Eye Haïdara, from the series In therapy to the film Brillantes

A rising star of French cinema, this Parisian actress with a magnetic aura makes a deep impression sense of celebration, in 2017, where he gave his reply to the deceased Jean-Pierre Bacri. More recently, he also demonstrated all his interpretive skills on blackboards, at the Théâtre de l’Atelier, in the adaptation of the best-selling book witch from Mona Kollet. Dazzling in his role as an ambitious and tormented lawyer in the series in therapy, this time he slipped into the skin of an altruistic nanny for the film The ladies of the square from Julian Rambaldwhich was just released in theaters.

Eye Haïdara, an actress revealed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache

Certain roles stand out as proof, compelling awakenings that shift the focus of a scene, or even a film. This is what happened to Adèle’s character, the young assistant to the (deceased) wedding planner Jean-Pierre Bacri) in the A sense of celebration fromEric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. That was in 2017. Haidar’s eyes, who made it happen, was able to pull her salient responses and suppressed moods to the heights that made her something of the heroine in this acclaimed social comedy. The actress, who found one of her first significant roles, was right after that Taulard fromAudrey Estrog, then took its place in French cinema, never to leave it again. Being in the middle, with the security it can provide, the thirty-year-old actress doesn’t really enjoy it. But he admits he still had a bit of a headache last summer, during the festival in Angoulême. “In the hotel where everyone is staying, I share a table with the characters of French cinema I have seen on screen since my childhood! I have a moment in hindsight where I said to myself: ‘That’s it, I entered the workforce.‘ i was in game, as the young people say.”

From the César nomination to the series In therapy

Since his appointment to César Award for Best Female Wish in 2018, Haidar’s eyes enforces the captivating mix of passion and melancholy that is her trademark. We saw that in the brilliant second seasonin therapy, The French adaptation of the Israeli series consists of lengthy conversations between a psychiatrist and his patients. The actress plays Inès there, a talented lawyer who confides in Doctor Dayan’s office (Frederick Pierrot), about her tumultuous relationship with motherhood. By evoking these moving and suspenseful characters, Haidar’s eyes remember that she became a mother five years ago and took the opportunity to clarify her acting philosophy.”We don’t play for fakes and we put a lot of ourselves into our characters, but not necessarily in the way others would expect. The public may only perceive things as rather easy, questions regarding origin… In terms ofIn therapy, I can discuss with the author to adapt the role of Inès.“The young lady went a step further. “People interest me, so I get as close to what I have to play as I can. I would say, rather, that I am near and far from me. It’s a contradictory dynamic that finds its meaning somewhere.”

An actress inspired by Charlotte Gainsbourg, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep or even Catherine Frot

So close and so far working simultaneously, Haidar’s eyes have experienced it since childhood. In his family, however, cinema has no religion, even if he remembers attending screenings with his father, a classicist and cowboy. His CP teacher passed the game virus on him as soon as he entered elementary school in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, where he grew up. “Thanks to him I know theatrical passion. He put us on stage to recite our poetry and put on a little performance. I liked it right away, it was my activity, like everyone else’s judo. I had not yet realized that I could make a career out of it.”

This idea would come much later due to noting that he was always interested in the same pleasures, almost independently of himself. “The more I grew up, the more games happened in my everyday life. There were other things that made me want to: become a lawyer, juvenile judge, teacher or even an athlete. Making my passion my profession I finally pushed myself after a phase where I felt a bit unhappy because I wasn’t playing enough. I am about 20 years old.” Haidar’s eyes then studied performing arts at the Sorbonne and enrolled in courses at the International School of Acting, before going for a Paris casting. The tricky part for any apprentice actress, it’s even harder when you’re a young black woman – of Malian origin – in an industry that’s still very little inclusive. The model, at that time, was called Charlotte Gainsbourg (“”When I see cheeky, I’m hooked, I want to do this”), Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep or Catherine Frot. “I’m also very interested in voices, such as Myriam Boyer and Fanny Ardant.”

Eye Haïdara, a strong taste for specialty theatre and cinema

Haidar’s eyes finds somewhat unexpected meaning in his formative years, believing that what he calls failure protects him. “Not getting certain roles allows me to avoid some pitfalls. When you’re 20-25 years old, you find that things aren’t going fast enough, you go through all the casting. At that time, I was offered a lot of black girl characters. There are lots of bad things I’ve avoided, and much better! Looking back, now that I’ve come a long way, especially in the theater, I can say that to myself. I am now being offered a role that can be played by a diverse and varied panel of actresses, not necessarily black. In the Israeli version ofIn therapy, Inès is not black. I think it was really someone’s choice that made me offer this character and it flattered me a lot.”

The actress has said that she is sensitive to social cinema, even committed, with her films Ken Loach and brother Dardenwhat he saw Bike kid twice in a row. “I love cinema where it highlights the people we meet every day and the ones we don’t talk about”, he explained, referring to his last film, The ladies of the square, from Julian Rambaldwhose heroine is a governess. Haidar’s eyes has gained considerable experience – including in theatre, where he still appears in adaptations witch from Mona Kollet – to choose a project similar to him, even if internally he continues to hesitate. Because of this, she frankly expresses a chronic lack of self-confidence. “I like my place on the screen, but I’m not confident. For A sense of celebration, I didn’t believe I was going to be in the film until I saw it on screen. I thought I was too bad, that Toledano and Nakache would cut me off in editing. Even today, I replay in my head scenes from movies I’ve shot, telling myself I should have done it differently… I’ll never be completely satisfied, but I’m making progress.”

An actress nicknamed by Jean-Luc Godard

One of the first people to believe it was summoned Jean-Luc Godard, who died in early autumn. With him he turned socialism Movie, presented in the competition in the Cannes film festival 2010. To be honest, he remembers“unintelligible text” who acted as script during filming in the small Swiss town of Rolle, but also had free time with the writerOut of breath, which he described as “visionary grandfather”. Godard gave him the DV camera he played with in the movies. “He wanted me to break it in a scene and, seeing it bothered me, he offered to give it to me. He has made entire films with it and plans to make another with nothing but a laptop. I think he rocks.One day, the legendary filmmaker accepted that he was attending one of his tennis lessons. He filmed it for an hour and, as class ended, the eight year old said to him: “Jean-Luc Godard playing tennis, it’s gonna end up on YouTube, that’s it!“More than a decade after that moment, Haidar’s eyes still can’t go back. “How did he know YouTube? I gave him the tape, but I kept the camera.When we asked if he kept them and where, he replied tit for tat, with a big smile on his face:I know exactly where he is but I won’t tell you.”

“Brilliant” by Sylvie Gautier (2023), in theaters.
“In therapy” by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, season 2 (2022) available at the Arte boutique.