Stars of the Suite Francaise flocked to the Mayfair Hotel for the gala screening of the upcoming flick, where Kristin Scott Thomas revealed she just could not resist taking the lead role in, despite not enjoying making films much any more.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star recently admitted that she wants to spend less time making films because she doesn’t like the process of waiting around in trailers and slow shoots, preferring theatre work instead.
But the 54-year-old has said she would make exceptions for projects she couldn’t resist, such as Suite Francaise, an adaptation of the Irene Nemirovsky novel that was discovered unfinished in the author’s home after she died at Auschwitz.
“I’d read the novel when it was first published and I just wanted to be part of the whole adventure,” Kristin said.
The film tells the story of a French woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her daughter-in-law (Michelle Williams) who are forced to host a Nazi officer (Matthias Schoenaerts) while the woman’s son is away at war – only to find the daughter in law and Nazi officer fall in love.
“I liked working with Michelle Williams a lot, she’s brilliant. The relationship between the characters is very complicated – the daughter in law is the only thing remaining of her son in the house and it all comes crumbling down when she discovers she is having a relationship with this Nazi,” Kristin revealed.
Matthias Schoenaerts also strutted his stuff on the red carpet, admitting it had taken a while for him to come to terms with playing a Nazi.
“In the beginning I had moral issues with the character,” he said.
“But then I read the novel and thought if the writer loves the character so much, then I have to allow myself to love him as well.”
Talking about the chance he bagged working with Kristen and a cast that includes Margot Robbie, he added: “It feels like a little kid who gets the chance to play for the Champions League. It’s a great team.
“It raises the bar, makes you want to be better and go the extra mile and give it all you’ve got.”
Kristen’s next role sees her take over from Dame Helen Mirren as the Queen in the play The Audience. When asked what was the most daunting part of playing the monarch, she replied: “Everything.”
She added: “Playing someone who’s alive is extraordinary. Of course this is a play, not a documentary or anything like that, but we are trying to recount history.
“Whether these things were actually said is another matter, but it’s a very clever way of telling the story of the past 60 years.”
Suite Francaise is released in cinemas on March 13.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article