Vincent Cassel Q&A

The French actor discusses his work in David Cronenberg's 'Eastern Promises' and new horror film 'Satan'.

Feb 14 2007

Last week, French actor Vincent Cassel finished shooting David Cronenberg's 'Eastern Promises' in London. Scripted by Steven Knight (writer of 'Dirty Pretty Things'), it's a story of the Russian Mafia in London, starring Naomi Watts as a midwife who confronts crime boss Viggo Mortensen after a prostitute dies. Meanwhile, Cassel, 40, appears in 'Satan', a French horror out next week, as a demonic farmer, Joseph, who terrorises a group of youths.

'Eastern Promises' has been shooting in London. How was that?

Well, I shouldn't say too much, but what I can tell you is that David Cronenberg is a very chic, funny, smart person, so to work with him is a pleasure. You never suffer, there is always the right joke at the right moment, and at the same time you always know who is the boss on set. I'm very confident with him because I know his work and you can't really go wrong with him as an actor. And there's a lot of freedom; I'm an actor who really likes to propose things, and he's always willing to listen. But at the same time he's really precise with the script, so you can't go totally crazy.

Is he someone you've been wanting to work with?

Of course. I don't really have a list of people, but when I heard that he was thinking about me for this part, I was interested, of course, and very flattered.

What can you tell us about your character?

He's a brothel owner in London. He's a gift in a way because he's very multi-dimensional; he's the kind of character that can scare you, make you laugh and make you cry. So it's been pretty wild because there are so many different aspects to him.

I hear you've been working in some interesting locations across London, from Broadway Market in Hackney to the disused Middlesex Hospital off Goodge Street.

We've been shooting in hospitals and brothels – that's already two interesting places to work. I can't say too much more as they are still shooting the film and I don't think David would be very happy with me. But they weren't real brothels. I'm sure there are a few around, but we weren't mixing fiction and reality.

Your new film 'Satan' is pretty intense to watch. Was it the same to make?

Well, it's been a real family affair; the director is my friend Kim Chapiron, the costumes are designed by his mother, his father co-wrote the film, his sister worked on it. So we all knew each other. And it was the first time for a lot of people, so it was definitely intense. Also, as a producer, I wasn't really thinking about playing the part. So the closer we got to shooting, the more freaked out I became because I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to play this person who is so over the top and as far away from me as you can get.

So how did you go about constructing the larger-than-life character of Joseph?

People like Peter Sellers were able to pull out all the stops – do crazy, crazy stuff, far from reality – and after five minutes watching you just buy it. It's not real, it's Peter Sellers doing his thing, but that's OK, you go with it. I had no other solution so I thought about this kind of performance and the minute I stopped being scared of being ridiculous and just had fun with it, I was much more sure of myself.

Did you enjoy playing such a malevolent character?

Yes, but not on the first day, because I was very bad. The accent and the way I walked weren't there yet. And on the second day we had to shoot the dinner scene, which is the master scene for that character and the movie, and I suddenly realised that it will have to work or the film will collapse. We are supposed to eat and drink in the scene, so I drank and ate, and the first take was better than the day before. The second take was better than that, and finally I felt like I was touching on something. I knew that on the first day the crew thought I was very bad, which put me in a bad mood, but on the second day they laughed at what I was doing and I knew it was OK.

I wasn't laughing! It gave me nightmares.

The truth is that I thought it was my first comedy. A strange comedy, yes, with some elements of horror, but I find the whole thing funny.

'Satan' opens next Friday. 'Eastern Promises' will be released later this year.

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