Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Monday October 2: the actress and author, Pascale Arbillot. Until November 5, 2023, she is on the stage of the Théâtre Antoine in Paris until November 5, in the play: “Interruption”.
Pascale Arbillot is one of the most sought-after actresses in French cinema. His first appearance on the big screen was in The case by Sergio Gobbi in 1994. His first strong role was in Tell me about the rain by Agnès Jaoui in 2008 and one of the films which will mark a turning point in her career, in 2010, is The Little Handkerchiefs by Guillaume Canet, which she describes as a very strong human experience.
If cinema is very present in his life, theater also occupies a large place. Until November 5, 2023, she is on the stage of the Théâtre Antoine in Paris, in the play Interruption. A text that directly addresses the theme of abortion.
franceinfo: Was it important to bring a new perspective to this subject, abortion, which is still taboo today?
Pascale Arbillot: It’s not a new perspective, it’s letting women speak, listening to them, but above all embodying them. We realized that we didn’t talk about that among us women. Between mother and daughter, we don’t talk about it. Between friends, we don’t talk about it. Like it wasn’t right.
“Abortion is an acquired right, but it remains a little stigmatized. We still feel guilty, we don’t know how to do it, we don’t know who to see, we don’t really know what rights we have. There are people who don’t yet know that family planning exists.”
Pascale Arbillotat franceinfo
This law was passed on November 29, 1974, after 25 hours of historic debate. There were 284 votes for, 189 votes against. We had the impression at that moment that women, and men, had won a battle and at the same time, we realize that today, 50 years later, we are still talking of this act with always a feeling of shame.
Even Simone Veil, at the time, perhaps she had no choice, had to say that there was also this law to dissuade women from aborting as much as possible. That is to say that the law was not there to encourage… As if all of a sudden women were waiting for a law to be able to do what they wanted and abort all the time! No, that never happens. You must have had an abortion or already have a woman’s body and know what the pain is, even of giving birth, to know that an abortion is not trivial. We don’t forget that we had an abortion. Never. It’s not a tragedy either, it’s not a catastrophe either… because otherwise it somehow implies that it is one and therefore we should not have an abortion. In Europe, in the United States, a great democracy, there are women who die because they have an ectopic pregnancy and we prefer to let the baby continue to live. Women are dying. It’s crazy.
It’s strong because you suffer from endometriosis and very young, at 18, the doctors told you: “It won’t be possible to have a child anyway”…
They told me: It’s over. I am still a woman who cannot have children, strangely enough, even though I had a little boy.
And before you turn 40, you are pregnant. You had a hard time believing it!
Oh yes, it’s a miracle! It was very bad timing, I was playing in the theater and wearing a corset. I didn’t fit in anymore! It was unthinkable because it was not possible. So what was even harder was that obviously it was miraculous, but it happened to be what we call a clear egg so it didn’t hold up. I had a natural miscarriage. But suddenly, I was told: You really have to try again because that means it’s possible. So love is stronger, life is stronger and I obviously got pregnant afterwards. I was afraid until the fifth month. But yes, I don’t forget.
How do we view abortion when we are “fighting” to have a child?
Actually, I never fought. First, I suffered a little from my condition. What was hard was that when I met a man, I said to myself: it won’t last because he will want a child. So it was my status as a woman in a couple that I questioned and I said to myself: I’m useless, at least in a couple. Which is crazy. But at the same time, I experienced what non-possibility and the freedom of not being obliged and not saying to yourself: you have to have a child to exist. Tomorrow I will still support women who do not want to have children by choice, I find that magnificent.
“We are not half a woman because we have not given birth. We are not half a woman because we are not married. We are not half a woman because we “We love another woman. We are never half a woman, we are an individual.”
Pascale Arbillotat franceinfo
You studied at Sciences-Po, which was diametrically opposed to the artistic world. Deep down, have you always been an artist? Your dad read verses to you very early on, he was a lover of poetry, a total dreamer. Your mother, for her part, gave you independence. She always told you: “You should never depend on a man.”
She told me: Never depend on anyone.
Did your parents allow you to dream bigger?
Yes, certainly, even though they were also afraid of dreaming bigger.
As a child, what did you dream about then?
Above all, I wanted to be very free. I didn’t want to have any constraints, any ties. Very strange when you’re little.
What does this piece mean to you?
To have moved on to the writing side and to say to myself: I want to do that, not to hide behind a director and his desires. It’s me who desires, it’s me who affirms my desire. I, who don’t really like that, am well enough surrounded and the cause is beautiful, strong and joyful. It’s a very joyful spectacle, I swear, I’ve never been so happy in my life!
Watch this interview on video: