On November 13, Claude Lelouch returns to the cinema with the film Eventually. To play Lino, a lawyer in full burnout who embarks on a road trip across France, the 87-year-old director chose Kad Merad. A first collaboration born thanks to the advice of his wife, Valérie Perrin, as recounted by the two artists in a cross-interview for Paris Matchthis Thursday, November 7. Julia Vignali's husband explains that he met the famous writer by chance on a train returning from Burgundy to Paris: “I go to greet her, we talk. I, who am rather shy in life, end up confiding to her what I would never have dared to say to Claude, that I would dream of one day filming with him.”
A confidence that did not fall on deaf ears. At the same time, Claude Lelouch passed the casting of Eventually, but fails to find the rare pearl to play the leading role in the film. During a phone call with his wife, the latter tells him of having crossed paths with Kad Merad on his train: “It clicked immediately. It was obvious, Kad was the one I was looking for. He ticks all the boxes.” The start of a beautiful friendship.
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Claude Lelouch: his touching confidences about his relationship with Valérie Perrin
On June 17, 2023, after more than seventeen years of living together, Claude Lelouch married Valérie Perrin. More than his wife, the writer is also his work partner. “I was father of seven childrenI had lived enough to get to the point. First, I wanted to work with her. Then I pushed her to write. Today, his books are in 52 languages”he explains in the columns of Gala last October 31. Before entrusting: “I’m incredibly lucky to have it.” The director will never forget their meeting: “Valérie, who is 57 years old, came to me. I met her when she had sent me a three-page letter which flattered my ego and whose writing I found quite exceptional”. They have been inseparable ever since.
Photo credits: Jean-Marc Lhomer / Bestimage
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