First a model to finance her classes at Cours Florent, Noémie Merlant was quickly confronted with the oppressive injunctions of this environment. “You are asked to be very thin. However, I was already very thin, but never enough. » Between anorexia and bulimia, she went through eight years of suffering before finding refuge in cinema, a space where she began to flourish.
It was thanks to her father that she decided to get into theater. “He told me: take a year off, find out what you’re passionate about. » This advice changed his life. Little by little, she discovered a vocation which led her to cinema, where she revealed herself through committed films, questioning the place of women and relationships of domination.
Cinema as a space for reinvention
With the film “Portrait of the Girl on Fire” by Céline Sciamma, Noémie Merlant experienced a major turning point. “It’s a film that talks about listening, collaboration and a horizontal gaze. It changed everything for me. » This filming became a founding moment for her, both artistically and personally.
Through her latest film, “Women on the Balcony”, she explores women's quest for identity and freedom. Noémie plays Élise, an actress in full self-questioning, who joins her friends to find herself and reinvent herself. “It’s a film about the place we give ourselves in the world, and how we decide to no longer let ourselves be crushed. »
A reflection on male-female relationships
Marked by experiences of predation upon her arrival in Paris, Noémie recounts how these reports shaped her vision. “At 17, I thought all men were like my father: respectful. But very quickly, I was confronted with toxic behavior and attacks. » These trials made him want to deconstruct these dynamics, whether in his personal life or in his art.
Today, Noémie finds balance in a relationship based on respect and listening. “With my partner, we try to make a journey together. It gives a lot of hope and peace. »
From shadow to light
Oscars, nominations, collaborations with Simon Bouisson and Adèle Haenel… At 35, Noémie Merlant has established herself as an essential actress and director. Between modesty and commitment, she calls for a cinema that shows bodies without objectifying them, and that celebrates eroticism from a perspective free from patriarchal oppression.
“Today, I finally feel like I belong. As if my life had gone from black and white to color. »
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