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| Julie Delpy has many funny lines in the new film “Before Midnight,” but the funniest one — in which she mockingly runs through her boyfriend’s lackluster sexual routine, a line that starts with “Kissy, kissy” and ends with the sound of snoring and is otherwise far too graphic to repeat here — is delivered with such vigorous crudeness that I couldn’t resist asking her to recite it for me in person. Which she did, over and over, despite the fact that we were surrounded by fellow diners at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. | Julie Delpy has many funny lines in the new film “Before Midnight,” but the funniest one — in which she mockingly runs through her boyfriend’s lackluster sexual routine, a line that starts with “Kissy, kissy” and ends with the sound of snoring and is otherwise far too graphic to repeat here — is delivered with such vigorous crudeness that I couldn’t resist asking her to recite it for me in person. Which she did, over and over, despite the fact that we were surrounded by fellow diners at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. |
| Each time she repeated it, her enjoyment increased considerably. “That is so much fun to say!” she said finally, adding that she actually prefers the line that follows it. In the scene, her character, Celine, is fighting with her novelist boyfriend, Jesse (played by Ethan Hawke), and she is moving in for the kill. “The way you write in your book, people come up to me and think I make love to some wildcat Henry Miller type. . . . Ha! You like to have sex the exact same way every time” — “Kissy, kissy,” sound of snoring, et cetera — “You’re no Henry Miller on any level.” | Each time she repeated it, her enjoyment increased considerably. “That is so much fun to say!” she said finally, adding that she actually prefers the line that follows it. In the scene, her character, Celine, is fighting with her novelist boyfriend, Jesse (played by Ethan Hawke), and she is moving in for the kill. “The way you write in your book, people come up to me and think I make love to some wildcat Henry Miller type. . . . Ha! You like to have sex the exact same way every time” — “Kissy, kissy,” sound of snoring, et cetera — “You’re no Henry Miller on any level.” |
| In the movie, it’s a moment of breathtaking nastiness. In real life, Delpy clapped her hands together and laughed. “The Henry Miller thing I really enjoy saying. It’s so pleasurable. I can’t explain it. It’s so mean! As the writer of the line, as the sex partner who delivers it — you couldn’t be meaner to a writer that you are involved with, you know?” | In the movie, it’s a moment of breathtaking nastiness. In real life, Delpy clapped her hands together and laughed. “The Henry Miller thing I really enjoy saying. It’s so pleasurable. I can’t explain it. It’s so mean! As the writer of the line, as the sex partner who delivers it — you couldn’t be meaner to a writer that you are involved with, you know?” |
| “Before Midnight” is the third film in a trilogy directed by Richard Linklater, which began with “Before Sunrise” in 1995. In that film, the young American Jesse meets the French Celine on a train, and in the second film, “Before Sunset,” they are reunited in Paris after nine years. In the new film, nine more years have passed, and Jesse and Celine are a couple with twin girls. If you’ve ever wondered what a film codirected by Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman might look like — “Scenes From a Marriage” by way of “Annie Hall” — “Before Midnight” is about as close as you will get. | “Before Midnight” is the third film in a trilogy directed by Richard Linklater, which began with “Before Sunrise” in 1995. In that film, the young American Jesse meets the French Celine on a train, and in the second film, “Before Sunset,” they are reunited in Paris after nine years. In the new film, nine more years have passed, and Jesse and Celine are a couple with twin girls. If you’ve ever wondered what a film codirected by Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman might look like — “Scenes From a Marriage” by way of “Annie Hall” — “Before Midnight” is about as close as you will get. |
