French auteur Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust & Bone) sat down with No Film School at AFI 2015 to discuss his Cannes Film Festival-winning Dheepan, the story of a Sri Lankan refugee who is relocated to the projects of France. The film is currently in theatrical release in the U.S. Audiard talks casting (the film stars first-time actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan), violence in cinema, and why compromise is part of creativity.
NFS: I'm fascinated by realism in film and the use of non-actors. Bresson would say of his actors, "I am inventing you as you are." How did you approach the casting for Dheepan?
Audiard: There is a misconception that actors are cast because they are already the part. There is always a gap between the actor and the character. The actor still has to create the character. Many times with these kinds of actors I just have to tell them to calm down. I sometimes try to make it not intellectual—not psychological, but physical.
