Isabelle Huppert: “You Have Incredible Awareness, and Yet You Lose Consciousness When You Act” | Actress Oscar Roundtable

“I was never reluctant to do it, I never saw any problem. I thought she was a kind of post-feminist character. Very quietly, very sure of herself, she does what she does,” Isabelle Huppert told The Hollywood Reporter during the Actress Oscar Roundtable on her title role in the film Elle. “It’s not really important for me whether a character is doing the right thing or is sympathetic. She’s a really amoral character, although, I think the film’s not amoral, but she reacts in a way that might seem amoral.”

“It was very technical, we rehearsed a lot. It wasn’t difficult, I have to say.” Huppert said on shooting the four rape scenes in the film. “We all know those scenes might be more difficult to watch for the spectator than to do for the actor. It was very much prepared.”

More roundtables featuring actors, screenwriters, songwriters, documentarians, directors, composers and producers will continue throughout February in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ starting Jan. 15 on Sundance TV, and look for clips at THR.com/topic/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast.