Romain Duris, bluffing in "Black River": "I never look at myself"

We knew Romain Duris, 44, who could play everything. From his first roles to banter for Cédric Klapisch ("The Young Peril") to more silent characters like "The man who wanted to live his life", through the comic register of "The Arnacoeur". But in "Black River", Erick Zonca, it impresses squarely in the register of a chilling French teacher, ambiguous, suspected by a cop – incarnated by Vincent Cbadel – to have some responsibility in the disappearance of the one of his students.

You are unrecognizable in "Black River". It's deliberate?

ROMAIN DURIS. That's what I liked. The character is necessarily far from me, internally and physically, suddenly there was something to create. It was a risk taking. There was physical work. It's very nice to create a silhouette, a way to express oneself, to move, especially when it's still credible, that one does not fall into the performance.

The dialogues were very written?

Yes the words were carefully chosen, and it is all the more important that he is a French teacher. He wants to be a writer, he has a precision of language, a way of saying things, he does not speak too much, especially in his relationship with this cop who does not let go. He is also a very sensitive person, who knows he can lose his face fast enough, he has to measure what he says. It leaves little room for improvisation.

You repeated with the director or alone in front of your mirror?

There was not that much with Erick Zonca. We searched during the catches, because we went far, to find the right balance, the right dosage. As for the mirror, I am not an actor who observes himself. I never look at myself, I feel. I read the book from which the film is shot, and then I had several sessions with Zonca, who told me what condition it can take you to write. For the rest, I put sliders, not to lose myself, but that allow me to go very far with a character.

Yan is really a weird, frosty guy, anyway …

Oh yes ! But this is one of the rare roles where I did not ask myself whether I liked it or not. Often, I have the impression of having a mission compared to those I embody, to want to save them. Not there, I just said: If I meet him, I'm not sure I appreciate this guy . It allowed me to work differently, to try something else. He is so different from me that I had to think about it before, that I work. That's not the kind of role that makes you want to go shyly, to be small.

Do you like more and more to play everything?

I really like all the tones, from comedy to drama. Without calculating: I never tell myself Well, I just made three dramas, if I went to a comedy? I sometimes think I'd like to play more comedies, but the problem is that 'reading their scenarios, I am more worried. It must make me laugh, and what makes you laugh is very personal. Agree with a type of humor, a tone, which will embark you or not – except in Cédric Klapisch, which brings human into comedy. For Arnacoeur I took a long time to accept. The valves written, often, it's scary, it's formatted. It leaves few margins. In the drama, there is more mystery, it requires exploration.

Last year, we saw you in Ridley Scott's "All the money in the world", where you played an Italian kidnapper. How was this shooting done?

Hollywood shootings are big machines, with a lot of people, for me it can be difficult. But Ridley Scott is very strong, he puts you very quickly at ease: he speaks to you in the ear before taking, creates intimacy in the middle of it all, it is precious. I had to play an Italian who speaks poor English, it was not easy, I was nervous, but Ridley rebadured me. And then I refused to be freaked out, ceaselessly I told myself: I do not want to spoil this moment .

Would you like to shoot with other foreign directors? [19659005Goonlet'snotbeafraidwe'reinfantasysoI'mgoingtosayMartinScorsese