“My memory of the theater partner remains a significant trauma,” confided the actress.
This Sunday, December 1st, the world learned the death of Niels Arestrupfollowing a long illness. Asked about her relationship with the actor, Isabelle Adjani did not mince his words. Nearly forty years ago, in 1983, the actress, then aged 28, played in the play “Mademoiselle Julie”, in which she played opposite Niels Arestrup. A collaboration of which she still has very bad memories. The actor would have indeed slapped him violently. Shocked, the young woman left the stage, in the middle of the performance.
“Personally, I unfortunately have nothing positive to say about the man. My memory of the theater partner remains a striking trauma”she informed the Parisianwhile conceding that “Niels Arestrup was a great actor”. “I share this opinion, that of many artists and their public“, concluded the 69-year-old actress.
“I swear to you that I did not slap Isabelle Adjani”
In 2001, guest on the show “We can't please everyone”, Niels Arestrup defended himself against Isabelle Adjani's accusations. “I'm not an angel, at all. I try to do my job with passion. I do it with my nature, with my character. I would like to point out, once again, that I have never hit a woman in my life. I swear to you that I did not slap Isabelle Adjani”, he asserted.
Several times throughout his career, Niels Arestrup was criticized for his violent behavior on stage. In 1996, Myriam Boyer had accused him of having practically strangled her during a performance of the play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”. Following these accusations, Myriam Boyer was fired from the play produced by Niels Arestrup. The latter ultimately had to pay him 800,000 francs in damages, as recalled The New Republic.
In 2007, in the columns of Liberationthe actor admitted to having, in the space of a day, “punctured Miou-Miou's eardrum with a slap” during a filming as well as “broke Maria Schneider's coccyx.
