The Importance of Julie Delpy
Julie DelpyYesterday's New York Times Magazine article on Julie Delpy reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with a friend who worked in the film industry (and still does). This was in the mid-nineties, when Delpy was studying film at NYU, a choice that impressed me. "Ugh, I can't stand her," he said. Because my friend was a man who loved women in general and actresses in particular, his opinion--and his inability to explain it--puzzled me. Who wouldn't love Julie Delpy? I should have been clued in by his gushing enthusiasm for Renee Zellweger, whom he had recently met at a film festival and whose squinty charms were lost on me. If ever there was an anti-Zellweger, it's Julie Delpy.
Flash forward to last January, when Delpy, now a director as well as an actress, appeared at a Q &A at the Aero in conjunction with a screening of two of her films ("Two Days in New York," and "Two Days in Paris.") Having never seen her live, I was struck by how different she was from most actresses I've encountered. Part of it was physical: unlike the size-0-with-breast-implants standard type, she was a normal sized woman, complete with hips and a few extra pounds. She also hadn't made any special effort to dress or make up for the appearance, coming onstage in jeans and a sweater, like most of the audience. But more striking than her appearance was her attitude, which though engaging was utterly free of ingratiation. She was, in a word, herself: funny, opinionated, idiosyncratic and completely lacking in Hollywood pretense. I've met a variety of actors over the years, and (with the notable exception of Henry Winkler, surely the nicest and most unpretentious famous man in town), they radiate an odd self-consciousness, as if they're perpetually watching themselves instead of simply being. That night, Delpy was not only comfortable simply being but--as she told stories about being fired by every agency in town and turned down by Vanity Fair's Oscar Party for not being a big enough star--clearly unconcerned about others' perceptions of her.
While there are a few actresses who seem indifferent to public adoration--Jennifer Jason Leigh and Debra Winger come to mind--Julie Delpy is another sort. She's not aloof or implosive or defiant; she's simply free of whatever impulse makes most other actresses mold themselves to industry specifications. In the Times Magazine article, she says:
In movies, you mostly see people who make an effort....Am I going to spend two hours at the gym? I can't do it; it's excruciatingly boring. I feel like I'm losing time.
In the time she hasn't lost, Delpy has written and directed five films. Her new movie is one she co-wrote as well as acts in: "Before Midnight," the third installment of the romantic series she's made with Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater. Upcoming are two French movies she'll direct, and two American projects. Yet despite being based in Los Angeles, she still can't get financing here; instead, she cobbles the money from French companies and various investors, in true indie style. Perhaps if she were more of a player--or male--she'd get studio financing. But then she wouldn't be herself, which makes the matter moot.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/julie-delpy-dreams-of-being-joe-pesci.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0