Rumble Fish
When I was a teenager I was very much into films – a little bit of music maybe, but mostly films. I went to the cinema a lot. I really liked older stuff like Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life, and my dad was a big admirer of John Cassavetes, so I was a fan of A Woman Under the Influence. But I really remember being blown away by [Francis Ford Coppola’s] Rumble Fish. It’s funny: I’ve seen it since and I like it, but I wouldn’t say it was my favourite any more. But back then, I thought it was just really great: the music, the way they use black-and-white and colour. I used to listen to the soundtrack all the time, too. It was by Stewart Copeland of the Police. And I loved the early Jim Jarmusch films, particularly Stranger Than Paradise, the first of his movies that had an international impact. Those two – Rumble Fish and Stranger Than Paradise – were really important to me as a teenager, along with Down by Law, which came along a bit later.
New Wave
You know, I had a very boring life, just watching movies. I’m not a very particular person when it comes to music. I was into Tom Waits, probably because of Jarmusch; I grew up with my parents listening to Bowie, Lou Reed, glam rock, all that. When I was 14 and 15 I listened to things that were cool at the time: new wave music, Depeche Mode, all that shit. I remember friends turning me on to U2, but then I went to their concert in Paris: it was in this giant place in the suburbs, full of mud, and there was a stampede. It was a horrible, horrible experience so I was over U2 pretty fast. One of the French bands I liked was Les Rita Mitsouko, they were one of the biggest bands in the 1980s. You should check out their song Andy, it’s really great.
Jean-Luc Godard
I got really into Godard early: A Bout de Souffle, Pierrot le Fou, all of his films. And then when I was 14 I started working with him – he cast me in Détective, which was a real honour. It was a very weird journey. I had been auditioning for a lot of people since I was 13, and I wasn’t a very – how do you say? – seductive person towards directors and people in the movie business. I think that’s the right word to use now we know all about it. I had a whole year with a lot of people telling me I wasn’t going to get work because I wasn’t playing the game, blah blah blah, so it was a little tricky, even at that age. It may be shocking, but everyone knows in France there are people walking around, making movies, who were openly dating 13-year-olds in the 1980s.
But Godard didn’t care about that. He just liked my personality. He was a very honest man – in a way, very straight. Within all his craziness he has a very high sense of morality. He’s not a creepy guy at all.
Nastassja Kinski
I was obsessed with the movie Tess and I was really in love with Nastassja Kinski. It was a real girl crush. Tess looks like a weird movie now for obvious reasons, but there’s a great side to it. She was so beautiful in the film, you know, and she was so good. She is such a good actress.
Another of my obsessions was Francis Bacon. I even came to London to meet him when I was 16 or 17. He had agreed to do an interview with a friend of mine, a really cute boy (obviously). I was told to leave the room, but at least I got to see him for a few seconds.
Paris Boum Boum
I wasn’t a typical teenager. I became very involved in the Paris night scene at one point when I was in my late teens. I was a party animal. Before that, when I was 14, I used to go to a place called Paris Boum Boum to escape my parents’ home at night. It was a 1950s revival theme in a beautiful sort of cellar. I learned rock’n’roll dancing there. Later on, in my middle teens, I would just go to regular clubs; I was dancing a lot. I loved dancing. And smoking two packs a day.
Patrice Chéreau
My parents were in theatre, and because of them I watched a lot of amazing shows. The best I ever saw was a version of Hamlet by Patrice Chéreau. If you don’t know him, you should: he was the most amazing French director. I have never seen a production in English that was better than this – sorry to tell you that! The theatre pieces he directed were just mind-blowing, so beautiful – the scenography, the directing, everything. The way he made Hamlet, on this flat stage with pieces of wood coming in and out – the way it was thought out was just magnificent.
It was at the Avignon festival, with a stage in front of the Palais des Papes, an amazing medieval building. The play starts as night falls – it’s an experience I will never forget. And it was not just the setting. I’ve seen other plays there and they sucked. It was Chéreau. Chéreau was Chéreau, you know?
Julie Delpy’s new film My Zoe is available now on digital formats
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