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Shop windows in Paris
are full of surprises.
This armchair in a shop window on the rue de l’Université costs 8,584
euros!
Lovely shop façade, with my friend Carol’s reflection in the door.
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For all of its
faults and weaknesses, the tabloid newspaper Le Parisien provides
useful information for those of us living here in Paris, and it does not fail to examine
weaknesses in French society. Every
summer I have read at least one interesting article in Le Parisien about racism in France.
In yesterday’s
edition, in a sidebar accompanying a critical review of the new Miami Vice movie, was an interview
with Isaach
de Bankolé, one of the actors in the movie. Isaach is black, and he is French. He was born in Ivory Coast, and his parents were
“béninois.” In addition to his role in
Miami Vice, he is going to be in Casino Royale, the next James Bond
movie. He is 49 years old.
Here’s my
translation of the interview:
How did you decide to exile yourself
to the United States?
Between
1991 and 1998, I lived in Paris
but I only found work in foreign films.
So, I told myself that it would be better for me to go and try for a
future elsewhere, such as the United
States.
I was nevertheless an unknown there.
I was already a friend of Jim Jamush and Jim Stark, his producer. They put me in touch with an agent. And then I fell in love (editor’s note:
with the jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson, with whom he is now separated).
Is it easier for a black actor in
the United States than in France?
In
the United States, it is
clear: one has notably more options
when one is part of a minority than one has in France. The people listen to you more. In what could seem paradoxical for an
African actor, I read many more scripts that interest me in the United States than in Paris,
even if there is a much larger black African community in the Paris region than in New York.
Here (in New York)
I always have work. I make more
castings and one thing leads to another.
In Paris,
it was only on the day that I added a “de” in front of my last name and
started calling myself “De Bankolé”
that I was able to find an apartment!
What do you have to say about your
role in the next James Bond movie?
My
character is named Obano. He is a
warlord, a bit in the image of Joseph Koney in Uganda. I am one of the bad guys in the film. I have had great pleasure in working with
Daniel Craig. He is a basic kind of
guy and he has an incredible simplicity.
The people who have doubts about his capabilities in playing the role
of 007 are going to be surprised.
This Paris Journal is composed on a Dell
Inspiron 5100 laptop computer. I am
happy to report that it does not have the kind of battery that bursts into
flames.
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