The ghosts of first love haunt for a lifetime in Olivier Peyon’s quietly devastating Lie With Me. Based on the novel of the same name by Philippe Besson (a smash hit in France and translated into English by the actress Molly Ringwald), it’s a delicate drama split in two: in the present, lonely writer Stéphane (Guillaume de Tonquédec) returns to his wine haven hometown and meets Lucas (Victor Belmondo) the son of his lost love, Thomas, throwing him headfirst into a daze of recollection. In its parallel 80s-set timeline, young Stéphane (Jérémy Gillet) and Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean) fall in love over a heady summer filled with heat and sex, rendered through the sun-dappled gaze of infatuation. Throughout their clandestine affair, they wrestle with the oppressive pull of their home, with Stéphane ultimately deciding to leave while Thomas stays.
Much of the film’s alluring power comes from its flashbacks, anchored by Jérémy and Julien. Both 23 and relative newcomers, they’re huddled in front of a laptop in Jérémy’s kitchen, where the week before our conversation, the pair celebrated his birthday. They’re the first to admit that they’ve grown close since they first shot Lie With Me, and it’s apparent in their natural domesticity as both actors occasionally dip out of frame to make the other a cup of coffee or roll a cigarette.
Had you read the book before you joined this film?
Julien: I hadn’t heard about the book before the audition, and when I got the call-back, I read it. Of course, I cried at the end. Even during shooting, I was reading the book to try to be close to the character because the director told me I wasn’t the actor he expected for the role. He wanted someone from the countryside, more masculine with a stronger accent. At the time, Jérémy said to me, “Okay, leave the book, do your thing because you’re Thomas.”
Jérémy: [The book] is something I really didn’t think about when shooting because it’s fiction first. I feel like I did that to relieve myself of pressure as well, because my character still exists in real life. I didn’t meet [Phillippe Besson] before; we actually met after the shooting while we were watching the movie.
What was it like meeting him?
Julien: You met him at the first very first screening. I wasn’t there because I was doing theatre.
Jérémy: It was a screening just for the cast and crew. He was in the centre of the room, all the way back in the last row. We saw the movie and I was forgetting that we were presenting it to the person who lived this story, but at the end, when the credits started to roll, we heard a door slam. We turned around, and he wasn’t there anymore. We were very worried that he didn’t like it. But actually, when we went outside, he was just taking some air to process. He absolutely loved it, so it was very touching to see that.
Did you audition with other people before meeting each other?
Julien: I misunderstood the address, so I arrived late. I was sweaty as fuck. I was paired with another guy, and the chemistry was alright, but it didn’t work well, so they just rewatched the self-tapes to find someone who could match with me. They found Jérémy and it worked instantly.
What was it about you both that clicked?
Jérémy: Maybe what was different was that on the first day, we made little changes. Not just in the text but in the eyes, and he was responding to absolutely everything that I did. And I think I felt everything he did, too, so we elevated each other.
Julien, you mentioned that you weren’t the actor Olivier Peyon expected to play Thomas. Did you feel like you had something to prove?
Julien: Oh, no, I wasn’t too worried because [Olivier Peyon] made me really comfortable. But since this was one of my first films, I felt more pressure because I wasn’t really used to filming. I’m not really a technical actor, so I was searching for myself in a way.
Jérémy: You’ve done a lot of theatre. I don’t buy that you’re not a technical actor.
Julien: It’s funny because Jérémy learned acting by doing films because he started five years ago and didn’t do any theatre. Then conversely, I’ve done a lot of theatre but had never done films. And then he joined my theatre school.
Jérémy: Yeah, we were in school together for a year and a half.
Julien: We’re like the inverse of each other in that way. We complete each other.
Where did you both grow up?
Julien: I’m from the countryside in Saint-Julien, next to Lyon. My dad works in wine.
