INTERVIEW WITH VINCENT CASSEL FOR FOTOGRAMA/SPAIN

Which role has marked you the most?

Every film is important. I've played some very different roles in very different films, but I have played them all with the same involvement. However, it is clear that my role in the two-part film devoted to Mesrine marked a turning point in my career.

How do you get into your characters, and how important do you think a physical transformation is?

I have always liked physical transformation. Even if it's only a small aspect of preparing for a role, I try to broaden the palette as much as possible. But basically, even when I explore my possibilities to their limits, there is a sort of backdrop that stays the same. Certain colours that keep coming back, a little like a signature.

What are your plans, and what do you want to do?

First of all, there is a film by Romain Gavras, who directed the clip "Stress" by the group Justice, and then another film, "The Cross" by Andrew Niccol with Orlando Bloom and Olga Kurylenko. After that, I hope that shooting will be finished in time to play in "Le cavalier suédois" based on the novel by Léo Peroutz, directed by Christophe Gans.

What was your reaction when the Yves Saint Laurent brand suggested that you become the icon for its new fragrance, La Nuit de l’Homme?

I was really proud and moved that they thought of me! I have always had great respect for Yves Saint Laurent. So when the team presented the project to me, I very quickly saw what I could do with it, and accepted straight away. I really saw myself in it: I was born in Paris, I grew up there, and I'm very familiar with nights in Paris...
The brand team also enabled me to contribute my own sensibility and vision to the project. That's why it interested me, and why I found it so enjoyable to take part in the campaign.

How do you see the brand of France's greatest couturier, who recently left us?

Yves Saint Laurent has a very powerful aura all over the world. It conveys an image that simultaneously combines French elegance, culture and daring. An image I like representing.

What memories do you have of shooting this commercial?

It was really enjoyable… As you can see in the film, I had great surroundings, in the magical venue of Paris. I was also delighted to film with Gaspar Noé, whose outstanding qualities I already knew, and who was very interesting in the context of an exercise that was totally new for me. In a commercial, everything is far shorter. Emotion has to be put across in a few seconds, in a look, in an attitude. It's an emotion that plays more directly on my image, because during a feature film I rely on something else, something that has more to do with the composition aspect. But in every case, whether it's a film or an advertising spot, or both, I like to play on the image.

This question is for Vincent Cassel the man, not the actor. What does the fragrance La Nuit de l’Homme evoke for you?

For me, this fragrance evokes a vision of Paris, Paris at night, with its legendary venues, its endless hubs, its districts, its very mixed nature…There is always something appealing yet forbidden at the same time, something a little dangerous about Paris at night. For me, the fragrance conveys this sensation because it has both a classic side and an exotic, spicy note. A bit like Belleville, which smells of mint, coriander and chourai.

What are your beauty rituals?

I just apply a little moisturiser when my skin feels tight, after a day by the sea or riding a scooter, for instance.

A typical day in the life of Vincent Cassel is…

There isn't one. I don't like systematic things; I like being as free as possible. I like change, and having the feeling of living several days in one, several lives in one...

Your favourite sport?

I'm not a specialist in anything because I always like learning new sports. But for the last few years, I've tried to spend as much time as possible in the waves. I've also done English boxing for a long time, and practise capoeira and classical dancing intensively.

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