| Delpy has been a star in Europe for nearly 30 years, since Jean-Luc Godard cast her in the film “Detective” when she was 14. But she has remained relatively unknown in the U.S. — and what fame she has here is thanks mostly to Linklater’s trilogy. The films are lauded, among other things, for their seemingly off-the-cuff performances, and that has led some to assume that Delpy and Hawke are essentially playing themselves. Linklater takes issue with that idea. “It’s a disservice to Julie and to Ethan to say that what they are doing is improvisation,” he says. “We want to give the impression that we’ve just turned on a camera and they riff, but I can’t think of one line that was not in the script. They’re acting, and it’s the most difficult thing an actor can do, to appear so natural.” | Delpy has been a star in Europe for nearly 30 years, since Jean-Luc Godard cast her in the film “Detective” when she was 14. But she has remained relatively unknown in the U.S. — and what fame she has here is thanks mostly to Linklater’s trilogy. The films are lauded, among other things, for their seemingly off-the-cuff performances, and that has led some to assume that Delpy and Hawke are essentially playing themselves. Linklater takes issue with that idea. “It’s a disservice to Julie and to Ethan to say that what they are doing is improvisation,” he says. “We want to give the impression that we’ve just turned on a camera and they riff, but I can’t think of one line that was not in the script. They’re acting, and it’s the most difficult thing an actor can do, to appear so natural.” |
| Still, Delpy and Celine share certain qualities — a raunchy sense of humor, a rather prim way of dressing (call it Bohemian schoolteacher), an unyielding feminism and fierce advocacy for their beliefs — that can be exhilarating or alienating, depending on your point of view. At one point in “Before Midnight,” Jesse talks about feeling depressed when he sees their daughters fighting. Celine says she sees beautiful energy. “That’s because you see anger as a positive emotion,” he tells her. | Still, Delpy and Celine share certain qualities — a raunchy sense of humor, a rather prim way of dressing (call it Bohemian schoolteacher), an unyielding feminism and fierce advocacy for their beliefs — that can be exhilarating or alienating, depending on your point of view. At one point in “Before Midnight,” Jesse talks about feeling depressed when he sees their daughters fighting. Celine says she sees beautiful energy. “That’s because you see anger as a positive emotion,” he tells her. |
| Delpy has always been similarly fearless about expressing herself and her ideas. “Even if I’m wrong, I don’t care. What matters is I do it.” As for Celine, “she is very flawed, which is appealing to other women who are strong. I don’t know about men, it could be scary for them.” | Delpy has always been similarly fearless about expressing herself and her ideas. “Even if I’m wrong, I don’t care. What matters is I do it.” As for Celine, “she is very flawed, which is appealing to other women who are strong. I don’t know about men, it could be scary for them.” |
| During our dinner, a steady stream of French friends stopped by our table to say hello. One of them, a movie-star-handsome documentarian, leaned in to say: “Julie’s the funniest person I know. The most neurotic and — ” | During our dinner, a steady stream of French friends stopped by our table to say hello. One of them, a movie-star-handsome documentarian, leaned in to say: “Julie’s the funniest person I know. The most neurotic and — ” |
| “Don’t’ say that!” Delpy yelled. “She’s a journalist!” | “Don’t’ say that!” Delpy yelled. “She’s a journalist!” |
| The friend assured me that he had meant it in the best possible way. | The friend assured me that he had meant it in the best possible way. |
| “No, I’m joking,” Delpy said. “It’s a secret — nobody knows I’m neurotic.” | “No, I’m joking,” Delpy said. “It’s a secret — nobody knows I’m neurotic.” |
| The reason it took nine years to make “Before Sunset” and another nine to make “Before Midnight” has more to do with fatigue than with an actual plan. When I spoke to Linklater and Delpy, the word “arduous” came up a lot. “After the first film, we needed nine years to recover,” she said. “I swear to God, people are already asking if we are planning a fourth, and I’m like, I don’t want to hear about it for a while.” | The reason it took nine years to make “Before Sunset” and another nine to make “Before Midnight” has more to do with fatigue than with an actual plan. When I spoke to Linklater and Delpy, the word “arduous” came up a lot. “After the first film, we needed nine years to recover,” she said. “I swear to God, people are already asking if we are planning a fourth, and I’m like, I don’t want to hear about it for a while.” |
| “Before Sunrise” was written by Linklater and Kim Krizan before Hawke and Delpy were cast. The intention was to make the central relationship feel as natural as possible, so after Linklater cast his actors, the three rewrote the film together. (Delpy and Hawke got no screenwriting credit, which still irks her.) In “Before Sunrise,” the action begins on a train, where Jesse picks up Celine, then follows the couple through a night in Vienna, as they walk and talk and fall in love. They are in their early 20s, and the balance between cynicism and hopefulness clearly tips in favor of the latter. In the morning, they each go home alone, planning to meet again in six months. | “Before Sunrise” was written by Linklater and Kim Krizan before Hawke and Delpy were cast. The intention was to make the central relationship feel as natural as possible, so after Linklater cast his actors, the three rewrote the film together. (Delpy and Hawke got no screenwriting credit, which still irks her.) In “Before Sunrise,” the action begins on a train, where Jesse picks up Celine, then follows the couple through a night in Vienna, as they walk and talk and fall in love. They are in their early 20s, and the balance between cynicism and hopefulness clearly tips in favor of the latter. In the morning, they each go home alone, planning to meet again in six months. |