Jérémy: Just like the character! I grew up in Belgium, also in the countryside. I left everything behind at 17 for Paris because I didn’t feel like it was where I belonged. That’s something I related to with my character: he says that he doesn’t belong, and he’s going to go to Paris and do great things. I also love the fact that he doesn’t seem to give a shit about other people’s point of view about him. It’s the French countryside in the 80s – you’d feel oppressed there if you were LGBTQ but we never talked about that in the movie. It’s not a problem for him. Yeah, sure, it exists, but who cares? That’s something I admire about him; that takes a lot of strength.
Did you relate to your character in any way, Julien?
Julien: I’m more like Stéphane, because I was born in the countryside, and I think people were less open-minded. I really found myself in Lyon and Paris because I always wanted to make art or do theatre and find people that I really connected to. I have a lot of sympathy for Thomas. I understand him completely, and it’s crazy that you can pass by your life in shame.
Lie With Me was a hugely popular book in France. Did you feel any responsibility in playing these characters?
Jérémy: I tried not to. We have the right to put a different twist on them and not to be as close as possible to what was written.
Julien: When [Olivier Peyon] started to write his screenplay, [Philippe Besson] said, “The best adaptations are the best betrayals, so betray me.”
Jérémy: We’ve had a great response here in France. Some people don’t like it, obviously, because if everyone likes something, it’s worrying. But everyone agrees on the fact that it’s a great adaptation.
Julien: We’ve done a lot of premieres around France, and we showed the movie in little villages—
Jérémy: Oh, that was something.
Julien: It was, because a lot of people could connect to the story. People from the countryside have seen it, and it’s changed minds. I’m really proud to have been in this movie because I think art and film can open people’s view of the world.
The film has these intimate scenes that really show the trajectory of Stéphane and Thomas’ relationship. Can you talk about the importance of those scenes and the process of creating them?
Julien: After we passed the audition, Jérémy and I had dinner, and we became really good friends, so when we first started shooting, it wasn’t as stressful as it would be if I didn’t know him. We talked a lot with the director. He showed us a lot of intimate scenes from different movies like Dance of the 41 to [demonstrate] what he wanted so we wouldn’t be scared.
Jérémy: We shot the sex scene behind the pool on the very first day of shooting.
Julien: At first, we were going to do the very last scene when we were by the lake on the first day, but I asked Olivier and Jérémy if we could do the sex scene first. For me, I thought it would be easier to start the movie like how they really first met.
Jérémy: [At some point] they stopped just having sex, and then the love comes, and it’s like he teaches me sex, and I teach him love in a way.
Julien: In the end, it’s just choreography. We talked a lot about it: what positions? What does it mean in a couple? Normally, there’s an intimacy coach, but when Olivier saw us talking about it, he knew we didn’t need one.
Jérémy: We really owned it. It was special because we were the ones taking charge. [Olivier] was almost more timid than us. He was like, “Okay, so you’re going there if everyone feels okay about it.” And we were like, “Okay, shut up, we’re doing it.” It can be simple if you want it to be and you trust your director.
Julien: The major role of the director is to make you feel safe, and it’s the same with your partner. If you’re safe, you can do whatever you want, and you can try things. I’m really proud of those scenes because they’re not [often] shown like this, and I think people feel a bit disarmed to see two guys making love that way.
Did you have any fears or anxieties making this film?
Julien: Obviously I really stressed because I didn’t have much experience.
Jérémy: We didn’t know what it was going to look like. I had such blind faith in the director, and I knew he was going to do something great.
Julien: I didn’t know that it would change my life. We’ve done so many premieres.
Jérémy: Almost two years later, and we’re still talking about it.
Julien: It’s crazy. We are so lucky that we were so happy filming and we get along with each other. Guillaume de Tonquédec gave us some advice: A movie like this is not going to happen twice in your life, so enjoy it. I think it was the best advice because we did.
‘Lie With Me’ is available on demand in the UK now. It will be released in the US on 28 November.
Credits
Photography Maxime La