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I
t’s a sun-drenched
morning and the
pavement cafes of
London’s Bute Street in
Notting Hill (aka ‘Little
France’) are awash with women sipping
petit black coffees, doling out air
kisses and rattling away in French, as
if they’re on the sidewalks of Nice.
Meanwhile, in a room at the
adjacent Institut Français [the French
Cultural Institute in the UK] sits the
50-year-old actress Kristin Scott
Thomas, looking every inch like the
European acting royalty that she is.
It’s an apt place to meet the star of
Four Weddings And A Funeral, English
Patient and Nowhere Boy. Having lived
in France since she was 19 years old,
Kristin raised her three children in
Paris (she and obstetrician husband
François Olivennes divorced in 2007
after an 18-year union) and regularly
rebuffs Hollywood in favour of arty
French language flicks – the latest of
which, Leaving, is out this week.
It’s a reciprocal love affair. In 2005,
the French awarded her the Légion
d’honneur [France's highest civilian
award and similar to an OBE which
she’s also received] and this year she
acted as Mistress of Ceremony for the
second time at the 63rd Cannes Film
Festival. Oh and directly after today’s
chat with Stylist, she’s off for lunch
with the French ambassador.
Far from an air-kissing celebrity, she
greets us with a firm handshake and
a welcoming smile before sitting down
ready to discuss her latest cinematic
offering, Leaving, a French language
romantic thriller in which she plays
Suzanne a fatalistic English housewife.
Suzanne’s life spirals into homeless
despair when she leaves her bourgeois
family to start a new life with her
odd-job man – only to find herself at
the mercy of her ex-husband who
attempts to destroy her new life.
Looking polished in an elegant khaki
blouse, soon we’re talking about her
au pair past, being a muse for Prince
and an unlikely penchant for salt
and vinegar crisps…
In Leaving, your character Suzanne
ends up homeless. Do you feel pity
or blame her for walking out?
I feel very sorry for her – she loses her
mind, and that’s very sad. She also had
this abusive relationship with her
husband. It’s not just out-of-work
people in terrible housing conditions
who beat the hell out of their wives,
but rich people too. I was just
interested in that descente aux enfers
– the descent into hell – of somebody
at the risk of losing your house, the risk
of becoming homeless. So many
homeless people are there because
their marriage has fallen to bits, they’ve
lost their job – they’re there because
it’s a downward spiral. [The film’s]
all about that too.
You filmed Bel Ami with Twilight’s
Robert Pattinson earlier this year
– did you get swept up in the hysteria?
No, you wouldn’t have known. Robert
Pattinson is the loveliest man – he’s
just so sweet…
Who else have you enjoyed
working with?
Well, I’ve been really, really lucky
with my acting partners – there are
lots – Mark Rylance, Ralph Fiennes,
Katherine Parkinson. I’d also love to
work with Mackenzie Crook again
revenge ever since, but it was certainly
a kick-start to the motor.
You then became an au pair – do you
think you made a good one?
I think I was. I’ve always been a big
sister, so knew how to deal with
children. I was a very good cook! There
wasn’t a huge age difference – I was 19,
and the oldest child was 15. I bumped
into one of the children the other day
– she’s now fortysomething.
Did the au pair experience make
you want to have children?
No, I’d always wanted children. It
never even occurred to me not to.
“I was told to join the local amateur
dramatics society – it was
certainly a kick-start to the motor”
[Gareth from The Office who appeared
alongside Kristin in a stage production
of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull in
London and New York]. He looks so
delicate, but at the same time he’s got
this incredible strength to him – he’s
got this real power on stage.
Is it true you were rejected from
drama school as an 18 year old?
Yes. I wanted to do Shakespeare,
and they told me I’d have to join my
local amateur dramatics society.
I wouldn’t say I’ve been exacting
Weirdly, Prince gave you your
first break, didn’t he?
Yes. I was 25 and went for a walk-on in
his film Under The Cherry Moon [1985]. I
then found out I was auditioning for the
lead, and much to my surprise, I got it.
Apparently he’s written a song about
you [Better With Time, on 2009
album LOtUSFLOW3R], which
includes the lyrics, ‘Ur still fine, yes
you are. Like wine, you get better
with time.’ Is that really about you?
Yes, it is. He came to see me when
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS:
A LIFE IN FILM
From starring opposite Prince to French arthouse via
a flummoxed Hugh Grant – Kristin’s career is nothing if not diverse
STARRING IN PRINCE’S
1985 OPUS UNDER THE
CHERRY MOON
1996: HER OSCAR-NOMINATED
PERFORMANCE IN THE EPIC
THE ENGLISH PATIENT
HUGH GRANT PASSED ON
KRISTIN IN 1992’S FOUR
WEDDINGS. IDIOT
AS THE TRAGIC SUZANNE IN
HER LATEST FILM, LEAVING
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMA S
I was in The Seagull on Broadway and
enjoyed it so much, he was inspired
to write the song. He was really
pleased to see what I was doing, and
[being the same age], it was something
he could understand. He really, really
loved it. He’s one of the people who
I admired when I was 25, so when you
find [each other] further on down the
road and the other person is still doing
things that are great, that’s a really
wonderful feeling. It was incredibly
flattering to have him write a song
about me – I was very pleased.
You turned 50 recently. How did you
feel about passing that landmark?
I didn’t really have a choice. And I quite
like it actually – I think it’s fun. Turning
30 was much worse. I was freaking out
about not being young anymore.
You once said, “I couldn’t think of
anything worse than a girls’ night out.
I’d rather drink ink.” Why would you
find it so bad?
It’s not that I don’t like other women.
But having been to a girls’ boarding
school [Cheltenham Ladies’ College],
I really can’t see the need of having
12 girls sitting round a table. Whenever
I do go on a girls’ night out, it just
reminds me of school. But I once
worked on a film where I was the only
girl and there were four guys – I have
never in my life come across so much
competition. “I’m the beefiest!”, “I’m
the strongest!” – it’s just the same –
we’re all animals.
You’ve lived in Paris for some time
– why do you like living there?
It’s a really small city – you don’t have
to get around by car. Plus, it’s beautiful
and only two hours away from London.
In England, I don’t like the way you
can’t buy fruit and veg other than in
a huge supermarket or a special
farmers’ market that happens
once a week.
Is it strange that you’re perceived
as such an English rose, considering
you’ve spent over half your life
in France?
Yes, it is very peculiar. I don’t look
particularly English or rosy, so I think
it’s probably the accent. I’m either
described as an “English rose” or an
“ice queen”… I think it’s an easy way
out. You’re [journalists] not quite sure
what to say, so you just say that.
Tell us a joke to prove the doubters
wrong, then…
I’m very bad at jokes! [But] you
know, I love going to the pub. English
pubs, French bars, any old thing.
As long as they sell a packet of salt
and vinegar crisps and half
a Guinness, I’m there!
Kristin’s new film, Leaving, is released
in cinemas nationwide on 9 July
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