| In the second film, “Before Sunset,” from 2004, Jesse and Celine have not seen each other since Vienna; he has written a best-selling novel based on their night together, and Celine shows up at his reading in Paris. They are now in their early 30s, each a little bruised and disappointed; she’s still single, and he’s unhappily married with a son back in America. This time they walk and talk their way back to her apartment. | In the second film, “Before Sunset,” from 2004, Jesse and Celine have not seen each other since Vienna; he has written a best-selling novel based on their night together, and Celine shows up at his reading in Paris. They are now in their early 30s, each a little bruised and disappointed; she’s still single, and he’s unhappily married with a son back in America. This time they walk and talk their way back to her apartment. |
| Both films rank high on romantic-movie best-of lists (and the second one earned the writers an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay), but “Before Sunset” definitely has more edge. By the last scene — perhaps one of the most rapturously romantic in modern cinema — Jesse (and the audience) is in Celine’s thrall. | Both films rank high on romantic-movie best-of lists (and the second one earned the writers an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay), but “Before Sunset” definitely has more edge. By the last scene — perhaps one of the most rapturously romantic in modern cinema — Jesse (and the audience) is in Celine’s thrall. |
| The initial brainstorming for the third film, “Before Midnight,” began in 2010. The collaboration they each describe sounds not unlike the films themselves: “We sit around and talk and have fun and digress and argue,” Linklater told me. “ ‘Before Sunset’ is more raunchy and blunt, because that was how we were with each other, and that continued into ‘Before Midnight.’ ” From the start, they knew that orchestrating another encounter would be false; that Jesse and Celine now needed to be a couple. The film’s action takes place on the last day of a monthlong summer vacation, this time in Greece in the southern Peloponnese. “The challenge was so bittersweet,” Linklater says. “The whole notion of romance after a certain age — you have to work for it.” | |
| Delpy, who is lovely if somewhat amorphous in the first film, begins to harden into something sharp and brilliant in the second. By “Before Midnight,” it suddenly feels as if the whole trilogy were secretly about Celine all along. Delpy is naturally combative and funny, and as she has become more confident, so has Celine. “Richard first hired me, in some ways, because he wanted the female voice to be as strong as the male voice — if not stronger. When he cast me in the first film, he talked to me for a while, and he realized it would be easier to kill me than to make me docile.” Linklater and Hawke have learned, she said, that “if they write something just a little misogynistic, I go crazy. And they look at me with a smile. They love it.” When I relayed this to Hawke, he laughed, adding affectionately: “Julie can see misogyny where there isn’t any.” | Delpy, who is lovely if somewhat amorphous in the first film, begins to harden into something sharp and brilliant in the second. By “Before Midnight,” it suddenly feels as if the whole trilogy were secretly about Celine all along. Delpy is naturally combative and funny, and as she has become more confident, so has Celine. “Richard first hired me, in some ways, because he wanted the female voice to be as strong as the male voice — if not stronger. When he cast me in the first film, he talked to me for a while, and he realized it would be easier to kill me than to make me docile.” Linklater and Hawke have learned, she said, that “if they write something just a little misogynistic, I go crazy. And they look at me with a smile. They love it.” When I relayed this to Hawke, he laughed, adding affectionately: “Julie can see misogyny where there isn’t any.” |
