy should have. I loved her in ‘Grand Hotel’ with John Barrymore and the way she would move her body, how she smiled and moved the eyes. She was very much someone I really looked for. And then, Marlene Dietrich for the way there was something so unique about her, the way she entered into a frame and everybody looks at her and the way she winks and looks up. I Googled her and looked at all the ways she winks in movies, the way she poses and takes her time talking. That was something very important to me, I think, in order to find and portray the character accurately. And then, I read Gloria Swanson’s autobiography just because I wanted to know what it was like in the time. I think she’s an amazing woman and I think Peppy is an amazing woman too. She’s very modern and Gloria Swanson had that. I think those three women were very important to my work.

I can imagine playing Peppy was an enjoyable experience? How was it actually shooting this movie in Hollywood?

Bérénice Bejo: Oh yeah, it was so much fun. I think woman and men can relate to her and love her. She has something very spontaneous about her, she has a lot of energy. She’s crazy enough, funny enough, but she’s not ambitious. She takes every moment of her life, everything that happens to her, and turns it into a positive. She’s a good person, I really enjoyed playing Peppy. She has a lot of life, always moving, always smiling.

Shooting in Hollywood, for us, as actors, and even for the director, it gave us a sense of authenticity to what we were doing because we were talking about Hollywood and we were in Hollywood. Having a chauffeur waiting for you and driving down the Hollywood Hills and going to the studios – going into the studio through the gates, I had a feeling that I was living what Peppy had to live.