You’ll almost certainly know Maria de Medeiros as the choppy-bobbed girlfriend, Fabienne, of Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction (1994). But what you might not know is what she’s been up to since — unless you’re a longtime European art house expert, in which case, maybe you do.
The Portuguese actress, now 59, returns to the Berlin Film Festival this year with Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Italian murder mystery (a genre referred to as giallo), Reflection in a Dead Diamond. The movie follows a retired spy — played by spaghetti Western icon Fabio Testi — residing in a luxurious hotel on the French Riviera. He becomes fascinated by his new neighbor, who rekindles memories of the Riviera’s vibrant days in the 1960s. But when his neighbor vanishes without a trace, Testi’s character is forced to confront his past demons.
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Granted, de Medeiros is unable to attend Berlinale in person this year as she is on tour with playwright Robert Wilson in Italy performing Pessoa — Since I’ve Been Me, an ode to Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. This aptly summarizes her career over the past 30 years: often paying homage to figures of great impact in Europe alongside renowned creatives.
It was de Medeiros’ own passion for directing that brought her back to Portugal in the wake of Pulp Fiction‘s global success; April Captains, about her country’s revolution, was 13 years in the making and premiered in Cannes in 2000. “That film really brought me back to Europe,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. While the star has shot in Brazil, Mexico, Spain and France, featured alongside the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Isabella Rossellini and Charlotte Rampling, and even released an album in 2007, de Medeiros’ catalogue is overwhelmingly European since her work with Quentin Tarantino.
“That’s where you see the abyss of distribution between American films and films from the rest of the world,” she says of being recognized for her role as Fabienne still. Despite that level of fame in the States, de Medeiros always felt “very close” to the film industry in Europe: “That’s where I come from.”
The actor-director sat down with THR to talk about her friendship with Tarantino and sharing scenes with Willis, while reflecting on a career that has celebrated the best of film from not just America, but everywhere else, too: “European cinema is something to keep fighting for.”
You won’t be able to make it to Berlin in person this year, will you?
No, unfortunately, I won’t be able to be with the film in Berlin because I’m performing a play with [theater director and playwright] Robert Wilson. It’s on the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa and we already played here in Paris, and now we’ll be on tour in Italy. So I won’t be able to accompany the crew and the film in Berlin. But I’m very, very happy about that and I must tell you — I haven’t seen the film yet.
Oh, wow. Well, we’re both in the dark on that. Have you done a lot of theater?
Very much. I studied here in Paris, at the Conservatoire — it’s the big theater school. I’ve always done theater, mostly, in France. And this is my first time with Bob Wilson. Though it’s on this fabulous Portuguese poet, it’s a very international play. We perform in different languages and the actors come from all over the world.
Let’s go all the way back to your early career and Pulp Fiction. I’m sure you’ve told this story a million times, but how did you get brought on board?
I had just shot Henry & June (1990) with Phil Kaufman. That was my first American [film] experience. And it was a beautiful experience because it was on [novelist] Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller and all those fantastic years in between the two wars here in Paris. And I believe Quentin [Tarantino] had seen that film — I know he had seen that film, actually, because he took the same two actresses! There was Uma Thurman playing June, Henry Miller’s wife, and me. But I met Quentin at a very small independent film festival in Avignon in the South of France. It was really a film lover’s festival, full of cinephiles, and I believe it was one of the first trips Quentin made to Europe.
He’s a person that’s curious of everything. He’s interested in everything. I felt he was catching all the differences in Europe and all the moods and the atmosphere in Europe, and somehow he put it in the writing of Pulp Fiction because the characters talk a lot about the differences in Europe. So yeah, that’s how we met. Then we met in another much bigger festival in São Paulo in Brazil. I received this incredible script of Pulp Fiction, and I remember very distinctly thinking, “This is something very extraordinary. This is very good. This is a kind of genius. Who wrote this? I want to do it.” I don’t know who is going to see it, but because it was so different from everything, it’s so, so complicated, so audacious in the writing that I thought, “This is really an art movie. I want to be part of it.” Who would be the audience, though? And the film found a huge audience all over the world. So he really made a statement that people don’t necessarily want extremely simplified films.
So there was no inkling on set of just how huge it would be?
I really didn’t see that. It was a surprise to me. But you could see the genius in the script, and it was symptomatic that all those stars said yes and were in the project despite it being an independent, small-budget film. Everybody perceived that [Tarantino] was some kind of genius but the universality of it, I didn’t get that. That the world would enjoy it … I didn’t get that.
And Bruce Willis was one of your scene partners, which must have been incredible as a young actress. Are you still in touch with anyone from the cast? Do you still speak to Quentin?
