‘The Mad Women’s Ball’ director Mélanie Laurent on the thrill of shooting in film for the first time

Known for her roles in ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘6 Underground’, multi-hyphenate Mélanie Laurent talks about directing the French film ‘Le Bal des Folles’ (‘The Mad Women’s Ball’) which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2021

Directing oneself sounds like an out-of-body experience but actor-filmmaker-musician Mélanie Laurent revelled in it. Despite a busy virtual press tour for her French-language film The Mad Women’s Ball (Le Bal Des Folles), she looks at ease as she talks about the themes of the book-to-screen adaptation.

Laurent laughs as she says that directing a movie in which she also stars is less stressful and she feels in command of the set too. “In France, a lot of directors don’t want to work with me because I’m a director. Meanwhile, foreign directors find that to be a cool thing.”

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