Luis Martínez Paris
Paris
Updated Sunday, February 18, 2024-9:50 p.m.
Vincent Lindon
(Boulogne-Billancourt, 1959) is to French cinema what French cinema is to him. It's hard to know where one ends and another begins. Capable of transforming into the most bestial and naked of beings in
Titane
while at the same time embodying the most conscientious of workers (and businessmen too) in Stéphane Brizé's trilogy about the evils of capitalism,
its ambition, which he makes rhyme with vocation, knows no limits
.
Now he plays a French administration official determined to unmask those responsible for what is known as
"the fraud of the century"
on account of the carbon tax. Directed by
Xavier Giannoli
, the series
Blood and Money
(Filmin) runs across the screen like an electric shock. And in the middle, a
Lindon
in a state of grace that never ends.
And there are more than 40 years of career
.
In recent years it seems to have specialized in committed or very political films. Doesn't he fear being classified as an activist? Nobody asks a bourgeois actor if he is violent if he happens to dedicate his life to making action movies. I will simply say that I care about the lives of my fellow citizens because before being an actor I am a citizen myself. I like people, I like bakers, I like the world. Is that politics? I don't think so. But I won't deny that it doesn't sound a bit condescending to talk about people the way you, a movie star, talk about people. I'm not a movie star. I came to this interview on my scooter. Nobody followed me and two bodyguards are not with me. I will also say that I do not advertise for any clothing or perfume brand. I don't have a social network... I go to the bar and order a coffee. Someone wants to talk to me, well he talks to me and there is no problem. The only thing I can't stand is when they secretly take photos of me in a restaurant. For God's sake, since when is it necessary to photograph everything. Have we gone crazy? What did you know about the scandal in
Blood and Money
before making the series? All. What's more, he knew one of the scammers personally. I ran into him at some casino because he played cards. And I have to say that he was a very nice guy.
"If I find out that someone I know is evading taxes, I stop greeting them immediately"
He has been acting for more than 40 years. Do you enjoy it as much today as when you were young? Honestly, I think I'm getting better at it. And it's not acting that I like. What I am passionate about is something as simple as doing my job as well as possible. What I like is being in love with work. I like to work. I like to get up in the morning and work. Nothing more. Whether with his work with Brizé or in the film
A State Scandal
or in this series, he usually plays morally impeccable characters. Do you see yourself reflected in them? I don't choose based on that. But it is true that I identify with the moral values of the character I play in
Blood and Money
. I am a Republican and I believe that it is important to pay taxes and that these taxes are not stolen or evaded. I will add that justice is my obsession. If I find out that someone I know is evading taxes, I stop greeting them immediately. Someone who defrauds the Treasury is someone who does not want to contribute to education, to the police, to health... But what kind of person do you have to be to do something like that! Let him go to hell. My father raised me that way and yes, I say it loudly, I like people who pay taxes. On the other hand, they are not afraid to take risks. His work in
Titane
comes to mind where he developed impressive muscles. About this I will say one thing related to current cinema. All the actors are very skinny these days. I'm not saying it bothers me, but where are those character actors who could play a trucker? Now you go to the movies and all the male characters are intellectuals. I miss the cutting of actors like John Wayne. Why do you keep rejecting offers from Hollywood? Making a film in Hollywood is losing the opportunity to make 45 in your country. I don't want to play someone I know nothing about. I don't want to be a pizza maker in New York or a truck driver in Minnesota. I have seen too many people ruin their careers by pursuing the American dream.
"We live in a society in which we spend all our time measuring our words so as not to look bad"
He despises American cinema then...Not at all. How can I not admire directors like Scorsese or Coppola! I will say more, if there is a genre that I really enjoy, it is revenge movies like
The Equalizer
or
Taken
. I recognize that he has some guilty pleasure. That taste doesn't add up if you look at his filmography...What I hate the most is hypocrisy. You have to be free to say what you think. We live in a society in which we spend all our time measuring our words so as not to look bad, to seem better than we really are. It is very common to find people in France who boast of having read
In Search of Lost Time
by Marcel Proust. It is easy to catch those who have not done it and will not do it. They are the ones who say: "The second time I read it...". There is another book that serves perfectly to hunt down hypocrites and it is
Bella del Señor
, by Albert Cohen. I didn't get past page 74. I was really bored. But, be careful, I'm not saying that they are bad authors. No, I just don't like them. It's something I learned from my grandmother. She always told me, "Don't say spinach is bad. Say you don't like it." I'm sorry, but I don't like Picasso. Anyone else? Yes, and I know that every time I confess it I get into trouble. I don't like Fellini. I can understand that he is a genius, that he is one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. But I'm sorry, I don't want to watch Fellini's movies. I know it's my fault and I accept it.