For several years, she was low-key. Prolific during the 2000s and 2010s, Mathilde Seigner has slowed down since 2019. She returns to theaters this Wednesday with chorus of rockersa comedy about a singer who turns a choir of retirees into a rock band.
A feel-good comedy along the lines of Full Monty, inspired by the true story of the “Salt & Pepper” group, a Dunkirk senior choir that released an album of covers of rock standards. “They are very well known in their region, but they have signed with Universal”, exclaims Mathilde Seigner. “It’s crazy.”
The actress is very proud of this film that defends “good values”. “We need it in this ultra-difficult period. We only talk about covid and the war. It causes a lot of anxiety. It’s terrible. We put people in fear all the time. I think it’s a healing movie, which feels good.” It’s a movie for Christmas. It’s a fairy tale.”
“In the cinema there is no retirement”
Mathilde Seigner was moved by this film that “promotes older people”. “The theme is loneliness. The older you get, the more likely you are to be lonely,” she recalls. “I lost my dad 2 years ago and my mom is lonely and I know how much when you find yourself alone at a certain age life is a bit sad.” In the movie, the seniors she trains light up while singing. “It’s a search for happiness.”
Even today, few films feature older people, although cinema is one of the few media that frequently engages them. “In the cinema we work to death”, laughs Mathilde Seigner. “In addition, in the cinema there is no retirement for actors. We play girls, then mothers and then grandmothers. We have work until the end of our lives. It’s great.”
At almost 55 years old, Mathilde Seigner is not yet old enough to be a grandmother. Last year, she still played the daughter of Josiane Balasko in a visit to my daughter. But the time has come to take stock. “I decided a year ago to take a break to live a little and stop working and enjoy my son and watch him grow. He did me a lot, a lot of good.”
The taste for strong papers
After 34 years of career, Mathilde Seigner still does not think about retiring, but she needed to “recharge”. “You don’t have a life when you’re filming all the time.” She now wants to “change course”. Here is the “danger” hour: “I really want to recast more dramatic roles.” An idea born on the set of her last film, The Children of the Just.
In this historical drama by Fabien Onteniente, she plays a woman who saves Jews during World War II. She will be sent to a camp, from which she will come out alive.
“It gave me back the taste for these strong roles. I look forward to getting more like that. I’d like to go to movies like November.”
Mathilde Seigner still doesn’t know what the rest of her career has in store for her. For now, she has signed a series on agriculture. “I really wanted to play a farmer. She’s going to save farms all over France. She’s for TV. It’s a project that’s close to my heart.”
“I haven’t decided on the rest yet.” She will know within “three or four months” if she puts an end to her break. “I can’t stay like this forever,” admits the actress. “I have to get my life back.” A wish that she, she hopes, does not contradict her artistic ambition of the moment and her search for a “film that makes sense.”
Source: BFM TV
