Marion Cotillard opens up on being ‘manipulated’ by male director: ‘hate it’

Marion Cotillard has recently revealed she was “manipulated” by her male director at the Cannes Film Festival.

The French actress, who is promoting her new movie, Little Girl Blue, plays the role of Mona Achache’s mother Carole, who was a writer and set photographer.

Following the movie’s premiere at the festival, Marion attended the press conference where she was asked about a scene for which Mona (the director and writer of the movie) requested the actress to remain in character on her “tea break”.

When asked if this is an example of a “manipulative relationship between filmmaker and star, Marion replied, “I don’t see a director and an actor as being in relationships of manipulation. It’s more a collaboration.”

However, the Lady Macbeth actress told Variety, “It happened to me only once where I felt that I was being manipulated by a director, and I really didn’t like that.”

Marion, who did not name the male director, revealed that he made her “believe that their experience would consist of a process of working together with a collaborative connection”.

But the actress realised his intention and mentioned that she felt “uncomfortable”.

“I thought, ‘Is he manipulating me because he thinks that I’m going to be unable to give him what he needs, what he wants, if he doesn’t act this way?’” she recalled.

“And I felt like an object, and I really hated it,” asserted the actress.

Marion explained, “I saw right away all the manipulation, and I had the judgement that it was kind of dumb that you can’t ask me to do things without trying to use ways of manipulation that really don’t work with me,” adding, “with my personality as a woman, I mean, as a human being, and as an actress.”