I do speak to Quentin whenever I see him. Of course, it’s always fantastic to see him, but I don’t see him very often. Bruce Willis, I must say, I felt I was really privileged to work with him, because he’s such a wonderful partner to work with. He was so supportive, so sweet, because it was the first time that I was shooting in Los Angeles and everything was very new to me. I remember the first day I arrived, they said, “Come on, come see us shooting.” And I arrived, and I saw the camera was under a big blue sheet of plastic and there was blood everywhere. All that was very new, because I really came from very intellectual cinema, European cinema, art house cinema. So it was sweet of Bruce.
Since then, you’ve been pulled back toward your native Europe and European cinema. Do you feel like Pulp Fiction was the height of your relationship with American film?
It’s true. I always felt very close to European cinema, that’s where I come from. And then, [after Pulp Fiction] I had this project that took me 13 years to put together. It was my first film as a director, on the Portuguese revolution. It’s called April Captains, and it was a big European co-production. It was in Cannes in 2000, but that [film] really brought me back to Europe. It’s a war film, so I don’t regret that I did it, especially because it was the 50th anniversary of the revolution last year. It really took me 13 years, though. And the film was shown a little bit everywhere, but yes, it brought me back to Europe.
Would you ever return to American film? Or do you feel like your heart is with European cinema?
Of course, I would. I’m curious and I like beautiful projects, and I must say, the American films I have made have been with incredible artists. So even though they were successful commercially, they were really artistic statements by the authors. And I still work a lot with Brazil. I’ve made a few films in Canada, in Mexico. So I do go a lot to the Americas and to shoot there. I’m really interested by their cinema as well.
Let’s talk about Reflection in a Dead Diamond. How did this land in your inbox?
I really don’t know how they thought of me, but I was really happy, because I’m always interested in different art forms in cinema, and certainly Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani are very, very original. I believe Quentin really likes their films, too. It’s always very good when there’s a woman and a man [directing]. They’re a couple, they work together and they have a very special cinematic language that’s their own. They play around with the genre of giallo, and the cartooning, the narrative, is really special. They shoot in a lot of detail.
Can you tell us a little about the film and what it’s about?
Fabio Testi, he is such an important figure of spaghetti Westerns and he’s just such a lovely looking actor. He plays this old man who lives in a hotel on the Riviera. We go through this whole process where we don’t know exactly if what he is experiencing is real or fantasized. You realize he might not be the good old man he seems to be.
And what can you tell us about Laura?
Her identity is not clear. The story is about that: Who is she really? But she appears as this one actress who helps him. She wants to help this man, but who was she in the past toward him? We don’t know.
Of course, this won’t be the first time one of your films screens at Berlinale.
No, no. I have been there a few times already with a Portuguese film by Teresa Villaverde, Alex, a long time ago, and then also an Italian film, Riparo by Marco Simon Puccioni.
I’m curious as to what kind of state you think the European film industry is in at the moment. Europe is its own hub of cinema, but how do you think the market is faring? Is it thriving?
I think it’s something to keep fighting for, to keep European cinema existing. It’s so interesting and diverse, the films really represent something on the European perspective and on each country’s perspective. I follow the European Academy lot and the awards each year, the film selection each year. And I must say, it’s really exciting. It’s so good. I live in France and I work a lot in Portugal and Spain and all these countries have a state system that helps films, helps cinema to exist and with a very free, creative process.
You’re at such an interesting stage in your career. You are obviously in this Bob Wilson play, but what else appeals to you? You’ve done the cult-est of cult films with Pulp Fiction and are beloved in Europe. What piques your interest?
Projects that bring an idea of creation, that escape from regular, repetitive standards. That’s it. And of course, if it’s well written, if the characters are interesting, if the visuals have an impact and are exciting. And I must say I want to go on working as a director since April Captains. I’ve also done two documentaries, but were feature-length documentaries and I also directed the film Our Children in Brazil. And I’ve seen I’m Still Here — it’s a fantastic film, and it’s so good that Brazil gets back to the conscience of its history. And in Our Children, it’s a big part of that. The trauma of the military dictatorship on the Brazilian society, but [from the perspective of] a mother and child. It’s a dialogue between the generations. What are the priorities to one generation that fought for democracy, and the priorities of a new generation that became more liberal? So I’m interested by cinema that also nourishes in that sense.
What’s next for Maria de Medeiros?
I’m writing a new project. And also there are a few other films to come out here in France. There’s a film called Le Roi Soleil by Vincent Maël Cardona. And also, I worked this year with a very iconic director, Tony Gatlif, on his new film, Ange et Soléa. There’s another Spanish film called The Portuguese House by a woman, Avelina Prat.
What project are you most recognized for? Is it Pulp Fiction?
Of course, yeah. I mean, that’s where you see the abyss of distribution between American films and the films from the rest of the world. The abyss of capacity, of distribution, reaching the general public. It would be good to, little by little, get it more balanced.
