“I need to get obsessed by projects so I can be involved.”
“I need to get obsessed by projects so I can be involved. I want to be entirely disappearing in a project.” And that’s exactly what Marion Cotillard has done in joining season four of The Morning Show (Apple TV+). Cotillard plays Celine Dumont, the new board president of the fictional news network who has plans to shake things up. The Oscar-winning actress found her first major role in a TV series “very different from a movie,” but leaned into the “best advice” from co-star Billy Crudup. “He knew that I was freaking out. He said, ‘You know how smart they are. Give your total trust and be a happy puppet. Let them direct you.’” Part of what interested Cotillard about the series is what it says about the state of journalism. “Journalism sometimes has to have strong opinions [in order] to dig into subjects, but also to open the door of very ugly things.” Since winning the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, Cotillard has enjoyed a new medium in TV. “I never had any plan. I was so lucky that amazing directors offered me amazing journeys.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
What was it about the show that you love so much?
Okay, the first thing I loved about the show, because I watched the two first seasons in three days. And what was striking is that it was actually the first time that I saw a man in the #MeToo revolution that had a reflection about what he did and came to the point that he might have done something very wrong and criminal. And it never happened in the real world. As if all the women who speak are liars, which doesn’t make any sense when you look at it this way. And I thought it was so smart and it was so profound to portray a man who studied is consciousness and who finally realizes that he did something harmful and something that destroyed many lives. And so I thought it was so brilliant. But also all the characters and all the storylines and the fact that it is very entertaining and at the same time, again, profound questions about society, about politics, about human feelings, about relationships, about truth, about loyalty. Yeah, all those subjects that make a life and a society living together.
What is it like to join a cast that already kind of has their groove set?
Well, it’s them who welcome me as part of the family and the [from] first second I felt so good, I felt supported. They knew that it was my first TV show, and it’s very different from a movie. A movie you have a script, you have the whole story. So during my preparation for a movie I have all the information that I need. I create the information that I will need to find the authenticity of the story, of the character, of a scene. On a TV show, I have no reference. I don’t know if it’s always the case, but [when] we started filming, I only had read four episodes, so I didn’t know, I had no idea what would happen to my character. I had no idea what relationships would be developed. I had little information. I had enough information to build something, but a lot of it was the unknown, and they were very supportive. Like I remember the first table reading. I worked with Billy Crudup twice before this show. And both of us have always had the feeling that we were the same kind of actors, that we need to have this arc of emotion. Like, you know, that from the beginning to the end, you know how you’re going to build the character inside and out. And he came to me and said, “This is your first TV show, right?” And I said, “yes.” He’s like, “So you’re not used to this,” and he knew that I was freaking out, like I was begging the showrunner, Charlotte Stoudt, to give me more information and Mimi Leder, the director. I was like, “I need more information” and he said—and that was like the best advice—he said “You know what they did on the first three seasons. You know how smart they are. Give your total trust and be a happy puppet. Let them direct you. They know more than you know. But enjoy the process.” And I love to have new experiences like unexpected experiences. And as soon as he told me this, I was like, “Yeah, that’s what I should do.” Because then, it’s useless to freak out every day like, “Oh, my God. How am I going to play this if I don’t know what’s going to happen next?” And that was an amazing experience. And I knew that I could trust them like a hundred percent, and they were so supportive. They knew that I was a newcomer in this world of TV series. And I had an amazing experience.
And it’s probably freeing for you as an actor because it really forces you to trust your instincts in a scene.
What is funny is that on one special scene—and I won’t say much—but with one character, I knew that something would happen. And I played it in a way as if I expected or I knew that it would happen and they came to me saying, “No, no play it totally differently.” So I was like, “Oh, no. So maybe I was wrong. Maybe there will be no further interaction between those two characters.” And when I read the last scripts I was like, “Oh, I knew it. I knew it.” And I found it very interesting that they asked me to kind of not follow my instinct when I had no information about what would happen. Because it created something even better. It’s vague because like I don’t want to spoil anything.
This character, she’s such a boss. What is it about her power that appealed to you?
