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Blue is based on the graphic novel Le Bleu Est Une Couleur Chaude by Julie Maroh, and its main character is a 15-year-old disquieted beauty, exquisitely rendered by Exarchopoulos, who has an erotic awakening upon crossing paths with Emma (played by Seydoux in the film), a confident, cobalt-haired college student studying art. Their lust at first sight evolves and unravels throughout a highly nuanced three hours, punctuated not only by ample girl-on-girl action but by a violent confrontation involving a literal bitch slap.I
Having tangoed with Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), and in blockbusters (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Robin Hood), Seydoux's steady encroach on Hollywood continues apace with Wes Anderson's upcoming The Grand Budapest Hôtel. She also has two French films on the horizon, starring opposite Vincent Cassel in a remake of Beauty and the Beast, and in Saint Laurent as late designer Yves's longtime friend and muse Loulou de la Falaise. Exarchopoulos, meanwhile, is teaming up with Sara Forestier, another veteran Kechiche discovery, now making her directorial debut. Exarchopoulos will play a stutterer. But with her controversy-soaked breakout film now hitting theaters, she speaks freely on its pressure points—and her Blue co-star Seydoux doesn't mince words either. I spoke to both separately on an October day in Paris. Their answers, joined by theme, are as follows.I
ZOË WOLFF: Since Cannes, there has been a lot of controversy and press around your tensions with Kechiche. Where do things stand at the moment?
LÉA SEYDOUX: I think the movie has to come out now. I have stopped doing promotion but I already did a lot. We spoke out, and [Kechiche] was very upset about that because we said the truth. I was not talking about him, I was talking about the work and how difficult it was to work with him, and he spoke about the fact that I come from this family ... That has nothing to do with the work, you know? And then he said that I was very difficult to work with.
WOLFF: It became personal.
SEYDOUX: Yeah, it became personal. I asked myself: What's more serious? To do the things that he did on the film or to say the things we said? I don't see why it's a problem to be honest about the process.
WOLFF: I imagine Kechiche feels maligned. Do you regret doing the film?
SEYDOUX: No! Not at all. I wanted to do the film and I knew that's the way he worked. I never said to him, "Don't treat me that way," or whatever. I didn't say anything to him because I couldn't say anything.
WOLFF: Why couldn't you say anything?
SEYDOUX: Because he's also a producer. He has all the power on the film.I
LÉA SEYDOUX: I think the movie has to come out now. I have stopped doing promotion but I already did a lot. We spoke out, and [Kechiche] was very upset about that because we said the truth. I was not talking about him, I was talking about the work and how difficult it was to work with him, and he spoke about the fact that I come from this family ... That has nothing to do with the work, you know? And then he said that I was very difficult to work with.
WOLFF: It became personal.
SEYDOUX: Yeah, it became personal. I asked myself: What's more serious? To do the things that he did on the film or to say the things we said? I don't see why it's a problem to be honest about the process.
WOLFF: I imagine Kechiche feels maligned. Do you regret doing the film?
SEYDOUX: No! Not at all. I wanted to do the film and I knew that's the way he worked. I never said to him, "Don't treat me that way," or whatever. I didn't say anything to him because I couldn't say anything.
WOLFF: Why couldn't you say anything?
SEYDOUX: Because he's also a producer. He has all the power on the film.I
SEYDOUX: I'm not a huge fan of sex in films.
EXARCHOPOULOS: I don't like watching the sex scenes in the film, but it's really personal, and I have the impression that everyone sees my faults. A woman asked this question in the States at a Q&A: What were the gifts of this character and what did you lose? I told her a part of my intimacy. But I chose this. I accept that they are a part of the movie. Of course, maybe two minutes shorter would be smoother, but it depends. Some people love the scene because they've never seen anything like this and because it's more—
WOLFF: It's very provocative.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It's more realistic than, you know, three bounces [making pumping motions imitating sex] and then that's all. [Wolff laughs] I don't think that they are pornographic. I think that they are really explicit—explicit and long.
WOLFF: They feel very real in that sense. Is there a scene about intimacy in another film that you really connect with as a woman?
SEYDOUX: There's a film that I love. Lust, Caution [2007] from Ang Lee. The sex scenes are amazing. It's very intense and very erotic.
WOLFF: What exactly do you love about it?
SEYDOUX: I don't know, the animality.
EXARCHOPOULOS: I can't forget the [peepshow booth] scene in Paris, Texas [1984] where [Harry Dean Stanton] says to [Nastassja Kinski] something like, "I'm just a client, and I have to tell you a love story." And he is speaking about them. And she recognizes his voice, but she can't see him, but he can see her. This scene is amazing.
WOLFF: Let's talk about the prosthetic vaginas you wear in this film. I read that a makeup artist drove from Paris to set every day to apply them. How exactly were they made?
SEYDOUX: It's like when they create wrinkles on the skin to make you look older.
WOLFF: Like in Benjamin Button [2008] ...
SEYDOUX: Yeah, the same kind of thing. SFX. We had to do a mold of our real vaginas. They used glue and hair.
