“No, but it's completely crazy, it's completely stupid what's happening. You don’t even have to hold back anymore.”
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On the other end of the line, Karine Vanasse doesn't even try to contain her enthusiasm when asked to comment on the Hollywood successes of Denis Villeneuve, with whom she filmed “Polytechnique” in 2009.
“Spielberg captured a lot of people's imaginations with ET, and Denis does that,” says the actress and producer, who will attend the Canadian premiere of Dune: Part 2 in Montreal on Wednesday.
Karine Vanasse was working in Hollywood when Denis Villeneuve's talent came to attention in the early 2010s thanks to the Oscar-nominated film Incendies.
“I remember when I was filming Pan Am, Margot Robbie was part of the cast and her managers asked me if I could meet Denis Villeneuve in some way. The hype surrounding Denis outside Quebec has been going on for a long time.”
Family spirit on set
Rémy Girard, who was part of the cast of Incendies, loved playing for Denis Villeneuve.
“I compared him to Denys Arcand because of his control of the stage, his calm and his ideas, except Denis Villeneuve has a more international career. […] What we've entrusted to him is huge in terms of production, it's huge in terms of responsibility, but he's a guy who hasn't changed, who's stayed the way he was.
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Humility and her ability to treat everyone equally are character traits that Karine Vanasse admires and have been praised by several Hollywood stars over the years.
“We rarely hear actors speak with so much honesty and affection about how they feel about a director,” she notes.
“There is something family about his sets. I first felt it on Prisoners. At the press conference we felt the family aspect and the camaraderie, not only between the actors but also towards him. It was beautiful to see. It's a pleasure to do. For me it is representative of how we work in Quebec. It touches me very much to feel that from him.”