THE FIRST time Guillaume Canet read the script for Les liens du sang (2008) he really liked the story. Also known as Rivals, it was adapted from the French novel Deux Frères, Flic et Truand, written by Bruno and Michel Papet.
“That was the first time I read a script and thought maybe I was willing to direct it. So, I played the part (of the policeman brother) and really enjoyed it because I enjoyed working with Jacques Maillot who directed it,” said Canet.
The actor, director and writer began acting in the mid 1990s, starting off with a bang, picking up a Best Actor award at a film festival for his role in Barracuda and a César nomination in the comedy En Plein Coeur and an appearance in Danny Boyle’s The Beach.
He filmed his self-penned feature Mon Idole (Whatever you Say), which featured his then wife Diane Kruger, in 2002.
The 41-year-old Frenchman’s second feature film (Ne le Dis a Personne/Tell No One) was the ninth top-grossing French film of 2006 and more recently he had been turning down offers to direct films in the US.
“I was declining offers because I did not want to end up in the Hollywood system and not being in control of the film I was doing. I decided to find my own idea, and that’s what I did.
“I tried to think about a subject and suddenly I thought about this story and said ‘maybe’ because I already knew the subject well.
“Also, the first time I read the French version I was picturing it in the States and I’ve always been a big fan of 1970s independent American cinema,” said Canet.
American film director James Gray helped him with the structure of the Blood Ties script, “and then he had to work on his own project (The Immigrant)”.
As soon as casting was confirmed Canet worked with the actors to improve the dialogue and cut repetition, and once they were in production he made adjustments depending on what they were faced with.
One of the difficulties of shooting on location in New York in 2012 was the expense of authorisations and permits to block off streets to use specific buildings.
“With an independent project you end up having to pay a lot for things that you didn’t think you had to spend on. Every day brought surprises,” he said wrily.
Still, Canet kept Blood Ties a period piece or some of the narrative would not have made sense: “Nowadays, with technology like cellphones it would not have been the same story. All those things make it very different.”
He was also specific about his casting: “I wanted actors who would be passionate about the project. It was important when casting to be sure that the roles would be important for the actors.
“For Clive (Owen), it would be an interesting and good challenge to make a movie with an American accent. With this kind of role he had to be charismatic and also very desperate, terrifying and brutal. I thought of him because he can have all those emotions.
“For the other brother, played by Billy (Crudup)… I have always been a huge fan. I really wanted good actors and I just tried to follow my instincts.”
Being an actor himself helped because he knows exactly what makes actors anxious on set. Working as a director has started making him more detail-oriented though and he thinks it might have improved his acting abilities.
“I like both. I have the feeling that I’m expressing things differently now.
“When I’m directing I’m psychologically involved and sometimes it can be frustrating for me because as an actor I can express my emotions physically.”
Still, Canet is really taking to this directing idea so he sees himself doing more of it.
Next week sees the release of La prochaine Fois Je Viserai Le Coeur (Next Time I’ll Aim For the Heart) in France, in which he plays a retiring policeman with the alter ego of a serial killer.
Canet will also soon be seen in Stephen Frear’s as yet untitled Lance Armstrong biopic, but for now he is writing a script for a film he wants to direct himself.