| “Before Midnight” contains some astonishingly long scenes of unbroken verbiage, like one during a drive back from the airport, where Jesse has dropped off his son. Right away, the seeds of future discord are planted: Jesse worries that he’s losing his son; Celine begins to suspect that he will ask her to relocate to Chicago, thus further stalling her career as an environmental activist, which motherhood has already compromised. The deft emotional choreography — the almost-but-not-quite tension — is thrilling to watch, if taxing to pull off. “The car scene is 14 pages of dialogue, and there are no cuts, so if you mess up, you have to start again,” Delpy said. “And Richard is very particular. We have to learn every word. . . . I get palpitations during those scenes.” | “Before Midnight” contains some astonishingly long scenes of unbroken verbiage, like one during a drive back from the airport, where Jesse has dropped off his son. Right away, the seeds of future discord are planted: Jesse worries that he’s losing his son; Celine begins to suspect that he will ask her to relocate to Chicago, thus further stalling her career as an environmental activist, which motherhood has already compromised. The deft emotional choreography — the almost-but-not-quite tension — is thrilling to watch, if taxing to pull off. “The car scene is 14 pages of dialogue, and there are no cuts, so if you mess up, you have to start again,” Delpy said. “And Richard is very particular. We have to learn every word. . . . I get palpitations during those scenes.” |
| Another such scene is the Henry Miller fight, which unfolds in Jesse and Celine’s hotel room. It’s like watching a riveting, slow-moving accident, with all the fascinating discomfort that implies. There are numerous reasons that Delpy’s performance in “Before Midnight” could be considered one of the bravest by an actress, but the one that will likely get the most attention happens in this scene and has nothing to do with anything she says. | Another such scene is the Henry Miller fight, which unfolds in Jesse and Celine’s hotel room. It’s like watching a riveting, slow-moving accident, with all the fascinating discomfort that implies. There are numerous reasons that Delpy’s performance in “Before Midnight” could be considered one of the bravest by an actress, but the one that will likely get the most attention happens in this scene and has nothing to do with anything she says. |
| “You mean when I have my 43-year-old breasts hanging out?” Delpy asked when I alluded to it. The scene happens after Jesse and Celine start to make love in the hotel, then break and start to argue. Caught in the moment, Celine forgets to pull up her dress and proceeds to walk around the room, recline on the bed and talk to her stepson on the phone for roughly five minutes, topless, as a 43-year-old woman might do in real life but rarely does on film. It’s both startling and liberating to watch. | “You mean when I have my 43-year-old breasts hanging out?” Delpy asked when I alluded to it. The scene happens after Jesse and Celine start to make love in the hotel, then break and start to argue. Caught in the moment, Celine forgets to pull up her dress and proceeds to walk around the room, recline on the bed and talk to her stepson on the phone for roughly five minutes, topless, as a 43-year-old woman might do in real life but rarely does on film. It’s both startling and liberating to watch. |
| Yet at the Sundance Film Festival, where “Before Midnight” was shown, Delpy was surprised when a woman objected to the scene, asking, “Don’t you feel used because you show your breasts in the film? ” Delpy remains unfazed. “I say: My mother was doing demonstrations in the ’60s, topless, saying women are free. O.K., so what is freedom?” It’s not, she pointed out, about denying that women are sexual. “I’m probably more interested in sex than any man I’ve met — all of them put together!” She paused, then laughed. “With the right person, of course — I’m not a nymphomaniac. I need to fall in love, so I have a little confusion. I’m a pervert, but in a romantic way.” | Yet at the Sundance Film Festival, where “Before Midnight” was shown, Delpy was surprised when a woman objected to the scene, asking, “Don’t you feel used because you show your breasts in the film? ” Delpy remains unfazed. “I say: My mother was doing demonstrations in the ’60s, topless, saying women are free. O.K., so what is freedom?” It’s not, she pointed out, about denying that women are sexual. “I’m probably more interested in sex than any man I’ve met — all of them put together!” She paused, then laughed. “With the right person, of course — I’m not a nymphomaniac. I need to fall in love, so I have a little confusion. I’m a pervert, but in a romantic way.” |
