In August, the 66th Film Festival was held in Locarno, where the star of American and European cinema, Jacqueline Bisset, received an honorary award for her contribution to art. The actress, who became famous for her roles in films by Roman Polanski, Francois Truffaut, George Cukor, at the film screening told Lenta.ru about working with powerful directors, playing with Trintignant, a love scene with Peter Sellers, the merits of European cinema and her latest film “Welcome to New York" by Abel Ferrara.

"Dead End" by Roman Polanski (1966)

I have a very small role in Dead End. But this is a very big movie. I remember everything about that time without exception. But since this was my first role, I had absolutely nothing to compare my performance with, the work of Polanski himself and the level of his skill. Later, over time, after participating in other films, I realized that then Roman was very good at his job. A completely different level of cinema, different from everything else. Another such director for me is Michael Haneke. I just dream of working with him someday. As for Polanski, he is a very smart man. Great intellectual.

The main feeling that I experienced on the set of “Dead End” was total numbing fear. Polanski is a very authoritarian director, most directors of his level have a similar character. His other traits are charm and lack of any patience towards others. I didn’t know how to deal with him or which side to approach him from. Françoise Dorléac ( the lead actress in Dead End, who was Catherine Deneuve’s sister and died during filming in an accident - Lenta.ru note ) was very kind to me and helped me stay on track during filming. I didn’t know any acting techniques, and if it weren’t for her, it would have been very difficult for me.

At the end of one of the shooting days, Polanski and I sat and discussed one of my scenes on the terrace of the castle where the film was filmed. And he said, "Jacqueline, I want you to laugh stupidly in the scene we're filming tomorrow morning." I asked in confusion: “How? How should I laugh?" Then Roman categorically offered to rehearse right now. Other members of the film crew were sitting around us, and I panicked because I had no idea how to get out of the situation. And Roman sat opposite me and abruptly repeated the same words: “Come on, just go and do it.” From his gaze and the words and glances of other people, I shrank into a chair, was completely confused and stopped understanding anything. The only person who was in my position was Dorleac. At that moment I was ready to cry, but, however, it didn’t come to tears. Françoise took me aside and promised to teach me different ways to laugh that evening. I asked: “How is it - will you teach me?” She said: “Here it is. I’ll take it and teach you.” We went for a walk and she explained everything to me in practical terms. First, we selected my voice timbre, volume, and then the set of sounds that I use. I still thought I was going to die on camera, but at least I had an idea of what to do. Not yet knowledge, but only an idea. The next morning, when it was time to film, Roman just asked me to turn on the radio in the frame. It turned out that there was no need to laugh anymore. This made me feel, on the one hand, happy, and on the other, disappointed.

Still from the film "Airport", 1970 1 /5

This happened to me constantly in subsequent years. In Mario Monicelli's film Rossini! Rossini! I had to train for three months to perform an excerpt from the opera, and then it was decided to reduce my ten-minute performance to a minute. And it happens that you spend six months preparing in vain. Anthony Andrews, in John Huston's Under the Volcano, trained for bullfighting before the director decided it was too life-threatening. Always like this.

"Casino Royale" by Val Guest, John Huston and others (1967)

I'm embarrassed, but I don't really like this film. Although I like my role in it. She's fine, but it was a very difficult time. I never crossed paths with Woody Allen on set, and Peter Sellers turned out to be not the nicest guy in the world. At times he could behave very strangely. I worked with Joseph McGrath, who directed the segment I was in. Actually, I have two roles in this film. In the first, I appear in the crowd of girls surrounding the hero Orson Welles. There I had a certain appearance - clothes, hairstyle, makeup. In the other - Giovanna Goodtice ( Goodthighs: translated from English - cool hips - approx. "Lenta.ru" ), a girl from Sellers' entourage, who played a parody of James Bond. I don't think it was the same heroine. I feel like I played two different roles with two different hair and makeup. I remember there was a lot of makeup back then. I thought then that this probably happens in all Hollywood films - they change a person beyond recognition through makeup.

