The Brand New Testament film screening and Q and A at the iPic Theatre in Los Angeles.
Pili Groyne, 12, who played Marion Cotillard‘s daughter in the Oscar-nominated “Two Days, One Night” and now costars with Catherine Deneuve in Belgium’s Oscar submission “The Brand New Testament,” by Jaco Van Dormael, was puzzled when she met the iconic French actress.
“The first day on the set, I thought, ‘That doesn’t look like Catherine Deneuve.’ Then I realized it was her stunt double,” she told moderator and TheWrap’s awards editor Steve Pond at Los Angeles’ iPic Theater on Tuesday. But Groyne had no such reservations about the script, a fanciful comic fable that has been compared to “Amelie.”
“I was immediately seduced by the universe he created,” she said.
In the film — Dormael’s third foreign-Oscar submission — Groyne plays the daughter of God (Benoit Poelvoorde), who’s a disgruntled Brussels drunk in a bathrobe sitting at a computer causing humans misery. She decides to thwart her dad by making people happy, including Deneuve’s character, a sad wife who cheats on her husband with a gorilla. “It was great fun with the gorilla,” Marco Lorenzini, who plays a hobo recruited by God’s daughter in her quest to help humans, said. “Inside the gorilla was a Spanish guy. Jaco doesn’t speak Spanish, Catherine speaks French and Spanish, so she translated Jaco’s orders to the gorilla.”
For Groyne, the most enjoyable scene was the chase in which she and Lorenzini race to elude God, who’s furious that his daughter challenges his power.
“Walking on the water was fun to shoot, and the part where God fell into the ocean,” she said. That scene was harder for Lorenzini, who said his character is “a lost soul, not only a tramp, he’s something like an angel on earth, and this little girl gave him a new purpose in life.” But keeping up with Groyne was tough. “I had [hobo] shoes that were difficult to walk in — and she was so fast!” Asked how the excellent illusion of water-walking was done, Groyne smiled and said: “I don’t think I should say.”
What was hard for Groyne was getting used to Poelvoorde‘s gruff performance. “When he was so violent fighting with me, I was scared, because he was so convincing,” said Groyne, who soon realized he was only acting.
Neither actor believes in God, but they stress that in intolerant times, no one should take “The Brand New Testament” as an anti-God movie. “If you’re a fundamentalist, you can see it like that, but it’s not a film against religion, or religions,” Lorenzini said, explaining that it is also a change of pace for the director. “It’s the first time he had a cowriter [Thomas Gunzig], and they wrote it in nine months, a very short time. The films he writes alone, it takes three or four years.”
Asked how she hopes to follow up her success in “The Brand New Testament,” which premiered at Cannes, won best production design and is nominated for best European comedy at the European Film Awards, Groyne said, “I would love to do a movie with Tim Burton.”
Golden Globes 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Best Motion Picture -- Drama: "Boyhood" (pictured), "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything"
Best Director -- Motion Picture: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Eva DuVernay, "Selma"; David Fincher, "Gone Girl"; Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, "Birdman"; Richard Linklater (pictured), "Boyhood"
Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Gillian Flynn (pictured), "Gone Girl"; Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone,Alexander Dinelaris & Armando Bo, "Birdman"; Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"; Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"
Best Performances by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama: Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"; Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"; David Oyelowo (pictured), "Selma"; Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Jennifer Aniston (pictured), "Cake"; Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"; Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"; Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"; Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"; Jessica Chastain (pictured), "A Most Violent Year"; Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"; Emma Stone, "Birdman"; Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Robert Duvall, "The Judge"; Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"; Edward Norton, "Birdman"; Mark Ruffalo (pictured), "Foxcatcher"; J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
Best Motion Picture -- Comedy or Musical: "Birdman" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Into the Woods," "Pride," "St. Vincent"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: Ray Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Michael Keaton, "Birdman"; Bill Murray (pictured), "St. Vincent"; Joaquin Phoenix, "Inherent Vice"; Christoph Waltz, "Big Eyes"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Comedy or Musical: Amy Adams (pictured), "Big Eyes"; Emily Blunt, "Into the Woods"; Helen Mirren, "The Hundred-Foot Journey"; Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"; Quvenzhané Wallis, "Annie"
Best Animated Feature: “Big Hero 6," "Book of Life," "Boxtrolls," "How to Train Your Dragon 2," "The Lego Movie" (pictured)
Best Foreign Language Film: "Force Majeure Turist" (Sweden), "Gett: The Trival of Viviane" (Israel), "Ida" (Poland/Denmark), "Leviathan" (Russia, pictured), "Tangerines" (Estonia)
Best Original Song – Motion Picture: “Big Eyes” – “Big Eyes”; “Glory” – “Selma”; “Mercy Is” – “Noah”; “Opportunity” – “Annie”; “Yellow Flicker Beat” – “The Hunger Games, Mockingjay – Part 1” (pictured)
Best Original Score – Motion Picture: Alexander Desplat, “The Imitation Game”; Yohan Yohanson, “The Theory of Everything”; Trent Reznor (pictured), “Gone Girl”; Anthoy Sanchez, “Birdman”; Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Best Television Series -- Drama: "The Affair," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones," "The Good Wife," House of Cards" (pictured)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Drama: Claire Danes, "Homeland"; Viola Davis (pictured), "How to Get Away with Murder"; Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Ruth Wilson, "The Affair"; Robin Wright, "House of Cards"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Drama: Clive Owen, "The Knick"; Liev Schreider, "Ray Donovan"; Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"; James Spader, "The Blacklist"; Dominic West (pictured), "The Affair"
Best Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: "Girls," "Transparent" (pictured) "Jane the Virgin," "Orange Is the New Black," "Silicon Valley"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham, "Girls"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"; Gina Rodriguez (pictured), "Jane the Virgin"; Taylor Schilling, "Orange Is the New Black"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: Louis C.K., "Louie"; Don Cheadle (pictured), "House of Lies"; Ricky Gervais, "Derek"; William H. Macy, "Shameless"; Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: "Fargo," "The Missing," "The Normal Heart," "True Detective" (pictured), "Olive Kitteridge"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Maggie Gyllenhaal (pictured), "The Honorable Woman"; Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story: Freak Show," Frances McDormand, "Olive Kitteridge"; Frances O'Connor, "The Missing"; Allison Tolman, "Fargo"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Martin Freeman (pictured), "Fargo"; Woody Harrelson, "True Detective"; Matthew McConaughey, "True Detective"; Mark Ruffalo, "The Normal Heart"; Billy Bob Thornton, "Fargo"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Uzo Aduba (pictured), "Orange Is the New Black"; Kathy Bates, "American Horror Story: Freak Show"; Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey"; Allison Janney, "Mom"; Michelle Monaghan, "True Detective"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Matt Bomer (pictured), "The Normal Heart"; Alan Cumming, "The Good Wife"; Colin Hanks, "Fargo"; Bill Murray, "Olive Kitteridge"; Jon Voight, "Ray Donovan"
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Take a look at the stars who might be accepting a Golden Globe when the annual ceremony thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association airs on Jan. 11
Best Motion Picture -- Drama: "Boyhood" (pictured), "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything"
