PRESS CONFERENCE – Gaspard Ulliel: “It’s a journey through a designer’s mind”

The press conference for Saint Laurent, a film in Competition, took place today. The director Bertrand Bonello came to discuss his work  with the assembled journalists. He was accompanied by Gaspard Ulliel, the Belgian actor Jérémie Rénier, Léa Seydoux, Amira Casar and Aymeline Valade.  Christophe Lambert and the brothers Eric and Nicolas Altmayer represented the film’s production team. Co-scriptwriter Thomas Bidegain was also present. Selected highlights.

Bertrand Bonello on how his film came about: “I am proud of this film and of the freedom I had to make the feature film I wanted to make.”

Gaspard Ulliel on preparing for the film: “There was something of me in my interpretation of Yves Saint Laurent. An actor tries to discover his limits with each new experience. Sometimes I was naked, and not just physically, but  when I had to portray his depression, or his moments of loneliness.”

The actor also spoke about his male acting partners: “There was almost a sensuality between Jérémie Rénie and me. We’ve known each other such a long time. With Louis Garrel, whom I hardly knew at all, there was a kind of grace – something clicked. In the scenes with de Bascher, we saw the film unfurling in front of us. The kiss scene was the only one that wasn’t in the script.”

Bertrand Bonello spoke about the technical demands of the film: “I really wanted to film in 35 mm. It gives you a softness , a richness of texture that  digital can sometimes mask.”

Jérémie Rénieron his working method: “My role was to observe Gaspard at work, and to drive him. To watch him build the character of Yves.”

Reported by Hannah Benayoun