Blog Post

Adèle Haenel Officially Exits the Film Industry

The young French actress and activist has announced her departure from the film industry in a letter to Télérama. Adèle, discovered in her teens, won the César Award for Best Actress in 2015 for her outstanding performance in “Les Combattants,” establishing herself as a prominent figure in French entertainment.

In 2019, she was among the first actresses outside the film industry to openly discuss issues of sexual harassment and abuse, marking a pivotal moment for female empowerment in French cinema and the #MeToo movement.

This week, Adèle Haenel announced her exit from the film industry, criticizing its perpetuation of “bourgeois order” and capitalism, opting to focus on theater instead. She views theater as offering a less reactionary, racist, and patriarchal environment.

CRASH had the opportunity to interview Adèle in 2019, offering insights into her career.

Interview with Armelle Leturcq

How did you start in the film industry?

I did theater as a child. At eleven, I auditioned after my brother was discovered at school (“The Devils”). They picked me. In “The Devils,” two abandoned children set out to find their parents. The sister is mildly autistic, so the brother searches for their mother. Eventually, the mother is healed, while his situation deteriorates. So, the two paths intersect.

What happened after your first film?

Given the complexity of the role, I took a six-month course after filming. Then I found an agent and entered the world of auditions. I thought children’s roles could highlight other characters, so I took a break from auditioning for a while. Later, at seventeen, after high school, I met the casting director from “The Devils” again. She suggested I audition for “The Birth of a Fairy.” That’s how I met director Céline Sciamma, and we got along well, shooting the film together.

Did you continue your acting career immediately?

Afterward, I did a prep course at HEC for two years; then in 2009, when I started university, I found another agent and began working on “Déchaînées,” a film shot by Raymond Vouillamoz for Swiss television, my first lead role. It was great shooting this film. It talks about feminism in Switzerland. Editing is rare, which teaches you to work in different ways. Then I took a year off from acting. Last year, I starred in three films screening at Cannes, and I also shot Caroline Deruas’ short film “Les Enfants de la Nuit,” which won the Leopard of Tomorrow at the Locarno Film Festival. It is set during World War II in 1940. It tells the story of a French girl in the resistance and her relationship with a German, which complicates during the liberation.

Bertrand Bonello’s film “House of Tolerance” has been selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival official competition unit and will soon be released in theaters. Can you tell us about this film?

“The House of Tolerance” will be released on September 21. It’s my favorite film shot last year. The film depicts the life of a late 19th-century prostitute living in a brothel, which is about to close as the times change. The film features twelve girls: the maternal brothel is played by Noemie Lvovsky, the Italian actress Jasmine Trinca, who really brings her character to life, and the super actress, my partner Céline Sallette, and many other actresses. This is how I see this movie; everything is about this axis. Comparing it to “Muholland Drive,” some key points help explain the different interpretations of the film. For me, the key is to see customers as directors and producers in real life. Some scenes even look like auditions.

Do actors sell their bodies, too?

Yes, we sell our emotions. It’s a very intimate thing, but I’m not surprised. There are some love scenes in the movie, but they are never awkward. The advantage of this film is its integration of complexity and simplicity. Bertrand Bonello did not try to suppress our nature, he was very sensitive to us. We think we can change our characters, but we are not always that flexible.

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