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Zoey Deutch’s confessions: the magnetic actress to star in the new cult film Nouvelle Vague
It was one of the most delightful surprises of the Cannes Film Festival. Richard Linklater’s new film, Nouvelle Vague, revives the shooting of the cult classic Breathless. The lively group of excellent actors in the cast is joined by the 30-year-old American actress Zoey Deutch. A chance to meet a rising star with an impressive sense of style, close to the house of Chanel.
By Violaine Schütz.
Director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Boyhood) had offered her the role ten years earlier. It was a spot on decision… In the exhilarating, cinephile, and intellectual Nouvelle Vague, American actress Zoey Deutch (The Politician, Juror No. 2, Before I Fall) plays the iconic Jean Seberg, in the midst of filming Breathless (1960).
Stepping into the shoes of this artist with a tragic life, the actress behind Zombieland: Double Tap, Vampire Academy, and Ringer actress brings breath, mischief, along with undeniable charm. While Jean-Luc Godard lashes out at his actors on a set with erratic schedules, writing his script day by day, Jean Seberg stands her ground, mocks him, and even threatens to walk off.
Zoey Deutch, the impudent Jean Seberg in Richard Linklater’s new film
Close to Chanel, Zoey Deutch appears completely changed to slip into the skin of the ultra-modern heroine of the Nouvelle Vague. She chose to cut her hair and dye it blonde and even learned French to better act with her French-speaking co-stars.
The result? The daughter of actress Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and director Howard Deutch (Melrose Place, American Horror Story) is both moving and sharp in this role. It’s enough to make us want to meet her on a terrace along the Croisette during the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered.
Interview with the actress starring in Nouvelle Vague
Numéro: When did director Richard Linklater first talk to you about Nouvelle Vague?
Zoey Deutch: Richard Linklater told me about the film ten years ago. We were filming a movie called Everybody Wants Some!!, and he asked me, “Would you like to play Jean Seberg in it?” I answered, “Are you kidding me? It would be a dream come true.” And nearly ten years later, we did it!
Before he actually had you sign a contract for this film, were you sure it would happen and that he would choose you?
I wasn’t really sure. I wasn’t 100% certain. I always hoped it would happen, simply because I always wanted to work with him again. I kept hoping, but you never know.
“Richard Linklater first offered me the role of Jean Seberg ten years ago.” Zoey Deutch
How is it like to work with Richard Linklater?
I love him so much. I think he’s one of the greatest directors of all time. He’s so prolific and in touch with his inner artist. He doesn’t get influenced, nor does he follow trends or what people want him to do. Richard has never been trapped by the nonsense of this industry. Not once. He makes the films he wants to make and if he can’t do it now, he’ll do it 13 years later. He’s a patient man. The story behind many of his films is time. But he sticks with them, nurtures them, cultivates them, and the right time always comes. In short, he’s an incredibly inspiring person, and I feel very lucky to be able to just call him up like that.
What did you know about actress Jean Seberg before embodying her in Nouvelle Vague?
I knew about her relationship with Hakim Jamal, a Black Panther activist. I’d seen the biopic Seberg that focuses on that part of her life, with Kristen Stewart, who’s amazing in it. I had a brief background of her life in mind, but Nouvelle Vague focuses on a very specific moment, a very precise period in time. It’s not about making her life story. It’s right after she filmed Bonjour Tristesse (“Hello Sadness”) with Otto Preminger. She’s still deeply traumatized by her first film, Saint Joan, where she played Joan of Arc. The critics completely tore her apart (Jean Seberg would later say about this: “I have two memories of Saint Joan. The first is being burned at the stake in the film. The second is being burned at the stake by the critics,” ed.).
“I’ve worked with directors not knowing whether or not I was giving them what they wanted. And that’s terrifying.” Zoey Deutch
She eventually became a star overnight…
She was pulled out of the shadows, from Marshalltown, Iowa. He chose her among 18,000 candidates for that role and he was really hard on her on set. She was a young girl in this crazy world, and working with Godard was the complete opposite of working with Preminger. The latter was strict and rigid, while Godard wanted her to be herself, free, unprepared, without memorizing your lines before arriving on set. It was just improvisation. It was a difficult challenge for her.
