“It doubles the pleasure being both in front and behind the camera”: An interview with Louis Garrel on The Innocent

French actor Louis Garrel is perhaps most readily known for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, or to more mainstream English-speaking crowds as the love interest of Saoirse Ronan’s character Jo in Greta Gerwig’s recent remake of Little Women. But having grown up in a family of actors, his first time onscreen actually came for young Garrel at the tender age of five.

Now, 30 odd years on with a plethora of acting roles under his belt, he’s also racking up his writing and directing credits. Heist-film-meets-dark-romantic-comedy The Innocent, playing at Cannes Film Festival 2022, marks, not only his fourth time both acting and directing, but also playing a guy called Abel, perhaps a reflection of his character creations representing some alter-ego reincarnations of himself. In the movie, he plays a opposite the unstoppable Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).

The Upcoming had the pleasure of sitting down with Garrel while in Cannes to discuss acting-directing, the personal inspiration behind The Innocent, The Three Musketeers, where he plays Louis XIII, Forever Young and working with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

Sarah Bradbury

The Innocent does not have a UK release date yet. Read our five-star review here.

Read more reviews from our Cannes Film Festival 2022 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Cannes Film Festival website here.