At the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, we got to chat with actor Théodore Pellerin, one of the most quietly adventurous thesps ping-ponging between films by establihsed auteurs and as witnessed last year emerging filmmakers such as Alex Russell (Lurker) and Pauline Loquès (Nino) – for which he won the Cesar for Best Male Newcomer. Selected as one of Unifrance’s “10 to Watch” rising French talents and serving as a Critics’ Week jury member this year, Pellerin continues to occupy a rare space between American independent film, Quebecois cinema, and contemporary French production, moving fluidly between each ecosystem while maintaining a distinct artistic sensibility.
In this conversation which I refer to a career retrospective, we discussed about how he selects his projects, the responsibilities he feels when leading a film versus occupying a supporting role and how he looks at the ongoing collaborations with filmmakers such as Sophie Dupuis and Philippe Lesage. With Nicole Garcia’s Milo and Tom Ford’s Cry to Heaven expected to drop this autumn and Lesage’s I Just Want A Great Love Story set to be his next project, his filmography to date is a decade’s worth defined by curiosity, restraint, and an instinct for working with filmmakers who are making cinema that matters.