In the film, we see that Jean Seberg didn’t shy away from teasing Godard about the way he worked. He only shot two hours a day, wrote the script day by day, and gave her her lines at the very last minute… something she wasn’t used to…
These teasing moments are historically accurate. Even though Nouvelle Vague is an interpretation, a way of imagining what happened during the filming of Breathless, I found it funny and daring that she would make fun of him. I liked that she tried to enjoy herself. That’s one of her defining traits, her very essence. Even though she was scared, skeptical, and challenged by Godard, I feel like she was trying to make the most of it. She wanted it. It was just another challenge for her.
“That’s one of the perks of being an actor: you get to live so many different lives.” Zoey Deutch
In the film, Godard isn’t exactly kind to his actors. Have you ever experienced something similar on a set?
I’ve already experienced the romance of improv with one female director. It’s a spectacular art. It was one of the first things I did during my early acting training when I was very young: the art of improv. I loved and respected that practice, but I think there’s a misconception about what improv really is. The director just told me, “Oh, just improvise, simple.” It didn’t make any sense. It felt incoherent, aimless and directionless. It didn’t really work because the scene’s context wasn’t clear. The scenes didn’t really have meaning, but people thought they did… Otherwise, yes, I for sure have worked with directors not knowing whether or not I was giving them what they wanted. And that’s terrifying.
What memories do you keep from filming Nouvelle Vague?
An incredible memory. Reuniting with one of my favorite directors, living and working in France, playing this iconic figure of cinema, and exploring a new approach to filmmaking in depth that was taking shape during Breathless. It was a rewarding, joyful experience. We had a lot of fun. I love the cast, it’s an amazing group of people.
“People want to see authenticity. They don’t want to see people trying to create something iconic.” Zoey Deutch
Physically-speaking, you appear transformed in the film…
Yes, I chose to cut my long, black hair. It’s not a wig. No one asked me to do it. I think everyone thinks it’s a wig, but I really did cut all my hair off, and it’s just barely starting to grow back. It was a great opportunity to do so. That’s one of the perks of being an actor: you get to live many different lives. I told myself, “Great! I’ve never had a blonde pixie cut, and when would I ever do that?” I could never do this in real life. I thought let’s do it, let’s try, and it was fantastic.
In Nouvelle Vague, you wear clothes that have become iconic in the history of cinema, like the famous Herald Tribune t-shirt from Breathless or Jean Seberg’s sailor tops…
Costumes are very important in this film because they recreate an era. One that we perceive as very romantic, beautiful, and stylish. Jean Seberg is a fashion icon. It’s so funny now to know the story and context of what really happened during the shoot. Her short blond haircut wasn’t a statement. It was because she had shaved her head for her role as Joan of Arc in Saint Joan. Then, she had a short haircut in Bonjour Tristesse because it was growing back.
So her signature haircut in Breathless was almost accidental.
Yes, just like her look in the film. Some of the now iconic clothes in Breathless were really cheap. It was Prisunic stuff. Some pieces were her own clothes too. She did her own styling. That’s why so many of her looks seem so authentic and natural. People want to see authenticity. They don’t want to see people trying to create something iconic. You see that all the time nowadays. People trying to have their moment. You can’t do that. It’s like magic. It happens or not.
“Who doesn’t like Truffaut?” Zoey Deutch
Are you a big fan of French cinema?
Yes, of course! Who doesn’t like Truffaut? I adore Truffaut. I think he’s amazing. The 400 Blows – what a film! And of course, I also love Godard. What was great was that I had a list of I don’t know how many films to watch that Richard Linklater gave me to prepare Nouvelle Vague. I watched them five months beforehand, then again during the shooting of the film. It was heaven on earth to rewatch old films as part of the job.
Is this your first time at the Cannes Film Festival?
It’s the first time I’ve come with a film in competition (the film was in the official selection for the Palme d’Or, ed.). It’s pretty amazing. I think it’s every actress’s dream to see one of their films in competition at Cannes. I feel very honored.
Nouvelle Vague by Richard Linklater has no release date yet. It was in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
