Bérénice Marlohe, who turned heads as a seductive Bond girl opposite Daniel Craig in Skyfall, is shedding her former femme fatale appeal with a fresh role in Victor Levin’s rom-com 5 to 7. Marlohe plays Arielle, the gorgeous wife of a French diplomat who embarks on a passionate affair with an aspiring young writer in New York City—but only from the hours of 5 to 7pm.
Here, the talented beauty talks about the film (which hit theaters on April 3), life in the states and the actors she’d love to work with next.
What drew you to the role in 5 to 7?
I love the dialogue. I love that the characters, from what I read on the script, were very lively and human. I think it’s important to see humanity, life and joy on screen. The humanity of the characters drew me to the script and to Arielle and the fact that it wasn’t a conventional love story that I have seen on-screen yet.
Any highlights from your time filming in New York?
It’s the energy of New York that is so inspiring. There are so many people and cars and buildings and music and architecture. It’s such a powerful, dynamic feeling. I didn’t know New York before [this] and it really helped me become another character living in New York having another lifestyle.
How do you like living in the U.S. versus living in France?
I love big spaces. I love the horizons. It’s important for me to project my imagination and feel that I can breathe. In L.A. for instance, in the states, you can travel and get to the horizon and rise to the sky. I love that feeling. It gives me a feeling of freedom, freedom to create, to try things. It’s good sometimes when I go back to Paris or Europe because I see some older churches, streets and statues and it’s the perfect balance for the soul, for the well-being. I just love nature. I love the spaces in the states; they are incredible.
If you could work alongside any actor or actress in a future movie, who would it be?
As a woman, I really love Nicole Kidman. I think she’s very powerful. She can do either comedies or dramas and she has an intensity in her eyes on screen. I really love what she does; she’s great. And then as actors, I love Christopher Walken. I love Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, all of these amazing actors that have strangeness, charisma and originality to them. Something unique.
