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I always thought it was not really for me, even if I didCarlosages ago.
Doing something long format versus something closer to a short story.
BecauseIrma Vepis not a movie.Irma Vepis a concept.
you’re free to adapt it to any kind of film culture.
When I did it in the 90s, cinema was in turmoil for many different reasons.
I think now its in turmoil for completely new and different reasons.
At what point did you get involved, Alicia?O.A.
We had known each other for a while at that point.
We share so much in terms of how we live and breathe movies.
But we never really had a project.
WhenIrma Vepcame up, I said, The one person I can make this film with is Alicia.
I was like, What?!
That was the last thing Id ever thought he would say.
He wrote it in three months.
I felt like I had a weekly serial, with the new drops coming out.
You have a proper art-house auteur.
I cant think of anyone else whos done it.
:David Lynch did that.
:Okay, thats good company.
You and David Lynch.
Theres a joke in an early episode ofIrma Vepabout the project being an eight-hour movie.
:It depends on what you call film.
you could call it whatever you want.
I always have the big screen in mind.
Thats what attracted me to cinema; the collective experience of sitting in a theater.
Now it just happens that that model is not self-sustainable anymore.
I made this film for a platform knowing it would be shown on a small screen.
Which is not so small anymore!
People have projectors and so on.
The border is not as clear as it once was.
So Im grateful to HBO because they made it happen.
Its very similar in those terms withCarlos.
Who the hell would have allowed me to make a five-and-a-half-hour movie about terrorists?
They would think Im nuts in the film world.
When I went to TV, they said, Sure!
You want three episodes, you could have three episodes.
you’re free to call it a series, you’re free to call it a movie.
It doesnt really matter to me.
Was that a purposeful meta thing?A.V.
:Oh, thats true.
:I had no idea!
:I was like, a [characters] voice.
I didnt even think about that.
:Okay, lets say thats true.
Do you relate to Miras experience of the industry?A.V.
:I think Mira and I are quite different people.
But obviously we are in the same universe and do similar films.
Im kind of afraid not afraid, but I stay away from being public.
Even though I have this job myself, Ive chosen not to do that.
Its something she does with all of her roles, and thats something I can relate to.
Mira has a similar experience.
But she maybe hasnt given enough to what her life is without work.
You straddle that line as well.
Do you have those same desires?A.V.
Its interesting Im excited to go and seeTop Gun.
Its against all odds every time.
:I think shooting a film is more like a happening, like they had in the 1970s.
Everyone has to enjoy it.
I want to have people who enjoy the beauty of filmmaking.
Can you talk to me about making that choice?A.V.
:Thats brought up in the series.
It will come up.[Laughs.
]you’ve got the option to answer that question.
:To me, the thing is that I used Maggie as Maggie.
Even if, of course, the Maggie is not exactly the Maggie in real life.
But to me at that point, it was about East meets West.
But now I dont think it works that way anymore.
People are very aware of Asian cinema and Hong Kong films have faded in many ways.
Maggie was like an alien coming from the Orient, and Mira is an alien coming from Hollywood.
Hollywood is always a caricature.
Its an easy target.
It would not have made sense; I wanted to keep intact what happened with Maggie onIrma Vep.
Mira is openly queer, as well.
Can you both talk about the choice of making the subtext text here?
:I mean, Olivier wrote it for me, its just love and relationships.
There are a lot of themes that I expanded.
But I always use elements that were present in the original.
I had space and time to push them much further.
The character of Maggie, we dont know so much about her.
Shes more of a witness, wide-eyed and looking at the strange going-ons around her.
Here, we are with Mira.
Everything is seen from her point of view, but shes also the active engine.
And she sort of starts to blur into her character.
Do you get as sort of cellularly changed by your work as Mira does?A.V.
:Yeah, Im not I guess Mira isnt either a method actor.
I like going to work and going back home and leaving it.
But when I do make films, I very much love to immerse myself.
I tend to fall in love and become obsessed by the character Im playing.
Did you see that story and do you have thoughts on it?A.V.
:No, I havent.
:Neither have I.
Those things are like politics.
I believe in the ethics of filmmaking.
I think its important to have ethics in all areas that concern filmmaking.
:Oliviers sets might be some of the nicest sets Ive been on in my career.
All of my movies have always been about the love I have for my actors.
A lot of people dont function like that.
They need conflict, to have a fight, often to get wherever they want to be.
They are playing with a dangerous line.
I try not to do that.
And youre critiquing the system as well in the series.O.A.:Yes.
Im kind of cut off from the French film industry.
So perhaps you agree.O.A.
:Perhaps I agree.
I didnt want to say that, but thats what I implied.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
