Charlotte Gainsbourg Vice Interview

An interview for the Vice Blog.

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Where do all these Miranda July and Vincent Gallo-a-like people come from? They all seem to be able act, sing, paint and just be in a good old constant state of becoming at the drop of hat. That’s why I’ve decided to call bullshit on all of them. They are all lying and just making it up as they go along. Apart from Charlotte Gainsbourg. If your father was Serge Gainsbourg and your mother was Jane Birkin it would be pretty worrying if you couldn’t pull albums and films out of thin air. Charlotte is currently starring in the insane, Todd Haynes directed Dylan biopic, “I’m Not There” as well as having her second solo record, “5:55”, out. Just you know, because she can…

Vice: Hi Charlotte, you are looking pretty tired.

Charlotte Gainsbourg: I feel tired. I was in Paris yesterday, then straight over here and filming in the studio with Air last night and then straight up to talk right now. I would prefer to just be back at home.

What would you be doing right now if you were at home?

Having breakfast with my children.

You have children as well as all the acting and music? No wonder you are tired. Do you have that machine like the guy from Quantum Leap that stops time?

I do not know that film that you mention but family is what is most interesting for me. The album, it was rewarding perhaps, but in many many ways it was a struggle.

It did take you twenty years to get a second one out.

Yes, well I thought that I never would do another album for many years. I thought that I could not make an album without my father.

The first single that you did with your father was a duet entitled “Lemon Incest”. Was that not a little strange for a 12-year-old girl to be singing with her Dad?

No not at all. It was a wonderful environment to work in. There was a lot of jumping in and out of swimming pools and not many takes. It was only when I met Air and later on Jarvis that I realised that I could work with people and create music again.

Was working with Jarvis a bit like working with your Dad? There are certain similarities…

They were very different. Jarvis would explain things more in terms of an end feeling. My father was far more conductorly.

Considering the climate that you grew up in do you feel that doing something creative was inevitable? Would it have been more rebellious to be a lawyer?

It was certainly made apparent that a job within the arts was a great career. Singing certainly has never felt like work and working with people like Michel Gondry is a true pleasure. He has the boundless imagination of a child.

In this new film, lots of different people all play the role of Bob Dylan including several women and the guy that played Darth Vader in the shitty Star Wars prequels. Do you think your Dad would have dug it?

It is certainly a very interesting script. I am not sure what my father would have thought but there are several beautiful women in the film so I am sure he would have enjoyed it yes.