“It doubles the pleasure being both in front and behind the camera”: 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 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 is released in UK cinemas on 25^th August 2023. Read our five-star review here.

Watch the trailer for The Innocent here: