Isild Le Besco

“When you direct, you give yourself something more intimate, it's more than physical.”

PLAYBOY.COM: How would you describe your part in The Untouchable?

LE BESCO: It's about an actress who finds out on her birthday that her father is from India, and she wants to try finding him. She takes a role in a movie she didn't want to do to make some quick money, and she goes to India. It was very interesting to play an actress, because it shows how an actress often suffers, even if it's a great job.

PLAYBOY.COM: Are there actresses that you admired growing up?

LE BESCO: Not really. I like Lauren Bacall very much. There are a few I like very much, but I'm not inspired by any.

PLAYBOY.COM: Are there any particular directors in whose films you'd like to work?

LE BESCO: Sure, a lot, but I'm afraid there are a lot that I don't know yet.

PLAYBOY.COM: Now that you've directed films, has that changed your work as an actress?

Isild Le Besco: I can't disassociate the role from the director to the actress. I directed my [first] film at the same time I was preparing to be an actress in a film. I was 18. They're part of the same thing. They go together. I'm just finishing a new one. In a way, it protects the way that I work as an actress. The way I make films, you can't be an actress shooting 12 months a year. When you direct, you give yourself something more intimate, it's more than physical.

PLAYBOY.COM: Are you becoming more comfortable working in English?

LE BESCO: I like English very much. I like the music of this language. We'll have to see if other filmmakers propose me for roles.

Photo: Catherine Cabrol/Kipa/Corbis