| A few days after our dinner, I met Delpy at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which was hosting a Stanley Kubrick exhibition, which she’d already seen twice. Inside, we found seats in the first room, a theater showing clips of Kubrick’s films. “2001: A Space Odyssey” was on the screen. I asked Delpy if she was a fan, and she said: “Of course! It changed my life when I saw it.” | A few days after our dinner, I met Delpy at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which was hosting a Stanley Kubrick exhibition, which she’d already seen twice. Inside, we found seats in the first room, a theater showing clips of Kubrick’s films. “2001: A Space Odyssey” was on the screen. I asked Delpy if she was a fan, and she said: “Of course! It changed my life when I saw it.” |
| The last time Delpy came to the show, she took her son, Leo, who is 4. Delpy lives in Los Angeles with Leo’s father, the German film composer Marc Streitenfield. “My boyfriend was like, ‘You can’t take him, it’s too scary!’ ” She shook her head dismissively. “Of course I didn’t take him to the ‘Shining’ room,” she said. “But kids should see this stuff.” Delpy’s father took her as a child to Godard, Bergman and Polanski films. “I saw ‘Tess’ when I was 10,” she said. | The last time Delpy came to the show, she took her son, Leo, who is 4. Delpy lives in Los Angeles with Leo’s father, the German film composer Marc Streitenfield. “My boyfriend was like, ‘You can’t take him, it’s too scary!’ ” She shook her head dismissively. “Of course I didn’t take him to the ‘Shining’ room,” she said. “But kids should see this stuff.” Delpy’s father took her as a child to Godard, Bergman and Polanski films. “I saw ‘Tess’ when I was 10,” she said. |
| Growing up in Paris, Delpy made her first short film at 12. She wasn’t a natural exhibitionist like her parents, actors in avant-garde theater. “I’m much tamer than they were,” she said. “They were wild, crazy people. I know the word has been overused, but intellectually they were true anarchists — you don’t follow one line, no one can format you, you’re a unique individual with a unique mind.” | Growing up in Paris, Delpy made her first short film at 12. She wasn’t a natural exhibitionist like her parents, actors in avant-garde theater. “I’m much tamer than they were,” she said. “They were wild, crazy people. I know the word has been overused, but intellectually they were true anarchists — you don’t follow one line, no one can format you, you’re a unique individual with a unique mind.” |
| Delpy wrote her first screenplay at 16, which a French publisher offered to turn into a novel. “It never happened, but that gave me confidence in my writing,” she said. “Then I shot a film with Sam Shepard” — “Voyager,” in 1991 — “and I read him a line from the script — one line! — and he said: ‘You’re a pretty girl. Just stay that.’ ” Delpy laughs. “So then I recoiled, and I stopped writing.” (Shepard could not be reached for comment.) | Delpy wrote her first screenplay at 16, which a French publisher offered to turn into a novel. “It never happened, but that gave me confidence in my writing,” she said. “Then I shot a film with Sam Shepard” — “Voyager,” in 1991 — “and I read him a line from the script — one line! — and he said: ‘You’re a pretty girl. Just stay that.’ ” Delpy laughs. “So then I recoiled, and I stopped writing.” (Shepard could not be reached for comment.) |
| She later found a mentor in the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who, beginning in 1993, cast her in his “Three Colors” trilogy. “He was very supportive of women directors, and he really pushed me to direct and write,” said Delpy, who used the money from acting jobs to pay for the film program at New York University. By the time she met Hawke and Linklater, she had acted in a few undistinguished American films (“Killing Zoe,” which took her to Los Angeles, and “The Three Musketeers,” both in 1993), and she was thoroughly frustrated. “To be a pouty French beauty, she wasn’t into that,” Hawke told me. “I think she felt trapped by her beauty. She was tripping all over it. Directors didn’t want to hire her because she was smarter than they were. It took Rick to not be intimidated by her.” Since then, in addition to cowriting the Linklater trilogy, Delpy has written and directed five films of her own (including the American comedies “2 Days in Paris” and “2 Days in New York”), and she’s currently working on two French films that she plans to direct, as well as an American screenplay and a TV show. | She later found a mentor in the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who, beginning in 1993, cast her in his “Three Colors” trilogy. “He was very supportive of women directors, and he really pushed me to direct and write,” said Delpy, who used the money from acting jobs to pay for the film program at New York University. By the time she met Hawke and Linklater, she had acted in a few undistinguished American films (“Killing Zoe,” which took her to Los Angeles, and “The Three Musketeers,” both in 1993), and she was thoroughly frustrated. “To be a pouty French beauty, she wasn’t into that,” Hawke told me. “I think she felt trapped by her beauty. She was tripping all over it. Directors didn’t want to hire her because she was smarter than they were. It took Rick to not be intimidated by her.” Since then, in addition to cowriting the Linklater trilogy, Delpy has written and directed five films of her own (including the American comedies “2 Days in Paris” and “2 Days in New York”), and she’s currently working on two French films that she plans to direct, as well as an American screenplay and a TV show. |
