Interview with Cécile de France, star of 'Hereafter'

Belgian actress Cécile de France, who stars in Clint Eastwood's new film "Hereafter," recently stopped by in San Francisco and was kind enough to sit down with me and chat about the film, now in release.

In "Hereafter," she plays Marie LeLay, a French journalist whose life changes after she has a near-death experience. Matt Damon, Frankie McLaren, Jay Mohr and Thierry Neuvic co-star in the drama.

In the uncut interview below, Cécile chats about her character, the film's supernatural story, what it was like shooting a feature with Clint Eastwood, and what she thinks about working/promoting overseas.

The Screening Log: One thing that jumps out to me about "Hereafter" is that it's about a fantastical thing where you have this near-death experience, but it feels very real. How do you create a sense of reality when you talk about things like seeing the dead or seeing an after-life? Was that something you worked on with Clint?

Cécile de France: Yes, but the script is very complete and very complex. When you see the film, you can recognize very easily the script. Those characters are not superheroes. They are normal people with weaknesses and defects, and my character's change is well done because it's little by little. It's not like she's a bad person in the beginning and a good person in the end.

For example, in my character, we can her fragility and weakness during her journey of discovery. For an actress, it's very interesting to play a character who changes. She is getting more mature and she is more open-minded after her journey. A beautiful life is waiting for her at the end of the story, and it's quite romantic at the end. It was very interesting to play a character that is very strong, very powerful at the beginning and more mature at the end.

The Screening Log: Can you talk a little bit about the journey your character is going on in the movie? What do you think is it about seeing the afterlife for her?

Cécile de France: She is not connected with what is happening in her heart. She is missing out on simple pleasures. This experience at the beginning messes up her life and she is completely overwhelmed by it. It is very painful because once she tries to talk about it with someone, she loses her credibility at home and at work by losing her producer's love and the job she loves to do. It is very difficult to find the word to describe the sensation that she felt during her near-death experience. It is very hard to find normal language to talk about it.

She thinks she's crazy, until she meets the character of Dr. Rousseau. It is a real relief for her because she knows that she is not crazy and her experience is close to that of millions of others. After that, she decides to continue with her research about near-death experiences, and she's not afraid of death any more. Her professional success becomes less important, and she wants to keep a lot of time for important things. She wants to rebuild a life on solid foundation. He new goal is writing her book. Writing this book for her is to get more altruistic. She wants to book to help people. It's a very good progression.

The Screening Log: When talk about crew and sets, the Tsunami scene was pretty intense. Can you talk about that particular shooting day?

Cécile de France: Yes. It was a Monday. We shot in a tank in London. We had three or four days of rehearsals without Clint. It was just with the stuntmen. The funny thing was that I already did two films with underwater scenes, so it was not the first time. But it was the first time with English people and I was a bit scared. The tank was very dark and you have a lot of iron sticks everywhere. You don't see anything, and with the oxygen it's scary, so I preferred to hold my breath and I did it very well.

There was another part with the green screen where my head is above the water. And the third part we did it really quickly in the real ocean in Hawaii with the big waves and the little girls. It was a very small crew too. Clint joined us, so it was unbelievable. I was happy to do my own stunt.

The Screening Log: American audiences and the American filmmaking community are all enamored of Clint Eastwood. What is your interpretation of him?

Cécile de France: You know, in France, he's like God. Really. His films deeply move the world. He is never settling down where we expect, and he chooses universal subjects and is inspired by real life. As an audience, we can identify ourselves in the characters and stories. For him I think he likes to stick with the simplicity instead of having a pretentious direction. He loves to generate real emotion from real life. It's very European I think.

For example, in this film, I really love the way that the beginning is very fast because it's about death and it could happen tomorrow to you or me. The second part is slower and more about the real life with silence and breathing room, and it's very brave. For us French speakers it's also very brave from Clint Eastwood to keep the French language in the movie because we all know Americans are not used to watch a movie and read subtitles, but it's more realistic and believable. It's very smart from him to dare to do that.

The Screening Log: Clint Eastwood is a mature gentleman. Sometime in cultures outside of our own, there is a higher appreciation for people are they mature. What do you gain from him as being a person who is older and has so much vision and talent?

Cécile de France: For me, the first day of shooting, it was in Chamonix, and I was looking at him, and I said to myself, 'I really want to be in his skin. I really want to be him.' Very quickly you see how he finds his inner peace. He is completely in peace with his ego. It looks cool to be Clint, you know. He is completely confident, and I think he really lives his work in the simple joy of being in the present, and he's got a great sense of humor, so he laughs a lot some days with everybody. He knows his crew very well and he takes care of everybody. His attitude is completely devoid of despotism because of his experience and age. He is completely connected with himself. That's why he is so cool.

The Screening Log: You have been doing tons of interviews back to back for this film. Is it something you can get used to, or do you just consider it part of the job?

Cécile de France: It's a part of the job. It's the same in France or in Belgium. At first I wanted to be an actress in theater. I didn't think about doing cinema. But at first you don't think about doing hundreds and hundreds of interviews with international journalists. It's completely crazy, you know. It's easy in one way because I really enjoy to talk about my job. I really like to talk about the projects where I was involved because I love to talk about directors I work with. But then you are not behind a character and you're not in a story, so you have to talk about yourself and it's not always easy.

The Screening Log: Do you feel American press differs from French press?

Cécile de France: Yes. In Belgium, for example, because I'm Belgian, you are like the child of the country. So you have to be perfect. If you make a mistake they are like 'bah,' you know, they are very hard. In France, they are very critical and cynical and they're teasing you, and in America, they are very sweet and kind and cool. In Japan for example it is very different. They work a lot on their questions and they are very prepared and they know everything about you and about each film you did. It's cool to meet different people.

The Screening Log: What have you learned professionally and personally from working on this film?

Cécile de France: Professionally, trust. I felt very strong after doing this movie. I did another film just a few weeks after, and I was on the set and I was like, 'Wow, it's cool. I feel like free as a bird after shooting with Clint Eastwood.' I received his confidence and he let me do what I wanted to do. He offered me the freedom, so I felt really free you know. For my personal part, I was a challenge for me to do one take, because I used to prepare myself a lot at home. I used to do theater too, and each evening, you have to do one take. But yes, as a person, I received his way of having confidence. Usually, I separate my work and my life, but of course, these things mix.

When I was a child I had an experience where I was too close to my character. I was 12 years old, and all the actors of the theater piece called me by the name of the character, and that disturbed me too much. Since this experience, I've been separating my life as woman, as a mother, and my job. My job is my passion so it's not difficult to be completely involved in my passion and to live my own life in a separate way.

The Screening Log: Are there many differences working in France and working in the U.S. for you?

Cécile de France: Not really. I did "Around the World in 80 Days" and I noticed it's more about the different way of working of the directors. On "Around," they had a big budget and beautiful sets and costumes, and I was astonished by everything. Here it was a more low-budget film and things were the same as on a normal film in France or Belgium. I didn't notice a real difference. It's more about people between people. That is the difference. The way of directing, the way of managing the crew. Perhaps as a director is much more different.

The Screening Log: In the near future, are you interested in doing more big international movies or do you look towards doing stuff at home?

Cécile de France: My thing is, I don't care if it's in France or America, Asia or Africa. I need to have an interesting character. I need a script I can fall in love with. I need a script I can read like a good book. If the script falls off my hands it's not a good thing. And of course, I want to work with directors I love. You have a lot of great ones in the U.S., so yes, why not. My next project will be in France and it's with a director I really love. I also love Asian cinema. If something opens for me, then I'm happy.