Being “the girl” has never been easy, and every child of stars will say that. And of course, Charlotte Gainsbourg was no exception. If today she has succeeded in building a career on her own, both in cinema and song, the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg still considers anonymity as “recreation”. “That’s why I loved living in New York for seven years, from 2013 to 2020, a place where no one knew me or my parents ; I could do whatever I wanted…”she confided in the columns of Madame Figaro, of which she is on the cover this Friday April 19, 2024, alongside Charlotte Rampling. In fact, in addition to their first name, the two actresses share another point in common: England. A country in which they were both born, and with which they maintain a special connection, despite their lives which were built in France.
Charlotte Gainsbourg talks about her “fantasy of going to live in London”
“I had a very happy relationship, as a child, with England, where we were going to see my mother’s parents. There, I liked playing French, whereas here, I like feeling a little foreign. Have an English side”, says Charlotte Gainsbourg in this cross-interview. And to add: “Although my sister Kate had a much clearer English identity – both her parents did. My sister Lou too, because my mother spoke to her in English, whereas when I was born, she forced herself to speak French.” If she was not quite raised like her two sisters, the Franco-British star, now an orphan, feels very connected to Jane Birkin’s native country. So much so that she dreams of moving there.
A desire that unfortunately does not share his companion, Yvan Attal. “I have the fantasy of going to live in London, but Yvan categorically rejects the idea”reveals Charlotte Gainsbourg to our colleagues, before qualifying however: “It’s perhaps a safeguard, I don’t know if I would like it… But this idea attracts me.” It must be said that, although they have not always lived under the same roof – Charlotte Gainsbourg having moved to New York without him, after the death of Kate Barry – the actress and the director never stay far away from each other, since they met thirty years ago.