‘I love Dior more than anyone I’ve played’ — Ben Mendelsohn
PARIS: Ben Mendelsohn, the award-winning Australian actor, told AFP that he fell in love with Christian Dior while playing him in Apple TV’s “The New Look”.
Mendelsohn, 54, has become one of Hollywood’s favourite character actors since his Emmywinning turn in Netflix drama “Bloodline” and appearances in blockbusters like “Rogue One” and “Ready Player One”.
But it is his starring role as France’s best-known designer in “The New Look”, currently playing on Apple TV, that has been closest to his heart.
“The longer I was in those shoes, the more I loved him,” said Mendelsohn.
He met AFP Tuesday at the Gallerie Dior in Paris, just after putting in an appearance at the label’s latest fashion week show.
“The New Look” delves into Christian Dior’s traumatic origins in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, as well as the story Gabriele “Coco” Chanel, played by Juliette Binoche.
“I do love him more than anyone I’ve ever played. In terms of a hero, he’s sensitive, he’s anxious, so full of doubt, full of self-loathing... but he still did so many impactful things.”
Mendelsohn said he was attracted to the character’s complex inner demons.
“He loathed himself because his public self was not close to his private self, and he couldn’t reconcile the two,” he said.
Mendelsohn sat with the show’s costume designers for hours to immerse himself in their work.
“We shot it all here in Paris which was such a gift,” he said. “There’s something about this city and this culture.”
The show is all in English, and Mendelsohn took on a French accent for the role: “An Australian accent for Christian Dior is not really gonna work!”
For all his immersion, he admitted he has “only scratched the surface” of what the industry is about.
“I come from a fairly typical Australian surburban male background, not exactly understanding a lot about fashion and how it interacts with the zeitgeist,” he said.