CATEGORY: PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
INTERVIEW WITH: MARION COTILLARD
FILM: "LA VIE EN ROSE"
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Q. How hard is it for an actress that doesn't speak English as a first language to have that thing in your hands?
A. It's not hard at all, there's nothing hard about this. It's just joy and so unexpected that it's surreal, but I love it, I love it.
Q. Congratulations. Can you talk about what it means, I believe this is the first time an Oscar has been given for a French language performance for an actor or actress, what that means to you.
A. It's huge, it's huge, and I'm so proud of the movie. We had so much more than fun doing the shooting and doing all this adventure, so for the movie I'm really, really proud. Thank you.
Q. Congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. Your performance is so all consuming in the movie, so, she seemed to really take over you and you really embodied the character. Was it at all difficult to draw the line between your outside life and kind of the life that you're portraying?
A. Well, I really dedicated my life to the movie and to play Piaf for a few months, and so I didn't I didn't have a life. And when the movie was finished, I realized that I didn't have a life and I didn't know exactly how to go back. But I love life and I love my life so, it was not so hard to go back there, here.
Q. Thank you.
A. Thank you.
Q. Hi, congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. What are some of the actors, the actresses who you have seen over the years who maybe have influenced your
A. Well, there are so many actors and actresses. I'm a very, very big fan of Peter Sellers, I wanted to marry him when I was a child. And Meryl Streep, of course, she's one of the greatest actresses ever. Daniel Day Lewis. Wow, wow, there are a lot of actors who are so inspiring. Cate Blanchett. I'm a very big fan of Toni Collette too. And (unintelligible).
Q. How does it feel to win the French equivalent of the Oscar and now the actual Oscar?
A. Sorry?
Q. How does it feel to win the Cesar and now the Oscar?
A. Feels so good. I'm totally overwhelmed with joy and then sparkles and fireworks and everything which goes like bam, bam, bam! I just ate all those things and it's happening right here, right now.
Q. I noticed that you're still breathing a little heavy, you're still shaking a little.
A. Yeah.
Q. After your speech, you and Forest Whitaker had some kind of a nice exchange. Can you tell me what was going on as you were walking off the stage?
A. Well, I had the great chance to do a movie with Forest a few years ago and I had a very small part in it. And that I admire him so much, I will add Forest to my list. And so really, I was yeah, I was totally my brain collapsed, so he helped me to find the plug back to my brain.
Q. Marion, congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. You talked so much about how different awards are here and how the whole season is here. Can you describe what you've been through and the fun of it and the confusion of it?
A. Well, the confusion of it is that I spend all that month talking about myself which is not what I prefer to do in life, so it's very long and it's much longer than in France. You don't do this, you don't campaign, and so that was kind of weird, to sort of answer the same question about myself because the movie was released everywhere so it was I mean, the life is of the movie going on but the movie doesn't need us anymore. And the fun, wow, the fun was to meet all the wonderful actors and actresses, directors and all the beautiful people I've met here and people that I was a big fan of for many years and to share this movie is a lot of fun.
Q. All the way back here. Hi, congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. At the Oscar nominees' luncheon, many of your colleagues talked about how different you were, obviously, from the character, Edith, and she was so complex. How did you find that complexity? How deep did you have to dig for that?
A. Well, my aim was to understand her, to understand her heart, her soul, and so I went as deep as I could. I tried to do my best to find her inside me. But it was not so hard because I really love her.
Q. Hi Marion. First of all, congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. Many of us were so excited to see you win. So, at the poolside luncheon you mentioned that you're also a singer and here you are honored for one of the greatest singing performances ever. If any one song of Edith Piaf's represented how you feel right now, which song is it and would you mind singing a little bit of it for us?
A. Okay. Now it would be maybe (sings).
Q. Thank you and congratulations.
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