Jeanne Balibar, The Duchess of Langeais

France's self-described bad girl of the cinema teams with its bad boy, Guillaume Depardieu, in The Duchess of Langeais. Jeanne Balibar, who is partnered with The Diving Bell and Butterfly star Mathieu Almaric (two children), discusses her reunion with her Va Savoir director, the legendary French New Wave veteran Jacques Rivette (Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse), for this brutal look at obsessed lovers as adapted from a Balzac novella called Don't Touch the Axe (the film's original title). Balibar, who resembles Famke Janssen and speaks perfect English with a London accent, talks with humor and candor a career that has given her iconic status as a stage, screen and TV star at home while remaining virtually unknown to international audiences.

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