I always love to explore things that I haven’t explored before. And that kind of very powerful character, I never really explored. But what I love about her is her complexity. The fact that there is more insight than just like this powerful woman who’s in charge. Who has to prove a lot because she’s a woman in this world mainly run by men. But also there’s something about her family, the connection she has to her father, the competition with her brother, the fact that she is in need of recognition that I think we can all connect to. You know, even if it’s like not all the people need a huge recognition, but you always need to have the recognition of people you love, starting with parents. And I love to explore this struggle. I love to explore someone who’s strong and who deals with her weakness and tries to hide them, but at the same time can use them to manipulate people. Like the complexity, the layers of complexity of this character, I was so excited by all the things I would have to do and to convey to make her real and authentic.
At least here in the United States, but I’m sure internationally too, there is this mega corporate influence on news, on journalism, so I want to know did that part of her storyline interest you?
It is so interesting and that was something that I was so interested in telling the story of because, as you said, today, independent press is shrinking and I’m the kind of person who wants to read and to follow independent press. Because obviously you cannot say anything and all the things you want and speak your mind and follow your instinct or your heart on subjects when your owner is paying and might be involved sometimes in things you would like to speak about that is not like comfortable for them. I have a feeling that even like 10 years ago, it was still important for the news to be objective. Giving facts, sharing facts. Today, it’s more and more opinion-driven. I remember even when I was young, if you would give an opinion while delivering the news, people would think it was not a good thing. I mean, it has a good side of it; journalism sometimes has to have strong opinions to dig in subjects and to have this burning desire to share the news, but also to open the door or the boxes of very ugly things. And you have to have, like a moral and a strong opinion in a way. But today it’s more and more divided in the press, and you can see the media, it’s more and more divided. Subjectivity is accepted as part of delivering the news, which creates something that is obviously manipulative and that’s very interesting to show this.
I can’t spend any time with you without telling you the amount of times in my life that I have gone back and rewatched your Oscar acceptance speech [for La Vie en Rose] and how it is one of the best moments in Oscar history. Do you know how iconic it is?
Well, that’s so sweet. Well, listen, that was a time where I had decided to live the present moment. I wanted to have like the full experience of being present each half-quarter-second. And so then obviously I didn’t write anything. You know, and my publicist was mad at me. She was like, “You need to write something.” And I was like “No, I don’t want to write something. I don’t want to project myself in any future, even if it’s an hour away.” So, when I got there, I didn’t know what I would say. So it really like went like boom, and I said this sentence with very bad English. Because the first thing that came into my mind that morning, I was like, “Wow, all this way, like all my dreams. And I’m here today in Los Angeles and I’m nominated for an Oscar. And I just had the most amazing experience. Tomorrow I’m flying to Chicago to work with Michael Mann and Johnny Depp.” And it was just like and I had this sentence like “There must be…”
City of angels, angels in the city.
Angels in the city! And I don’t even really believe in angels. I was like, “This is a weird sentence.” But actually, I thought, yeah, something was happening that was so beautiful. And so, no, I don’t know. It was very genuine and not prepared at all. I don’t know. I saw it a couple of times, and I think it’s cute. And it was entirely myself at that moment, like for sure, I cannot hide it.
What was so exciting about that moment for people who love film like me, even though you were a star in France, we were seeing a star be born in that moment. Were you intentionally wanting to say, “I’m going to focus on English. I’m going to try to do this. I’m gonna try to be in this industry and lean into this”’ Did you actively do that, or did you feel like you were just following your choices?
I was solely following my choices. Yeah, I never had any plan. I was so lucky that amazing directors offered me amazing journeys, deep and beautiful stories and interesting and profound characters. No, I’ve never, ever had a plan. The way I make choices is just like I read something and I feel that it’s my place and my right place to be part of a project. And also, I need to get obsessed by projects so I can be involved in. Because if I’m not obsessed, I will not be like a thousand percent. And I want to do my job fully. I want to give everything. I want to be entirely disappearing in a project. And it takes a lot. It takes a lot of a life. And before I had kids, it was already the case. And then I had kids and it was even stronger than I needed to have this devouring need to be part of a project. So yeah, so it was like driven by that.
