Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy
Julie Delpyis a French-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, or acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa, Voyager, Three Colors: White, Before Sunrise, An American Werewolf in Paris, Before Sunset, 2 Days in Paris, and Before Midnight. She has been nominated for three César Awards, two Online Film Critics Society Awards, and two Academy Awards. After moving to the United States...
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth21 December 1969
CityParis, France
I may move from everywhere and spend two or three years in total isolation. I like being alone a lot. I enjoy that more than anything.
I always feel this pressure of being a strong and independent icon of womanhood, and without making it look my whole life is revolving around some guy. But loving someone, and being loved means so much to me. We always make fun of it and stuff. But isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?
I love acting and I still want to do it, but I've such an instinct for directing, it's something that comes naturally to me. It's why I'm here on this planet.
The camera can move, you can make the shots, blah blah blah, but as long as the actors are good, you have something.
Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?
A lot of new American directors have had mentors who have given them advice. And some of them have had the way paved for them by huge Hollywood directors who saw a younger version of themselves.
I've never had help from anyone, ever. I've never had this great director who saw themselves in me, because I'm a French woman in Hollywood. Who could identify with me as a successful director in Hollywood? Nobody. And the few people who could have been mentors, instead they just stole my ideas.
Maybe I would get the chance to be financed for a small romantic comedy, but a war movie by a 28-year-old woman about Japanese soldiers? No one was going to go for that. It's easy to just steal an idea because it's very safe.
I put my films together in Europe and it kick-starts the financing when I'm attached as an actress. It makes it easier to move forward.
I did a film that I shot in 24 hours that was self-financed for $5,000. It was a feature called Looking For Jimmy that I shot with a bunch of friends. I spent eight months editing because we had 24 hours of footage that made no sense and I learned a lot about directing while editing that film.
I've proven that I'm not a complete failure. Every film has done well. It's like, 'So, okay, when do I get my deal at Warner Bros?'
Performing is the hardest thing. Even though I've done it for so many years, it's still exposing yourself. You suddenly become extremely vulnerable when you're on camera. You're filmed and you're being observed. It's a bit of a violation each time.
Feminists is something people hate above all. Nothing worse than being a woman in this [movie] business. I really believe that.
It's easier for Europeans to give money to a movie that says a blow job is what brought down American democracy.