| At the museum, we stopped in front of a clip from “Dr. Strangelove,” one of the Kubrick films she admires most. Delpy likes humor that makes you squirm. I asked her to name her favorite comedies, expecting something by Woody Allen, with whom she’s been compared (“That’s very nice, but not very nice to him,” she said), but instead she listed three films by Martin Scorsese: “The King of Comedy,” “After Hours” and “Goodfellas.” “I mean, they kill people and you’re laughing,” she said. “I love psychotic people. I’ve always dreamed about being Joe Pesci in ‘Goodfellas.’ ” | At the museum, we stopped in front of a clip from “Dr. Strangelove,” one of the Kubrick films she admires most. Delpy likes humor that makes you squirm. I asked her to name her favorite comedies, expecting something by Woody Allen, with whom she’s been compared (“That’s very nice, but not very nice to him,” she said), but instead she listed three films by Martin Scorsese: “The King of Comedy,” “After Hours” and “Goodfellas.” “I mean, they kill people and you’re laughing,” she said. “I love psychotic people. I’ve always dreamed about being Joe Pesci in ‘Goodfellas.’ ” |
| During our dinner in the Chateau Marmont garden, she admitted to feeling a little giddy. “It’s great being out,” she said. “I forgot! My life has been so crazy lately. With my son, and working, it’s a lot. I haven’t stopped since I had Leo. I mean . . . I was happy to have the baby. He was very cute and sweet. But I needed work. Well, it’s not that I need work, it’s that I like writing. I love to be with my son, you know, but I’m not going to lie and pretend that I’m like this. . . .” She trailed off. I asked if she had any help. “I have one girl who comes three times a week for a few hours. But you know, I have less help than people I know who don’t work, who have, like, au pairs and nannies up the wazoo.” | During our dinner in the Chateau Marmont garden, she admitted to feeling a little giddy. “It’s great being out,” she said. “I forgot! My life has been so crazy lately. With my son, and working, it’s a lot. I haven’t stopped since I had Leo. I mean . . . I was happy to have the baby. He was very cute and sweet. But I needed work. Well, it’s not that I need work, it’s that I like writing. I love to be with my son, you know, but I’m not going to lie and pretend that I’m like this. . . .” She trailed off. I asked if she had any help. “I have one girl who comes three times a week for a few hours. But you know, I have less help than people I know who don’t work, who have, like, au pairs and nannies up the wazoo.” |
| A little later she told me about visiting Francis Bacon’s squalid studio in London when she was a teenager, which led to an anecdote about going to the Los Angeles apartment of the novelist Hubert Selby Jr., who wrote “Last Exit to Brooklyn.” “You see artists, and they’re so much in their world,” she said. “Selby had a house for his wife. But he was spending his time in that crappy little place with a stained carpet. It makes sense — why care about anything else, you know?” Freedom and the preservation of artistic independence came up a lot in our conversations. “If you’re a homemaker, you’re not Francis Bacon,” she said. | A little later she told me about visiting Francis Bacon’s squalid studio in London when she was a teenager, which led to an anecdote about going to the Los Angeles apartment of the novelist Hubert Selby Jr., who wrote “Last Exit to Brooklyn.” “You see artists, and they’re so much in their world,” she said. “Selby had a house for his wife. But he was spending his time in that crappy little place with a stained carpet. It makes sense — why care about anything else, you know?” Freedom and the preservation of artistic independence came up a lot in our conversations. “If you’re a homemaker, you’re not Francis Bacon,” she said. |
