Little girl, Valerie Mairesse dreamed to become «Marilyn Monroe». Until the day when her life as a woman and actress has been turned upside down by an encounter. In 1976, Agnès Varda has chosen to play one of the two beautiful heroines of one sings and the other not, is the side of Thérèse Liotard. It is a story of friendship between two women who struggle, each in their own way, to impose their choices in the face of fate, and the conventions of their families, to the pressure of society. Valérie Mairesse embodies Pauline, a young girl in revolt that was to become a singer and an activist of women’s rights. Almost ten years after May ‘ 68, the work of Varda under the punch.

» READ ALSO – Cléo from 5 to 7 Without roof or law, Agnès Varda in eight movies that changed the movies

More than four decades have past, but Valérie Mairesse has forgotten nothing of the decisive influence that the director has exercised on his life and career. Despite the sorrow, she has agreed to talk about the feelings of admiration which was bound to the filmmaker.

LE FIGARO. – Why the film that you have shot under the direction of Agnès Varda remains unforgettable?

Marechal Aurore/Aurore Marechal/ABACA

Valérie MAIRESSE. – I was twenty years old and I dreamed of becoming Marilyn Monroe». And now, a documentarian known for his intellectualism gives me the chance to play in a committed film, a film that will mark the history of feminism. I am touched by her disappearance because meet Agnès Varda has been a hint of madness. She made me do it in one sings and the other does not of the things that I had never daring in my life. This film is an epic. My character was 17 years old at the start and 34 at the end. This has required a difficult effort of composition. And then, most importantly, it is Agnes who has taught me feminism. A feminism happy for me and never more will leave me.

You’ve played in big comedies with Coluche, Pierre Richard, Jean Yanne… Why your role in one sings, the other not you think is more important?

When we take stock of a career, we try to be aware of what has counted for itself. Then of course, the popular comedy is a difficult art, which brings you a lot. Films by Claude Zidi and Gérard Oury, you are right, have counted much in my life as an actress. But if I have been chosen by these great directors, perhaps it is because he knew that, thanks to Agnès Varda, I was also able to delve into a scenario that is more involved and more dramatic. In the background, the laughter and the drama are inseparable.

How Agnès Varda directed the actresses and actors?

She was very demanding. With it you could let them talk to her instinct because she was there to guide you. It is an experience that is then used throughout your career.

A friendship is born immediately between you?

Oddly, one was lost sight of for years. And then I found it, there are seven or eight years ago randomly at a festival. Our reunion was warm as if it had never left.

Do you talk about one sings, the other not?

She phoned me when I released my autobiography, When I grow up, I will be american actress . She had seen that my book was built around our meeting. I explain how I built my life by following the precepts of feminism, that is to say, never depend on a man. How I learned to be a free woman, in fact! You understand, now, Agnès Varda has been in my life all the time. Today, I’m just tremendously sad…

● one sings, the other not or the history of feminism by Agnès Varda

● one sings, the other not Agnes Varda, in 1977, with Valerie Mairesse, Therese Liotard, Ali Raffi, Francis Lemaire, Gisèle Halimi…

one sings, the other not from Each individual Seeks His Film on Vimeo.