You played in Crown and yet we know little or nothing of you here, even though you are Belgian. Is it because you never talked about your background?
Karina Beuthe Orr: “Let’s just say I haven’t had to claim them until now. In France, as a Belgian, you really start to come into the public eye. That’s the case with Benoît Poelvoorde, Déborah François… . I’m not well known for that yet. But it’s true, that my passport is Belgian. I was born in Tournai. My father is from Brussels, my mother is Swedish. I grew up in an international environment where traveling had its place.”
Is your Belgianness related to your identity card or your heart?
“I feel deeply Belgian, even in acting. I don’t have the same theatrical education as the French, who focus a lot on the text. What they do is very intellectualized, while we are more physical, more in tune with our emotional memory.” We dare to do things they don’t do, we take risks, and then we have self-deprecation… I, because of my build, am mostly hired to play Scandinavian, German, Irish or American women. Right now I’m playing a lot of characters that are a little bit weird, a little bit cold, that are scary. They are authoritarian women, unscrupulous businesswomen. But that is also due to my age. And all the better because they are the most interesting roles.”
We sense a real passion for this profession from you. But you started late. Is it because you didn’t allow this dream?
“You have to put things in context. There was no Internet in the 1980s. And I lived in an environment that didn’t allow me access to the information necessary to become an actress. My parents are intellectuals with no connection to the community. So I played in the school club, I wrote scripts at home, I directed little plays in which I made the neighbors down the street act… Everything I could do I realized because I dreamed about it. My parents thought it was little girl thing and that I’ll put up with it, but no!”
Were they a hindrance?
“Yes and no. No, because they forced me to travel alone very early on. At 14, I flew on a plane without them to join my aunt in the United States. I traveled around Europe with a backpack on my back. I was sent to survival camps in Norway. ” . My parents basically kept throwing me in the water to see if I could swim! And that came in handy in my profession. After that, they weren’t too keen on the idea of me pursuing this career. from the fact that I really like to draw, and being art fans, they could see me pursuing this career. No one would know if I’m a good actress. The drawing, on the other hand, was obvious. And my father was very proud of that. I think I would like to be a painter or a sculptor.’
And then one day you’ll move into the world of music, where you’ll also stand out, taking up the position of Director of International Development at EMI France.
“Yes, and I owe it all to Flemish! When I got my first job at EMI Belgium, I was totally incompetent. But they hired me because I was the only Walloon who spoke English and Dutch fluently. They had no choice. Fortunately for me, I got the job quickly he understood. As a spokesperson you have to have access to the media, and because I won the Miss Belgian Beauty pageant, I had a bit of an aura. I loved that time. We created a big family. We did everything together: concerts, trips… My best friends came from there.”
Then why did you stop?
“It’s a very hard and very demanding job. You work seven days a week, 24 hours a day. When I moved to France, I just had the president over me. I was managing millions and very important artists. And then the Internet came and the music world changed. There was a collapse of the major labels. As a result, they started dropping out in droves. Except for me, but I still wanted to leave.”
You’ve met major artists like Tina Turner. Do you have to be careful not to be a fan to work with them?
“Yes. But Tina Turner was very nice. She had a warm and simple relationship with the people around her. She put people at ease. The one I adored was David Bowie. I didn’t work for him, but I met him a few times.” backstage at festivals and I never dared to talk to him! However, we had coffee at one table. Maybe we just said, “Give me the sugar.” I didn’t see myself confiding in him that his career had affected me. I’m a huge Bowie fan because of his ability to constantly renew himself. He made a living with all the arts, he exposed himself to danger, he was before – guards… Today everyone considers him exceptional, but at that time he had detractors. Apart from him, no one impressed me much.”
Not even Brad Pitt?
“It’s true that maybe I should have been more of a fan when I was on tour with him. But I wanted to be in a normal relationship so much that I didn’t allow myself to. I couldn’t imagine asking him for a selfie or an autograph. And then the production took away my phone! Brad Pitt, he’s still Brad Pitt… But I’m glad I can do such a long and comprehensive interview about myself. It’s nice to be able to talk about myself and not just ask you what it’s like is to meet him.”
But that was my next question…
(Laughs). In fact, it was while discussing the project with a friend that she revealed to me the identity of “X,” as he was called in the script. We were drinking on the terrace when I told her that I had a video conference casting for De’Longhi the next day. There she leaned in. She told me to look on the internet and we came across ads he did for a brand. I didn’t know she was a muse. So when I got home I really prepared for the role. The director was looking for a woman my age , which would represent the iconic French woman, beautiful but natural, undressed. An example was Juliette Binoche as a brunette and Juliet Delpy as a blonde. That allowed me to understand what he wanted. I put on a slightly disheveled men’s shirt and appeared barefoot, slightly disheveled in front of caster. But she didn’t ask me to play the scene. She was interested in me, my life journey, my key moments, my encounters… She wanted to see my face light up when I talked about personal things. Having such castings is very rare.”
And then they immediately take you?
“No. Two days later I got a call to do another video conference with the director who was in Los Angeles. So I chose the same clothes, the same hairstyle for a relaxed effect. And a new surprise. The director who appears on the screen is Bennett Miller … Oscar winner, it can only be good! We talk a little bit, we connect very quickly, and because they take the time to give me what I need to be good, I improvise the scene as needed. I’m quite happy with the result and a few hours later I have confirmation from my agent as he sends me an “option” message with stars everywhere!”
A meeting with Brad Pitt is not far…
“Yes, but ten days go by without news. And as the shooting date approaches, I think that I must be the one who gets captured. And then doubts arise… What if it’s a no, finally? You don’t always think we are aware of that, but rejection is part of the acting profession. We are used to it. Two days later, my agent sent me a negative email because she got a message from the production that if no one contacted us, it was dead. But they had, because I had the option. I didn’t know what to think anymore. And then, the next day, news came that I was in the middle of water damage in my house, with poop. up my neck after a sixth-floor toilet leak, when my agent and the production called several times. it always remembers! Cinema also knows how to move from a dreamy moment to the triviality of everyday life.”
Either way, you’ve mastered the art of tension. At this point, it’s still unclear how your encounter with “X” went!
“(laughs) I was sent a few days in advance to the south of France. There I had the first styling test, then the second. They kept me waiting. And then suddenly everything accelerated with the arrival of Monaco, the French and the American production. We are in the middle of all this, so the stress it’s starting to build up. I’m meeting Brad Pitt’s surrogate. We’re trying and we feel like we’re hesitating because the moment is coming…”
And what impresses the most? The decor around the actor, or the actor himself?
“It’s all these people who put the pressure on. Honestly, when Brad Pitt arrived, he greeted everyone very simply. It wasn’t a special moment. We settled down quickly to understand the mechanics of the scene. So, as I often yawned before the show, until I jaw dropped to ease the nervousness. He saw me from the car and started joking about it. As a result, the pressure went away. I understood that he was fine.”
It also helps you bring out your best…
“Ten times we improvised a text that we can’t hear because there’s music on it. We talked. He asked me how many languages I spoke, and he was surprised that it was five. He told me he found French.” too hard! For him, you have to learn foreign languages when you are a child. Then it gets complicated. In the end we discovered something in common: both of us are trained as racing drivers in England, I am Crown, him for Joseph Kosinski’s next film, which is about to be shot at F1. We talked about rallying and gearboxes!’