Quotes

[answering a question about what she wants to do before she passes] I would like to be a hairdresser - a shop in a small village in Italy, Sicily. Sometimes I dream about it. I would cut the hair of everyone - from the priest to the Mafioso, the beautiful lady and the young girl in the wedding. It would be the most important place in the village.

The strength of the French cinema [is that] the director puts the woman in the middle of the story. And if you look at French literature carefully - Balzac, Flaubert, Stendahl - always look for the woman.

I think it will become more and more normal to see older actors because the population is becoming more and more older. It's like wine, cinema.

[on undertaking a role] If you prepare too much, after a while you are not surprised any more by the way the man - the husband or the lover - is going to look at you, to smile at you, to answer you. It's better to be available.

[on François Truffaut] For him, film was a matter of life and death. He used to say, "In films, trains never run late" - I love that. Film was his salvation because in film everything has a meaning. Life is chaotic but in cinema you can stop time. François used to say, "Those who love life, love cinema." That's for sure.

[on Gérard Depardieu] I love him because he has an incredible feminine side, finesse and intelligence - he's not a great crashing macho, even if he is arrogant.

When I read the synopsis of The Woman Next Door (1981) I was completely stunned by the idea that you could die of love. The only thing I've ever believed in, at the risk of seeming sentimental, is love. If I'm at a boring dinner I always ask the man next to me, whether he's an ambassador or the President of the Republic: "Do you love your wife?" It's the only interesting subject.

The reason I never married is because my mother and father really loved each other, so we were a perfect family. Little House on the Prairie (1974) was bullshit compared to us. I think I was afraid of not measuring up to that. For me, a successful marriage is something to be revered. Real closeness between a man and a woman, a real family where you can argue and laugh, that's like Notre dame or Westminster Abbey - a 'chef d'oeuvre'. It's hard to achieve.

[on working with Roman Polanski on The Palace (2023)] I already knew Roman from being directed by him in the theatre. On this film, I rediscovered the joy of working with a passionate man who from early morning to night is on set looking for the absolute perfection.