THE SCREEN WATCHING INTERVIEW: MELANIE LAURENT

Mélanie Laurent has been a superstar actress, acclaimed theatre director and fierce filmmaking force for two decades in Europe, with occasional forays into Hollywood for such directors as Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds, 2009), Denis Villeneuve (Enemy, 2013) and Michael Bay (6 Underground, 2019).

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW + TRAILER HERE

Her latest project is as writer, director and co-star of Amazon Prime's THE MAD WOMEN'S BALL, the story of Eugenie, a young woman living a well-to-do life in 19th century France whose gift is hearing the dead. After her family discovers her secret, she is taken to La Pitié Salpétrière Hospital, her destiny becoming entwined with that of Laurent's Geneviève, a nurse struggling with her own inner madness.

On the eve of her film's World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and with the September 17 global launch on Amazon Prime just days away, Mélanie Laurent spoke with SCREEN WATCHING's Simon Foster about the relevance of her historical narrative in today's world, the bond she shares with her star Lou de Laâge and embracing the spiritual in a place of madness...