Bardot is 90 years old: “I don’t care about old age!”

“It’s pouring rain, and I have all my mail to open!”: a few days before her 90th birthday, Brigitte Bardot, French icon of world cinema, took twenty minutes to speak with AFP, on the phone from Saint -Tropez, in the south of France, its life and its struggles.

The one who has turned the page on the 7th art for half a century, and has also generated a lot of comments on her positions and her support for the extreme right, devotes her days to animals, with the foundation she created and still leads. She still hopes to see, during her lifetime, a ban on the consumption of horse meat.

Saturday September 28 is a special day, you will celebrate your 90th birthday…

You’re nice, but I’m tired of this birthday! I’ve had enough, because it’s harassment, I’m really in demand from all sides. Luckily it’s not every day that I turn 90!

Lots of people are thinking of you!

It’s adorable, but after a while, it doesn’t stop! There was a moment when I said to myself that I would rather be 20!

If you were twenty years old, we would see you again in the cinema.

No, that’s all over! I am very happy to have arrived at such a canonical age!

How do you feel about this age?

I really don’t think about it. For me, every day is the same… I take them as easily as before. (…) I watch time go by and I find that things are going very well!

What makes you feel good?

I would rather say what is making me feel bad… For animals for example, it’s not fun every day, things don’t get better. What makes me feel good is my way of seeing life, of being interested in nature, of fleeing humanity. I flee humanity and I have a silent solitude that suits me very well.

What would be your best birthday gift?

The greatest gift I could have received, after 50 years of supplications to governments, to different presidents, is the abolition of horse eating. When I left cinema, it was the first thing I asked for. Let us no longer kill or eat horses in France. Well, I have nothing at all! It would have been a wonderful gift for me.

Do you think you will still see this ban in your lifetime?

I’ve been screaming for 50 years and no one has given me anything. I don’t have time to wait another 50 years.

Are you disappointed by the political world?

I’m disappointed that no one at least had the idea to do something. It has been forgotten (…). I would still like to have a result before leaving you all, permanently. I deserve it!

The French view of animals is changing…

On the French side, it’s a marvel. They understood, they supported me. They are great. They write me letters that do me a lot of good. I thank them infinitely for the courage they give me.

For them, you also remain the icon of 1960s cinema. What memories do you have of that time?

I have moved on for over 50 years. I am very proud of my first part of life which I succeeded in and which now allows me to have worldwide notoriety which helps me a lot for animal protection.

If you had to do it again, would you have the same career?

I don’t ask myself any questions! There are more important things in life, and once it’s done, it’s done.

You don’t have any anxiety about what’s next?

I live day by day, and it goes very well that way. I take things as they come.

Is old age like what you imagined?

I don’t care about old age! I didn’t even see it coming. She’s not here.

A final word on Paul Watson, whale activist, detained in Greenland?

This is a very serious problem, which causes me a lot of pain. He is being subjected to blatant injustice! Norway, Iceland and Japan are in contradiction with the moratorium (on whaling) signed by the whole world. And it’s Paul Watson who is accused! It’s incredible.