WOLFF: How long did it take to apply them?
SEYDOUX: An hour and a half, sometimes two hours.
WOLFF: Wow. What was going through your mind? Were you reading a book, writing e-mails?
SEYDOUX: It's like the ob-gyn. We felt embarrassed at first, and then we were, like, talking with [the makeup artists].
WOLFF: So you two were sitting next to each other?
SEYDOUX: Yeah.
EXARCHOPOULOS: We were speaking and texting. Of course, the first time is really not cool because no one wants to do this. But after, you are really free. You can make every movement. We knew that it would seem so real that people would be like [gasping], "Did they sleep together or not?"
WOLFF: Could you still feel each other through the prosthetics?
EXARCHOPOULOS: Yeah, because you are naked, even if it's like a second skin.
WOLFF: You see a lot of action but you don't actually see that much detail up close.
SEYDOUX: No. There's a moment, very briefly, when you see them.
WOLFF: And what did it taste like, plastic?
SEYDOUX: Yeah. But I mean, even if it was a protection—it's the same thing for all [sex] scenes. Even when you kiss somebody, you breathe his smell or his breath or whatever. I could feel Adèle's skin. When you see it on screen, it's very intense, but when we shot it, it was not that complicated. What was complicated was to do it again, again, and again. That was difficult because there's a moment when you feel humiliated. There's a moment you feel like it's too much. Of course you can spend a few hours on it, but it was not a few hours, it was a few days.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It was weird, but hopefully we like each other and trust each other so it was simpler to be with a woman who I consider like my sister. I knew Léa like I knew no one. Our relationship was so intense, and we had to give everything-body, soul, everything. Sometimes it was hard because there are people around you, you are naked, you don't have choreography, and you don't know what the limits of all of this are.I
EXARCHOPOULOS: I don't like watching the sex scenes in the film, but it's really personal, and I have the impression that everyone sees my faults. A woman asked this question in the States at a Q&A: What were the gifts of this character and what did you lose? I told her a part of my intimacy. But I chose this. I accept that they are a part of the movie. Of course, maybe two minutes shorter would be smoother, but it depends. Some people love the scene because they've never seen anything like this and because it's more—
WOLFF: It's very provocative.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It's more realistic than, you know, three bounces [making pumping motions imitating sex] and then that's all. [Wolff laughs] I don't think that they are pornographic. I think that they are really explicit—explicit and long.
WOLFF: They feel very real in that sense. Is there a scene about intimacy in another film that you really connect with as a woman?
SEYDOUX: There's a film that I love. Lust, Caution [2007] from Ang Lee. The sex scenes are amazing. It's very intense and very erotic.
WOLFF: What exactly do you love about it?
SEYDOUX: I don't know, the animality.
EXARCHOPOULOS: I can't forget the [peepshow booth] scene in Paris, Texas [1984] where [Harry Dean Stanton] says to [Nastassja Kinski] something like, "I'm just a client, and I have to tell you a love story." And he is speaking about them. And she recognizes his voice, but she can't see him, but he can see her. This scene is amazing.
WOLFF: Let's talk about the prosthetic vaginas you wear in this film. I read that a makeup artist drove from Paris to set every day to apply them. How exactly were they made?
SEYDOUX: It's like when they create wrinkles on the skin to make you look older.
WOLFF: Like in Benjamin Button [2008] ...
SEYDOUX: Yeah, the same kind of thing. SFX. We had to do a mold of our real vaginas. They used glue and hair.
WOLFF: How long did it take to apply them?
SEYDOUX: An hour and a half, sometimes two hours.
WOLFF: Wow. What was going through your mind? Were you reading a book, writing e-mails?
SEYDOUX: It's like the ob-gyn. We felt embarrassed at first, and then we were, like, talking with [the makeup artists].
WOLFF: So you two were sitting next to each other?
SEYDOUX: Yeah.
EXARCHOPOULOS: We were speaking and texting. Of course, the first time is really not cool because no one wants to do this. But after, you are really free. You can make every movement. We knew that it would seem so real that people would be like [gasping], "Did they sleep together or not?"
WOLFF: Could you still feel each other through the prosthetics?
EXARCHOPOULOS: Yeah, because you are naked, even if it's like a second skin.
WOLFF: You see a lot of action but you don't actually see that much detail up close.
SEYDOUX: No. There's a moment, very briefly, when you see them.
WOLFF: And what did it taste like, plastic?
SEYDOUX: Yeah. But I mean, even if it was a protection—it's the same thing for all [sex] scenes. Even when you kiss somebody, you breathe his smell or his breath or whatever. I could feel Adèle's skin. When you see it on screen, it's very intense, but when we shot it, it was not that complicated. What was complicated was to do it again, again, and again. That was difficult because there's a moment when you feel humiliated. There's a moment you feel like it's too much. Of course you can spend a few hours on it, but it was not a few hours, it was a few days.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It was weird, but hopefully we like each other and trust each other so it was simpler to be with a woman who I consider like my sister. I knew Léa like I knew no one. Our relationship was so intense, and we had to give everything-body, soul, everything. Sometimes it was hard because there are people around you, you are naked, you don't have choreography, and you don't know what the limits of all of this are.I
WOLFF: Historically, in cinema, a lot of great performances have come from famously torturous experiences for actresses. Tippi Hedren with Hitchcock, Shelley Duvall with Kubrick.
