I watched Gene Kelly for his smile, for his energy. Vittorio Gassman for his movement. Clark Gable for his mustache. And I watched Lassie who was happy as a dog.
In France, I have lots of opportunities. Maybe now I’ll be offered films in America. It’s the encounter, with the director and the story that counts.
Just telling a story. That’s cinema. It’s not silent, black and white. It’s a simple story that’s well made.
I discovered that silent film is almost an advantage. You just have to think of the feeling for it to show. No lines pollute it. It doesn’t take much – a gaze, an eyelash flutter – for the emotion to be vivid.
I don’t represent myself as a star, but an actor who wants to make movies.
I like the hot-cold, the sugar-salt, being able to play over-the-top and dramatic things – in the same film. Just as in my life, I can be very funny and at other times almost extinguished.
I’m not an American actor. I’m a French actor. I’ll continue in France. If I could make another silent movie in America, I’d like to!
I wasn’t dyslexic, I was just very slow. I passed my time daydreaming.
I recycle. I have a house in the south of France and I have a small garden. My name is Dujardin – ‘from the garden.’ I grow carrots, peppers, strawberries, green beans, and things for salads, but there are lots of wild boars all around and they steal the food.
OSS 117 and maybe Un Balcon Sur La Mer directed by Nicole Garcia. It’s a typical French movie with typical French themes with French actors, a French director...
I want to work with a director who becomes my brother, my father, for two months. You give yourself over to that person.
I watched a lot of Douglas Fairbanks movies. He always played the same role with a mustache. Zorro had a mustache. The Musketeer had a mustache. Tarzan had a mustache.
I don’t care about my image.
I don’t want everyone to like me, and I don’t choose who likes me. You have to give them the choice, give them the option.
I don’t want to become a superstar and not see my family anymore.
I love dancing in general and making girls dance. My generation doesn’t do it enough.
I think I’m more demanding than any wife.
I never think of the completed film, rather the adventure of what I’m about to live.
Its quite pretentious, really, isnt it? The notion the audience is going to be interested in you for an hour and a half. Think too much about that and anxiety takes over.
As an actor and director, you have to take risks, even though I don’t like saying that word. You can make a mistake.
In many cases for an actor it’s a comfortable position to be in. But it’s harder to fail as a director.