“I came across as a half-crazy person”

Marion Cotillard dazzled the world with her role in The Kidin 2007, in which she played Edith Piaf. But this character, which earned her the ultra-prestigious Oscar for best actress, also cost her… to the point of feeling “haunted” by the ghost of the late singer.

Marion Cotillard, haunted: “I did exorcisms with salt and fire”

The actress felt so invaded by the character of Edith Piaf that she played in The Kidthat she had the impression that it had literally taken possession of her body for many months. She had told Guardian : “I did exorcisms with salt and fire. I went to Bora Bora to escape him. I went to Peru, to Machu Picchu, and participated in ancient shamanic ceremonies to purify myself“.

The actress, now 50 years old, finally understood why she “couldn’t let go“the ghost of Edith Piaf.”She had been abandoned as a child. Her biggest fear was being alone“, concluded Guillaume Canet’s ex-partner. Since then, she has been trying to “cut” immediately with his characters as soon as a shoot ends.

Marion Cotillard: “I came across as a half-crazy person”

Marion Cotillard is well aware that her speech at the time was perceived strangely. “I looked like a half-crazy person when I talked about it“, she recently recalled in an interview with Vanity Fair. Looking back, she realizes that she acted in an extreme manner. “When I think about it, none of this was normal. There was something schizophrenic about it even though I am quite sane. Even if it is often the least healthy people who claim to be healthy. she conceded.

It must be said that the French actress, to whom some have attributed a romance with Camille Cottin, was totally involved in the construction of her role. “I worked with a teacher. I wanted to understand how Piaf sang, how she positioned her body, her language, the slightest of her breaths. I was going crazy it was so complex“, she explained to AlloCiné. The director, Olivier Dahan, himself declared about Marion Cotillard: “She succeeded in associating the soul of the character with her incarnation. She makes her come alive“.