MARION COTILLARD HAULS OUT THE BIG GUNS
Actress loved the glamour — and the weaponry — of Allied
Rumour had it that Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt were falling for each other on camera and off during the filming of the spy thriller Allied.
The never-confirmed gossip suggested that their liaison was another reason Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt.
So careless whispers aside, the powers that be decided to have a media conference to promote the film — minus the media’s questions and without Pitt.
Instead, a moderator directed his inquiries to Cotillard, director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Steven Knight and assorted producers while reporters observed. Intrigue all around. In Allied, Cotillard plays a French resistance fighter in 1942 Casablanca, Morocco, and Pitt plays a Canadian agent. Both are assigned to carry out a dangerous assassination behind enemy lines.
Before the mission they fall in love, and later marry when they reunite in London. But their relationship is shrouded by doubleagent suspicions.
The movie hints at 1940s spy classics such as Casablanca and Now, Voyager but with the modern presence of Pitt and especially Cotillard.
The Oscar-winning French actress had been tracking the script a few years before Zemeckis and Pitt became attached.
“It’s a beautiful story, very entertaining at the same time, and super-deep and super-powerful,” said Cotillard, noticeably pregnant with her second child.
“I was so happy a few years later when they contacted me and asked me to be part of the project.”
The gig came with a few requirements that called for the actress to dig physically deeper than she ever had.
For instance, there was the lovemaking sequence in a car with Pitt — not quite as sexy as one might think.
“We had a very determined choreography, which allows you freedom,” she said. “When you know exactly what your body will do, then you can act and be free to give the emotion, to give the feelings ...”
Zemeckis agreed: “It’s exactly like doing a dance number. It’s all just movement and rhythm.”
Firing a weapon was another story.
“Bob asked me to love the guns,” Cotillard said of her director, “because he could see I hate the guns.”
She endured some training before the production started filming on London sound stages, and figured she had mastered the technique.
“On the day we filmed (the firefight sequence), I freaked out,” Cotillard said. “I was discovered as a non-lover of guns and not very good at it.”
They took a 30-minute break for more run-throughs and re-shot the scene, capturing the necessary intensity with extra care.
“Those vintage guns are extremely dangerous,” Zemeckis said. “They’re heavy and dangerous, can burn you and cut your fingers. They’re not toys.”
On the plus side, Cotillard adored her character’s stylish clothes, which were created by Oscar-honoured costume designer Joanna Johnston.
“(In) most of the films I wear terrible clothes,” the actress said. “I never had to be a princess like in this movie.”
Her outfits reminded her of Hollywood’s golden age. “I was a big fan of Greta Garbo and this era of movies.”
She added that her character’s glamorous fashion facade “was a great part of the process of getting into the movie.”
Allied also made her childhood dream come true.
“I have never done a movie that was so very close to the movies I watched as a kid and first gave me the desire to be an actress,” Cotillard said.
“My mom and my dad were film fans, particularly of American movies from the ’40s and ’50s. So when I was approached to do this movie, I felt I was jumping into my dream as a little girl.”