When she met Daniel Day-Lewis in 1989, Isabelle Adjani was at the height of her career, in particular thanks to her performance in the biopic Camille Claudel. It was also on the occasion of the London premiere of this film, directed by her ex-companion Bruni Nuytten (the father of her son Barnabé, born in 1979), that she was seduced by the Briton. The French actress then takes a break away from the film sets…
Asked whether she “paid” for this distancing out of love, Isabelle Adjani replies: “When love beckons you to follow it, follow it, though its paths are rough and steepshe confides today, to the magazine Gala of March 10, 2022. And when he embraces you with his wings, surrender, although the sword hidden in his feathers may hurt you.The 66-year-old star then adds:All I can say is that it didn’t rob me of my stardom. I could have found myself crying, I still laugh. So reward or punishment? I really don’t know.“
Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Day-Lewis finally separated in 1995, when the actress was pregnant with their son Gabriel-Kane. “The parents had the delicacy to separate before he arrived. It is very practical for the child: no trauma“, she confided to Madame Figaro in 2016. Her second son, the actress first raised him alone, notably in Switzerland, where she went to live for a time to ensure that she obtained custody of her son.
Eventually, relations between Gabriel-Kane’s parents were “pacified”, although everyone kept their distance: “I am convinced that great passions never turn into great friendships. I have great respect and admiration for his career and for the life he has given to his new partner and his children, but it would be intrusive and incongruous to see him again today.”
I am a loner
At 64, Daniel Day-Lewis lives between New York and Dublin, with his wife Rebecca Miller and their two sons: Ronan (born June 14, 1998) and Cashel (born May 2002). For her part, after her tumultuous love affair with Jean-Michel Jarre in the early 2000s, Isabelle Adjani was in a relationship with the neurosurgeon Stéphane Delajoux. Since their breakup in 2009, the actress has not mentioned a partner of the heart. “There is a loneliness in me. I am a lonershe confided to Madame Figaro in 2017. I got used to living alone: where would I install this potential lover today? I’m fine, I feel good in my body, happiness comes to me from within.”
On the cinema side, Isabelle Adjani will soon be starring in François Ozon’s next film, peter von kant. We will also find her in a new role as a historical figure: that of Diane de Poitiers, in a two-part TV movie which will be broadcast on France 2 in 2022.