It’s a discreet, intimate and open-hearted duo that is on stage: Vanessa Paradis plays Mom at the theater alongside her dear husband Samuel Benchetrit, the latter also being the director and author of the play. On stage, the actress-singer also gives the reply to her husband, the latter succeeding Eric Elmosnino for this tour in the south of France. They embody childless parents who make a “filial transfer” on a 25-year-old young man crossed in the street.
Nice morning attended the performance of the play in Antibes in the Anthéa room and collected the words of the star of almost 50 years. The feeling of the daily journalist recalls that which was written in Var-Morning last October, after the same show played in Sainte-Maxime. Vanessa Paradis, who was named Molière for actress in a private theater show for this role, had delivered a magnificent performance despite annoying conjunctivitis.
I love the sensitivity and humor he put into it.
In this play, Vanessa Benchetrit talks about the pain of not having children, but she is in real life, mother and mother-in-law of Saul Benchetrit (born of the union between Samuel Benchetrit and Anna Mouglalis) and Jules Benchetrit (fruit of the love of the director and Marie Trintignant). In couple since November 2016 and married since 2018, the two artists have managed to combine their couple and exciting artistic collaborations. For MomVanessa Paradis explained what she thinks of the work of her other half: “Thanks to the marvelously written text of Samuel. I love the sensitivity and humor he put into it. This story, I find it sublime. She talks about love, children, tragedies and the abuse of women.”
Aware that her couple in real life influences the one she embodies on stage with Samuel Benchetrit, the interpreter of Divine Idylle specifies: “It’s difficult to have perspective on this subject, but to embody a couple who must live a more than original adventure, it is necessarily a plus. The energy the depth of the feelings evolve. I know the pleasure I take in playing against Samuel. And people tell us that they feel our complicity, our love.“
Last year, they worked together in This music plays for no onea film presented at Cannes out of competition in 2021, and four years before, she was on the bill of Dog which he also did. What to give the role of muse to Vanessa Paradis? Far from being offended, she explains to Nice Matin: “Whenever I work with someone, we tend to say that I am their muse, it’s true. I don’t find that pejorative. A muse is not a statue devoid of ideas. She doesn’t just inspire physically. This word, it is very vast, very beautiful.”