SEYDOUX: I don't have any problems with a director who wants to do a lot of takes. If somebody respects me, it's fine.
WOLFF: But you didn't feel respected by Kechiche?
SEYDOUX: No.
WOLFF: Was he saying mean things?
EXARCHOPOULOS: He wasn't like, "Hey, bitches, we're going to be making this and this." It was not like Hitchcock, where he considers his actresses objects. It was deeper. In every shoot, there was a kind of manipulation. It's like addiction, you know? I want something from you, you want something from me.
SEYDOUX: The whole process was difficult, but hopefully, the result is very good, worth it. I knew he was a great director. Even when I was shooting the film I knew that it was going to be something. I really wanted to work with him because I wanted to be part of his cinema. I like when a director is pushing me to be better and to give the best, but this was not the case. The problem on this film was not the difficulty of the process. It was something else. [points to her head]
EXARCHOPOULOS: He was, like, coming into your head, and it was like an angel and a devil because you don't want to disappoint him because he's like a kind of spiritual father. We all loved each other at the beginning. We were so close. The three of us spoke about life, really personal things. And sometimes it was hard, but we were excusing him, like you excuse your father when he's really yelling at you or when he prevents you from something. You're like, okay, it's for the movie, it's for him. And I think Léa realized that she's really a good actress and she can make it without all this pressure. And me too, in a way.
WOLFF: Do you believe in suffering for your art?
SEYDOUX: No! I'm suffering in my life. It's enough suffering, you know? I'm an actress. I just want to work and I hope a director can help me to be the best I can. I don't mind if a director is tough on me. I've done films with tough directors.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It's a hard question because I think it's true that all the geniuses—Kubrick, Coppola for Apocalypse Now, Hitchcock, and Picasso—find something in the pain. There is something that naturally comes true in the pain. Sometimes when you're exploiting your morals, there are dark things you realize. But I think respect is so important.
WOLFF: Is there somewhere you draw the line? Imagine what Hitchcock did to Hedren, having birds pecking at you and shitting on you?
SEYDOUX: I wouldn't mind having birds shitting on me, if the director tells me before that we need it for the scene—that I'll be scared but that we need something very real. I'm like, okay, no problem. I can go far. In France there's an expression: "N'a pas froid aux yeux." "I'm not cold in my eyes."I
SEYDOUX: I don't have any problems with a director who wants to do a lot of takes. If somebody respects me, it's fine.
WOLFF: But you didn't feel respected by Kechiche?
SEYDOUX: No.
WOLFF: Was he saying mean things?
EXARCHOPOULOS: He wasn't like, "Hey, bitches, we're going to be making this and this." It was not like Hitchcock, where he considers his actresses objects. It was deeper. In every shoot, there was a kind of manipulation. It's like addiction, you know? I want something from you, you want something from me.
SEYDOUX: The whole process was difficult, but hopefully, the result is very good, worth it. I knew he was a great director. Even when I was shooting the film I knew that it was going to be something. I really wanted to work with him because I wanted to be part of his cinema. I like when a director is pushing me to be better and to give the best, but this was not the case. The problem on this film was not the difficulty of the process. It was something else. [points to her head]
EXARCHOPOULOS: He was, like, coming into your head, and it was like an angel and a devil because you don't want to disappoint him because he's like a kind of spiritual father. We all loved each other at the beginning. We were so close. The three of us spoke about life, really personal things. And sometimes it was hard, but we were excusing him, like you excuse your father when he's really yelling at you or when he prevents you from something. You're like, okay, it's for the movie, it's for him. And I think Léa realized that she's really a good actress and she can make it without all this pressure. And me too, in a way.
WOLFF: Do you believe in suffering for your art?
SEYDOUX: No! I'm suffering in my life. It's enough suffering, you know? I'm an actress. I just want to work and I hope a director can help me to be the best I can. I don't mind if a director is tough on me. I've done films with tough directors.
EXARCHOPOULOS: It's a hard question because I think it's true that all the geniuses—Kubrick, Coppola for Apocalypse Now, Hitchcock, and Picasso—find something in the pain. There is something that naturally comes true in the pain. Sometimes when you're exploiting your morals, there are dark things you realize. But I think respect is so important.
WOLFF: Is there somewhere you draw the line? Imagine what Hitchcock did to Hedren, having birds pecking at you and shitting on you?
SEYDOUX: I wouldn't mind having birds shitting on me, if the director tells me before that we need it for the scene—that I'll be scared but that we need something very real. I'm like, okay, no problem. I can go far. In France there's an expression: "N'a pas froid aux yeux." "I'm not cold in my eyes."I
