Isabelle Adjani reveals herself as a former glamorous glory of cinema in the latest production by Nicolas Bedos, Masquerade. In love with a dashing but unreliable young man played by Pierre Niney, the French star is once again making waves on the big screen. A role commensurate with the talent of the one who has won no less than five Césars, while we will soon see her in the skin of Diane de Poitiers on television. If her professional life hoists her to the top, her personal existence has been marked by pain. Among these, the death of his brother stands out inexorably.
In a fascinating interview for the magazine Vogue Men in 2014, Isabelle Adjani had embarked on her extraordinary career. She could have, like others who started very young like her, sinking into the excesses of showbusiness, but her family background saved her from losing her footing. “I had a brother who spent his youth in the twists and turns of the night. I was desperate for him. He was only two years younger than me, but I was still afraid that something would happen to him. And obviously things have happened to him, she confided. He fell into the whirlwind of the night and his addictions, alcohol, drugs, a form of madness. And yet, he seemed indestructible. (…) I always worried about my brother, my double. (…) I never allowed myself the luxury of trying to lose myself.”
It was in 2010 that his brother Eric died on the night of December 25 to 26 of cardiac arrest. He had started his film career as Marguerite Duras’ assistant camera. (The truck in 1977) and had shot in a few films as an actor, before finding his way in photography. “He wasn’t that young when he died, but he was always kind of a man-child to me. I don’t know how he managed to live like this for years. He was an absolutely charming, irresistible man. Beautiful as an angel… damaged. No one could resist him. There were periods of accidents, suicide attempts, overdoses. And one day her body said stop, it’s too much“, added Isabelle Adjani.
His niece Zoé facing a father devoured by his demons
Eric Adjani’s talent now flows through the veins of his daughter Zoé, who we saw in the film Honey cigar by Kamir Aïnouz in 2021. In Paris Matchshe returned to the tragedy: “With my aunt Isabelle, we talk about him, sometimes, when we succeed, she like me. It’s not simple. Lots of upset stories…I lost my dad, she lost her little brother. You can imagine the harm that can do!“By becoming an actress, she honors her father and assumes that she has kept his name, a surname that can sometimes be difficult to bear:”I have often been advised to change it. You realize ? Crossing out my father’s name while I’m doing all this for him!“
Masqueradein theaters November 1, 2022
Diana of Poitiers broadcast on Mondays November 7 and 14, 2022 on France 2.