Reluctant actress blossoms

By Claudia Puig
USA Today

Audrey Tautou and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet teamed up again for "A Very Long Engagement," the critically acclaimed drama set in World War I. The two previously had worked together on "Amelie." Ann Johansson • Associated Press

"I wanted be a primatologist until I was 14 or 15," she says with an impish grin and a shrug of her graceful shoulders.

She chose to work with human filmmakers instead. Her latest venture, for which she has received critical raves, is "A Very Long Engagement." It opened last week in Honolulu.

But she still has a special place in her heart for primates.

Her favorite? The orangutan, which she caught a glimpse of in the wild on a recent trip to Sumatra. It was a pleasure trip, not research, she hastens to add.

Tautou, 26, always was a studious type, so it wasn't until college in Paris that she took a theater class for fun. And even then, the dark-eyed native of France regarded it as more of a lark than a career.

"My parents expected me to have a very serious profession because I was a very good student," she says in surprisingly good English for one who only recently learned the language. "And I was thinking the same thing. For me, acting was a bit of a lazy activity. I never said I wanted to be an actress. I couldn't even admit to myself that it's what I wanted to do as a profession."

She is very definite about her likes and dislikes. She studied Russian because she was keen on learning a new alphabet. English didn't interest her until she went to London for a part in last year's "Dirty Pretty Things."

"Engagement" reunites her with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who gave her a starmaking role in 2001's "Amelie." Her role as 19-year-old Mathilde in "Engagement" is even more ambitious, and there is talk of an Oscar nomination. Tautou's Mathilde is a polio survivor whose childhood sweetheart is sent off to World War I. When he doesn't return, she refuses to believe he died. The movie chronicles her mission to prove he's alive.

The script is based on Sebastien Japrisot's best-selling novel, which Tautou devoured. "I really, really loved the book. The writing was wonderful," she says. "When Jean-Pierre sent it to me, I became aware that he was giving me a second gift" after the role of "Amelie."

Jeunet had read it more than a decade ago, long before he met Tautou. After working with her on Amelie, he was convinced she could play the pivotal part of Mathilde. In fact, he was adamant.

"When I read the book, I imagined Juliette Binoche," Jeunet says. "But when I met Audrey, she gave me the feeling to get the rights. If she had refused to do it, I wouldn't have made the film."

Tautou can't imagine refusing the role. But she did have one stipulation: "I said, 'I will work for you if you keep the same team as the one we had for 'Amelie.' "

Tautou sees some similarities between her own personality and that of the ultra-determined and reserved Mathilde.

"I'm very stubborn, too," she says. "She never complains. That's also how I am. But I'm not as self-confident as her. I'm modest in the fact that I don't really expose my emotions and feelings. When I'm with other people, I don't necessarily show them all my states of mind and feelings. I'm not an open page. I'm very private. And I think Mathilde is like that."

So much does she guard her privacy that Tautou will not discuss her personal life, but she is rumored to be engaged.

She was drawn to playing Mathilde because it was so different from the contemporary parts she has played in the light and airy "Amelie," the psychological thriller "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" and the gritty drama "Dirty Pretty Things."

"I'm trying to grow every time toward a different kind of part and a different adventure," she says. "The interesting thing about Mathilde is the balance between her strength and determination and her failure and discouragement. I love this contrast."

Tautou wore a prosthetic leg and a brace for the role, which required that she limp throughout.

"I think the fact that she's handicapped made her stronger," Tautou says. "And maybe even more whole, because she's had to fight against it. She's had to deal with people staring at her. She's very independent."