By Philip Berk. December 2009
The absolute revelation of the film is Marion Cotillard. Not only is she grace personified on screen but her singing takes your breath away. Never a false note.
Getting a chance to sing in this film, was that a dream come true?
“It was my dream to do a musical. An American musical, because as a kid, I loved American musicals so much. I thought it was not possible for a French actress to do a musical, and when Rob called me to audition for Nine, I was so fortunate and happy to be a part of this amazing American musical, and especially one directed by him, who is the maestro of musicals.”
What was it like working with him?
“There is so much love in this man. Love for people. Love for dancing, singing, cinema, musicals, actors. He works with amazing people… John DeLuca and Paul Bugaev, who was our marvelous singing teacher. But singing teacher is too small to describe what he did with all of us on this movie, because he had a way to take all of us where the performance, the singing, would be so alive and so close to authenticity, to reality, yet in the dream. And also the dancers we worked with, all of Rob’s team is full of love. They were so confident that we could dance, that we could sing. It’s not so easy to sing and dance. Rob creates an atmosphere of work and joy. He is very good with actors. He’s an amazing dancer himself. He knows how to do musicals. He’s also a fantastic director; he really goes into details with actors. I could talk about him forever, because of his passions… and his kindness. If I say he’s the nicest man in the world, it’s not just an expression, it’s what he gets from people by being so elegant. We didn’t want to finish the movie. Nobody wanted to finish the movie. It becomes a family, but this family was very, very hard to leave.”
Did she get lots of bruises and rug marks or cuts from that dance number?
“Actually, yes. When they give me the song, I thought it was so powerful. The first time they showed me what they wanted to do with the choreography, it was very exciting, because when you see something, you ask yourself, ‘Am I going to be able to do this?’ and you are not sure. As an actress, that’s what I love. This particular song – it’s not sexy, it’s fierce. She is desperate to tell him that she’s empty. He took everything out of her. It was so special to do. I love that we can show again many levels of Luisa. She’s not weak. She’s suffering, and she’s showing him what it is to suffer. She just needs some respect.
Talk about the audition?
“My first audition was not for Luisa. It was for Lilly La Fleur, when she was still French, and for Claudia. And then the second audition – I was so happy that I had a second audition. The second audition was a dancing audition. That was hard. I had to learn a lot of choreographies. Very hard choreographies. I always work for my audition, and that time, I was so busy that I didn’t really have the time to work. I was freaking out. i was in my hotel room in New York and I tried to work on the choreography but I had a very big problem with my left and right. It was like Mein Herr (from Cabaret), which is so hard to do. I went to the audition dancing in the street like a freak because I was trying to remember every choreography. I ended up not doing those choreographies at all. We danced with Rob. I had such an amazing time. And with John DeLuca (his partner.) They wanted to know how I could dance. Thank God I was able to follow. And then, that same day, they asked me if I would audition for another part, and they gave me two songs: Be On Your Own and My Husband Makes Movies. I didn’t realize that it was Luisa’s character, because i didn’t know the musical. Then the third audition was two days after. I had to work with Paul Bugaev for an hour, and then Rob would come. I had learned Be On Your Own. He told me you should work on My Husband Makes Movies, and I said, ‘But it’s really hard. I mean, in two days, and I have a lot of things to do.’ And again, I was freaking out. Then I tried to work on My Husband Makes Movies. I arrived with Paul, and we worked for an hour, and I couldn’t sing the song because it’s so complicated. I really couldn’t do it. I was like, Am I going to fail at that point? Sometimes, miracles happen, and Rob arrived. I thought I might try to do something. Suddenly, I don’t know what happened, maybe because it was meant to be, but I was able to sing the song. Then right away, they told me that I got the part.”