‘You have to put your pride aside’ – Vincent Perez

A modern careerist in his forties who only cares about himself and money can be a tough role to play. Apparently, not for French star Vincent Perez who insists “there’s a Jean-Marc in all of us.”

­In his latest romantic comedy, Prince (almost) Charming, Perez portrays a pushy businessman who always gets what he wants at any cost. He is running, rushing, ready to bully anyone who gets in his way.

“When you describe an individual, you create a type,” Francis Scott Fitzgerald said.

Perez’s character has a lot in common with Mel Gibson’s Nick Marshall in the hit movie What Women Want: both have difficult relations with their daughters, and cannot see beyond the end of their nose.

According to Perez, he plays “a typical French Parisian businessman, driving too fast, telephone in one hand, cigarette in the other. A very selfish middle-aged man.”

“I recognize myself in Jean-Marc, I see when I become JM in life: when I go to pick up my kids and there’s a traffic jam, and I start to be angry and scream at people. But it doesn’t really happen often… There’s a JM in all of us,” Perez told RT, adding he just had to find the one in him.

Vincent Perez in Prince (almost) Charming (image from kinopoisk.ru)

­Luckily, in Prince (almost) Charming the character’s life takes a U-turn after he meets blond bombshell Marie. She finds her Prince when she least expects it.

An up-and-coming French actress, Vahina Giocante, says some characters are so far away from your own personality that “you really have to forget yourself. And you become an empty body in a way.”

“Sometimes directors offer you characters that are close to you because some of them don’t have enough imagination. They just want to use you as you are, for what you are,” Giocante noted.

Perez has been making movies for over twenty years, best-known for his breakthrough role in the Indochine drama in which he played alongside Catherine Deneuve.

“You have to put your pride aside sometimes. It’s a fair game. Sometimes directors choose you not because you’re the right person, but because you bring the money for the movie to be made. You just have to find the right path,” Perez added.

PVahina Giocante in Prince (almost) Charming (image from kinopoisk.ru)

­31-year-old Giocante says she only trusts her intuition.

“I’m very instinctive. Like an animal. It’s my tool. If I’m excited, if I feel joy, I have to go through it and accept [the role]. If not, it means it’s not for me,” the beauty explained.

Apart from being a classic comedy with a universal appeal, Prince (almost) Charming is also an action-packed movie.

“When you do a romantic comedy you have to respect the rhythm and the mechanism in the storytelling. You have to be fast and find the right dynamic,” Perez wrapped up.

­Valeria Paikova, RT