What interested you about Frida Kahlo?
When you read her letters, you get a fairly clear picture of the life she led. You first see a young woman experiencing a tragedy early in her life, and then you follow her relationship with her body, with pain, with surgeries, with the difficulty of moving and simply being alive. And how she copes with all of that. You also see the difficulty of being a female painter, of finding her independence, in a time when it was even harder than it is today.
Her husband Diego Rivera wasn't going to help her!
She had her husband who supported her financially, but it also weighed on her. She longed for more independence and more recognition. She was with a husband who took up all the space because he was the celebrity. Moreover, she is a woman abused by a lying, deceitful, belittling, and often absent man. Yet, she continues to create her art, which has also been a way for her to find solace in her health and her inability to do anything other than paint.
Despite everything, she resists?
Yes, she is a woman with a very powerful resilience. She resists the dictates and the place assigned to her. This pushes her to find moments of happiness, to party, to have many friends. And when she is too unhappy, she has lovers. She has a very full and important sexual life while being this woman who asserts her physicality, her unibrow; she doesn't pluck her mustache, and one can imagine a body in its raw state. Although she wasn't the most beautiful woman according to the standards of her time, throughout her life she became the most beautiful, talented, and resilient woman.
With a musical reading, is it music, books, and theater that you love?
And even a bit of cinema, because with the music accompanying the sadness or the moments of joy, the show takes on a very cinematic form. It's a show I performed without the script two years ago. Since we're only doing five dates this time, I've gone back to the book. I have the text in front of me, I'm wearing my glasses. I read, I act, it's somewhere in between. It's a rather unique format that has resonated with its audience. People leave happy because they've learned so much about Frida.
Is this a good format for this short tour with Culturissimo?
Yes, it's perfect for that. In addition, this festival is a very worthwhile initiative that brings culture to all over France with a wide variety of shows. And since it's free, it allows people to come out of curiosity and see things they might not have seen if the festival hadn't existed.
What are your current projects?
I just finished season 2 of a series called Dear You for Amazon. I've also finished a film with Didier Bourdon, Camille Lellouche, and Michèle Laroque, which should be released in early 2027. And I'm also taking the time to record an album.
