Camille Cottin knows her job is ridiculous.
asserted
job → know → ?
“It can be easily despised and mocked,” she admits of show business, before listing the reasons why: “Money. Superficiality.
asserted
she → despise → reasons
That sums it up, but Cottin knows better than most why her industry matters.
asserted
industry → sum → most
She is the star of Call My Agent!, the brains and sass behind the lead character Andréa in the French series about actors and their long-suffering lackeys.
asserted
She → call → actors
It appeared on Netflix at the precise time in the pandemic when everyone needed eccentric people to laugh at.
asserted
everyone → appear → people
And recently it returned, as a film, to cheer us up all over again.
asserted
it → return → us
We meet in – where else? – Paris for a coffee down a cobbled side street just by the Opera.
asserted
We → meet → Opera
The 47-year-old is bright-eyed, with a calm, collected presence and wearing a blue denim skirt and shirt.
asserted
old → wear → skirt
Call My Agent! was watched by four million people an episode in France before it went to Netflix, racked up millions of streams and appeared in Top Tens all over the world.
asserted
it → call → world
If Normal People provided the sex for those stuck at home during the pandemic, and I May Destroy You brought the grit, Call My Agent! was like tourism – giving us a chance to gawp at Paris without having to watch Emily in Paris.
uncertain
Call → provide → Paris
Then, after four series of cameos from stars including Monica Bellucci (playing a version of herself who cannot find a boyfriend) and Isabelle Huppert as a stressed workaholic, Call My Agent! stopped.
asserted
who → include → Agent
“It’s like a concert,” Cottin says.
asserted
Cottin → ’ → concert
“You dream of backstage, and this gets to the private lives of actors.
asserted
this → dream → actors
At first, French TV channels turned it down.
asserted
channels → turn → it
They thought it would be niche.
asserted
it → think → ?
But I’ve been to Argentina, Greece, Brazil, England, India – everybody knows it.
asserted
everybody → know → it
“It laughs at the absurdness of actors, but loves them too.
asserted
It → laugh → them
An agent never turns their phone off.
asserted
agent → turn → phone
If an actor calls at 3am, they have to answer.
asserted
they → call → am
And it’s for nothing!
asserted
it → ’ → nothing
It’s not the White House.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
You’re not saving lives, but nevertheless you live with the job with the same intensity, and there is something quite funny about that.
asserted
you → save → that
It had become so popular that Sigourney Weaver asked to appear (and there was a less successful British spin-off that Cottin hasn’t seen), but it was time for a change.
asserted
it → become → change
“You don’t want to disappoint people, and season four was fine, but everyone was disorientated, so we decided to stop,” Cottin says.
asserted
Cottin → want → people
Did she think the show was over for good?
asserted
show → think → ?
“Yes and I wanted it to be done, too.
asserted
it → want → ?
I just wanted to do something else.”
Which Cottin did, going on to become a star worthy of cameos herself in the underrated kidnap drama Stillwater with Matt Damon (2021) and House of Gucci (2021), alongside Lady Gaga.
asserted
Cottin → want → Gaga
She joins Marion Cotillard and Léa Seydoux as the most in-demand French stars in Hollywood.
asserted
She → join → Hollywood
Yet five years after calling it quits, she has returned as Andréa in the film.
asserted
she → call → film
What changed?
asserted
What → change → ?
First, the original writer, Fanny Herrero, is back after missing out on series four.
asserted
writer → miss → series
Second, Andréa is a director now, rather than an agent, which makes the role a new challenge.
asserted
role → make → ?
Oh, and George Clooney is in it, which after Damon and Pitt means Cottin has completed the Ocean’s set.
asserted
Cottin → mean → set
“I still need Julia Roberts,” she says, smiling.
asserted
she → need → Roberts
Clooney is in fine form – sending himself up to such an extent that he rips apart his own 2014 film The Monuments Men.
asserted
he → send → film
He even sends up his father.
asserted
He → send → father
“You know, he wrote that part,” Cottin says.
asserted
Cottin → know → part
Such is the power of Call My Agent!, a show that has made actors finally realise that honesty and humour are the path to respect.
asserted
honesty → call → respect
Cottin was born to Gilles, an artist, and Edith, who wrote stories, in the suburbs of Paris in 1978, then moved to west London as a teenager because her stepfather had a job there in finance.
asserted
stepfather → bear → finance
I don’t remember much.”
asserted
I → remember → much
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
