Virginie Efira on ‘Benedetta’ Controversy, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi

Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” about a nun embarking on a scandalous affair with another nun, offended many viewers and sparked protests in several countries. But it didn’t offend its lead Virginie Efira, now at Locarno to pick up the Leopard Club Award.

“Was it fun? Yes. I liked that. In France, it’s as if God is dead. In the US, well, he’s less dead,” she tells Variety, recalling the controversy. 

“In the past, people would get so angry about films. They would fight over Maurice Pialat!” When Pialat won Cannes’ Palme d’Or for “Under the Sun of Satan,” the decision was met with boos.  

“Now, everyone is so polite. They clap for 15 minutes, even if they don’t like the film. I’m not expecting everyone to love my films and ‘Benedetta’ was very divisive. So many people love it, and so many don’t understand it at all. You could actually sense that in Cannes. At one point, Paul asked me: ‘Do you think it’s going to be O.K’?”

Efira wasn’t worried, however. 

“I believe in what I love. I didn’t see it as a risky move, because I just don’t think like that. Paul is someone I wanted to follow. I’m proud of this movie and I put a part of myself into it.” 

She adds: “I was actually intrigued that the Americans didn’t want to work with Paul anymore. I like his films – ‘Showgirls’ is an incredible movie. I know that all the critics have now come around and consider it a masterpiece, and maybe that has influenced me as well. But I also know my own taste, and when he told me there would be lesbian sex scenes, I just replied: ‘No problem.’ I trusted him.” 

She also trusted Ryūsuke Hamaguchi – another Verhoeven fan.

“When I met him for the first time, he asked me a lot about ‘Benedetta.’ He’s a cinephile, but it was also because he was curious as to why I wasn’t afraid to do something like that. With Ryūsuke, just like with Paul, you really have to give yourself to the role.”

In May, Efira was awarded at Cannes for her role in Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” alongside co-star Tao Okamoto. She plays a newly appointed director at a nursing home who meets a terminally ill Japanese artist.

“I had to study Japanese, and there was a lot of work even before we started shooting. But you’re still surprised when opportunities like this come your way. It makes you work even harder, because you want to reciprocate the gift you’ve been given.”

Despite this, Efira remains level-headed about her job.  

“Sometimes I read interviews with other actors and they make it sound like they went to war, you know? They say: ‘I really put myself in danger.’ What danger? I made a film about a terrorist attack [‘Paris Memories’] and some people went: ‘It feels like we’re really experiencing it.’ It doesn’t. Once they yell ‘cut!,’ we can all eat a bar of chocolate.”

These days, it’s not about where she’s making movies – it’s about who she’s making them with. 

“It’s about the relationship with the director, their sensibility and what’s in their eyes. If there’s nothing there, you can try your best, but nothing interesting will come out of it.”

She notes: “Before working with Ryūsuke and Asghar Farhadi [on ‘Parallel Tales’], I was thinking about making movies outside France, but it’s a great country for actors. It gives us stability. When foreign directors decide to work there, they often lose something, but Ryūsuke didn’t fall into that trap. He never speaks French, but I think he understands everything.”

“Some people say: ‘You must visualize what you want and then you’ll have it.’ It’s not so simple, guys! There’s a lot of chance involved in what we do, and I accept that. But when you work with someone like Ryūsuke, who really pushes you as an actor, you want to keep on being pushed.”

Whatever she does next, she’s bound to maintain her down-to-earth approach. 

“Or maybe I’m actually pretentious when I’m all alone?,” she laughs. 

“I think it’s just the Belgian in me.” Born in Belgium, Efira has dual citizenship. 

“France feels so big with Napoleon and De Gaulle. Belgium is small, and that’s a good thing. It gives you some distance. My father used to say: ‘It’s always better to take the stairs than the elevator.’ You have to put effort into everything you do. That way, you won’t lose your head.”