We can note that it wasn’t too shabby a year for Ariane Labed. The French non-actress barely spoke the Greek language when she won the Coppa Volpi for the Best Actress at the 67th Venice International Film Festival (Athina Rachel Tsangari’s ATTENBERG) and now in her second outing, the Best Screenplay winner at the same festival (Yorgos Lanthimos’ ALPS) she book-ends a year to the date (both titles were showcased at TIFF) with a supporting role that should blast the bright faced thesp into further international experiences.
One would be lead to believe that Labed (who prepares for a character by training excessively as a young gymnast) was a natural for the role because of previous experience in the sport, but in fact, its more of her “head on” approach to acting that made her a prime candidate for the physically demanding role. This interview was conducted at the 2011 Toronto Int. Film Festival and Kino Lorber releases in limited theatres this month.
