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Marion Cotillard: Press Conference


Public Enemies
30 June 2009

1. After “La Vie en Rose” you must of been in undated with offers from Hollywood and further afield, what made you say yes to Public Enemies?
I’m a great fan of Michael Mann, and when he asked to see me I couldn’t believe it and I was very happy. I met him and read this beautiful script. I didn’t know anything about Dillinger, I really just fell in love with the movie and Michael Mann.
 

2. How was it doing the American accent and how did you prepare for that?
Well it was a technical issue, and very tough, when I first started I think it was not possible at all but I really tried to do my best. 

Fortunately, she’s half french, but she’s not supposed to have a french accent because she lived in North Dakota and Wisconsin. It’s very technical, you really have to work and work and work and practice. It’s about using your whole face, jaw, tongue in a totally different way.

It was very interesting; I love English language, which makes it easier. I would spend hours in front of the mirror with my dialect coach observing my tongue.
 

3. How was it on set with so many men, being one of the very few women involved. Did you feel excluded?
No Absolutely not. Michael Mann has a great respect for women, he’s surrounded by women in his life, and I think that’s why the women in his films are always so strong. They have a strong personality and a strong place in the film, so I felt really welcomed.
 

4. You had the opportunity to meet some real life Gangsters wives and girlfriends, are they easily accessible?
They were actually convicts wives, some of them were not real gangsters, it was other stories. They were so generous to share their stories with me, and the painful experiences they had. We spent a few hours together, and it was very emotional because they were emotional going through the whole story of their life.

Actually, I have to say that apart from the stories being important, that what they felt, the feelings, the extreme pain, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. 
  

5. What research did you do into Dillinger? He’s an American folk hero, we know of him pretty well in the Uk, is he wwell know in France?
I’m not really sure, I think that my generation doesn’t know Dillinger, and yeah I didn’t know anything about him, I didn’t even know his name. The first thing I read about him was the script, then I read the book; Public Enemies.I didn’t do alot of research about him, my research was more about Billie, the period, American history and the Indian history because Billie Frechette is half indian. So I really wanted to know about American culture and Indian culture.