| In “Before Midnight,” Celine tells Jesse that her deepest fear is that every man wants to turn her into a housewife. It’s a feeling Delpy shares, though in her case it has more to do with circumstance than with her partner. Delpy is finally making a living as a writer and director, but it’s not a plush life. Despite living in Los Angeles for more than a decade, she’s still an outsider in Hollywood. She gets her films financed in France, where they “have real money for indie films, and they aren’t afraid of women directors.” Hollywood, she believes, isn’t interested in the kinds of emotional films she wants to make. “I’m not the next Michael Bay,” she said. Or Nancy Meyers, I offered. She looked at me blankly, and I explained Meyers’s particular brand of romantic comedy, e.g. “Something’s Gotta Give’’ and “It’s Complicated.” “I’m sure some of my people, who work for me, dream of that for me,” Delpy said, rolling her eyes. She shrugged. “So I’ll never have five houses, so what, I just need one. . . .” She paused for comic effect. “Which I can’t have yet because I can’t get a loan!” | In “Before Midnight,” Celine tells Jesse that her deepest fear is that every man wants to turn her into a housewife. It’s a feeling Delpy shares, though in her case it has more to do with circumstance than with her partner. Delpy is finally making a living as a writer and director, but it’s not a plush life. Despite living in Los Angeles for more than a decade, she’s still an outsider in Hollywood. She gets her films financed in France, where they “have real money for indie films, and they aren’t afraid of women directors.” Hollywood, she believes, isn’t interested in the kinds of emotional films she wants to make. “I’m not the next Michael Bay,” she said. Or Nancy Meyers, I offered. She looked at me blankly, and I explained Meyers’s particular brand of romantic comedy, e.g. “Something’s Gotta Give’’ and “It’s Complicated.” “I’m sure some of my people, who work for me, dream of that for me,” Delpy said, rolling her eyes. She shrugged. “So I’ll never have five houses, so what, I just need one. . . .” She paused for comic effect. “Which I can’t have yet because I can’t get a loan!” |
| She was disappointed she didn’t get more acting jobs after “Before Sunrise,” but she understands why. “In movies, you mostly see people who make an effort,” she said. “Am I going to spend two hours at the gym? I can’t do it; it’s excruciatingly boring. I feel like I’m losing time. If I’m a little bit fatter than the normal actress, whatever.” She isn’t interested in creating or playing that sort of “perfect” woman anyway. “I don’t need for my characters to be the most appealing or intelligent or compassionate. What is beautiful with life is that we are all unique. So why make cinema that is the opposite?” | She was disappointed she didn’t get more acting jobs after “Before Sunrise,” but she understands why. “In movies, you mostly see people who make an effort,” she said. “Am I going to spend two hours at the gym? I can’t do it; it’s excruciatingly boring. I feel like I’m losing time. If I’m a little bit fatter than the normal actress, whatever.” She isn’t interested in creating or playing that sort of “perfect” woman anyway. “I don’t need for my characters to be the most appealing or intelligent or compassionate. What is beautiful with life is that we are all unique. So why make cinema that is the opposite?” |
| So Delpy will most likely have to continue to create her own best parts. “I always think of my life in the present or the future; I don’t think of the past,” she told me. “I’m not like, Oh, if I’d done this, been more of a Hollywood person, gone to more parties. I would have hated that! I’m happier now than I was at 25. I’ve found myself for real.” | So Delpy will most likely have to continue to create her own best parts. “I always think of my life in the present or the future; I don’t think of the past,” she told me. “I’m not like, Oh, if I’d done this, been more of a Hollywood person, gone to more parties. I would have hated that! I’m happier now than I was at 25. I’ve found myself for real.” |
| This declaration reminded me of my other favorite line in the movie. Jesse and Celine are walking to the hotel room where they will have their epic battle. Jesse is telling her about a dream he had in which he was reading a book that doesn’t exist. When he’s done, Celine says to him: “It’s so funny you read books in your dreams. I have major action-hero dreams! I’m a superhero flying and breaking through walls, and at the end I have an orgasm.” | This declaration reminded me of my other favorite line in the movie. Jesse and Celine are walking to the hotel room where they will have their epic battle. Jesse is telling her about a dream he had in which he was reading a book that doesn’t exist. When he’s done, Celine says to him: “It’s so funny you read books in your dreams. I have major action-hero dreams! I’m a superhero flying and breaking through walls, and at the end I have an orgasm.” |
Mary Kaye Schilling is a freelance writer and editor in New York. | Mary Kaye Schilling is a freelance writer and editor in New York. |
| Editor: Adam Sternbergh | Editor: Adam Sternbergh |
| This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: May 20, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article misidentified the setting for the film “Before Midnight.” It takes place in the southern Peloponnese in Greece, not on the Greek island of Crete. |