When it came time to do the love scene with Sellers, I was very nervous. But what I especially didn’t like at the end was that Peter left me alone in the middle of the stage and went home because he was feeling unwell. To me, this is wild. I was forced to finish the episode opposite the assistant director. It is a great disappointment to experience this, especially when you are young and naive. But this taught me a lesson. If you play with someone on the court, never leave your partner alone, be with him until the end. And if you leave, it shows a lack of respect for him. This approach is not close to me. When the actor with whom you play in the frame is with you on the set, you get a completely different level of acting.

Still from the film “Casino Royale”, 1967

"American Night" by Francois Truffaut (1973)

During filming, I lived with actress Natalie Bay, who also played in this film. We rented a villa in Antibes. Bay turned out to be charming, and we became friends then. It's a good movie. If someone does not know what the nature of cinema is, after watching “American Night” everything will immediately become clear to him. I had an interesting experience at Truffaut's job, but it was not easy because I don't speak French well. My vocabulary is very limited, so I had to spend a lot of time before filming to accurately memorize all my lines. I don’t feel comfortable changing the words, and the director was against it. He asked me to prepare before every scene. I was also very confused by the fact that Truffaut was both the director of the film and played the director within the film. For example, he said “Cut!”, but it was not clear which of the two was saying it. It's the same story with the operator. But the experience is very useful.

Still from the film "American Night", 1973

"Sunday Woman" by Luigi Comencini (1975)

Working with Jean-Louis Trintignant is an absolute pleasure. But I can’t say the same about Marcello Mastroianni. On the contrary, it was not easy with him. Especially because I didn’t know Italian and therefore didn’t understand what he was saying. Sometimes I started my lines before he finished his. To which I heard: “Jacqueline, non finito.” In response in Italian, I could only apologize to him. It's terribly awkward. And by the way, I didn’t really understand the film itself either. In my opinion, a very strange story. All these endless phallic symbols... But Trintignant had a wonderful role there. And I felt most comfortable on the set with him. In general, it seems to me that an actress needs to be sensitive to actors. And since I had never competed with my partners on the set, I managed to find a common language with so many heavy, tough men.

Still from the film "Sunday Woman", 1975

"Rich and Famous" by George Cukor (1981)

I also have a complicated history with Cukor. Early in my career, I insulted him without meaning to. We were supposed to have a joint project, but for a number of reasons this did not happen. Then, over the next fifteen years, we met several times, he behaved politely to me. And when his name appeared in my life in the early 80s in connection with “Rich and Famous,” I was terribly curious - would he remember that old story, would he be angry with me. He didn’t show it, and besides, he really liked the script. But we can’t say that we worked particularly well together. Like many other directors, he was a very authoritarian, old school director, very domineering. And he simply could not like my excessive involvement in the project. And in addition to the main role, for the first time in my life I acted as a producer. To be more precise, I participated as a co-producer, but no less energy was spent on the project. I was closely involved in preparation for filming and other processes.

Cukor was 82 years old at the time, and he was brimming with energy. He was a fearless old man. It wasn't easy for us. I felt aggression from him, he most likely felt the same from me. I didn’t think about it myself, someone just told me that he felt aggression on my part. I fought for the characters so that they wouldn’t look so Hollywood. I wanted this movie to be more like a European one. At the same time, we are still over budget. So I can't say that the film was a pleasant experience for me. Not so much because of the director, but because of my debut as a co-producer. But I grew up a lot watching this film, but I didn’t do such things anymore.

Still from the movie "Rich and Famous", 1981

"Welcome to New York" by Abel Ferrara (2014)

My latest role is in Abel Ferrarra's new film Welcome to New York. Gerard Depardieu became my on-screen partner there. It's a small independent film, but I haven't seen it yet. I agree to participate in a particular film if the script becomes a personal personal journey for me, when it touches my heartstrings. Ferrara's film is one of those.

Nowadays there are a lot of competent directors, professionals in their field, who do not have their own unique identity. They make good, solid films, but this is just a different level of directing. Haneke, for example, for me is a director at the highest level. Or Ingmar Bergman, with whom I really wanted to act, but it didn’t work out. In general, I prefer European cinema to American cinema. The latter just touches on topics that I'm not very interested in, all these endless comic book movies. When I was younger, I watched a lot of different movies. There was such a need for this - both personal and professional. Now I watch much less.

“Never leave your partner alone”