More than a Diamond: French actress Louise Bourgoin in “The Love Punch”
French actress Louise Bourgoin proves that diamonds aren’t just the
best friends a woman can have in the upcoming romantic comedy caper “The Love
Punch.”
Starring opposite
screen luminaries Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson as the divorced Mr. and Mrs.
Richard and Kate Jones. Louise’s character named Manon is an unhappy married
woman to a very accomplished business tycoon Vincent (played by French actor
Laurent Lafitte). Their paths meet when
Richard (Brosnan) finds out that the company he’s been working for had been
fraudulently bought and that his and Kate’s along with the other employees’
pension fund had also been taken.
Richard and Kate
must do everything to get back what was stolen from them…following the tracks
of the evil man behind the company’s buyout led them to Manon who finds life
miserable amidst the riches given to her and finally finds her true self when
she meets Kate (Thompson), who introduces herself first as a distant relative
only to steal back the diamond Manon’s husband gave her.
Both French
actors enjoyed shooting in English. "You can play with the language much
more", Louise Bourgoin remarks. "Word stress is very important in English
and gives pace to sentences, which is a treat for an actor. But then again, it
may get perfunctory after a while, and so we worked with a dialogue coach to
acquire a certain accent and enjoy the same freedom we have in French. At the
beginning, when I stressed certain words, I thought I was overacting but the
truth is, everyone acts like this!"
Emma Thompson
enthuses on the two French actors – Louise Bourgoin as the ravishing Manon and
Laurent Lafitte as the shameless businessman who ruins Richard. Emma Thompson can't praise them enough:
"They're full of ideas, zest and spirit", she enthuses. "It's
very unusual to meet beautiful actors who are also that funny and who can do
the straight acting as well. The point about this work, I think, is you have to
able to act very, very well in order to do something that appears not to
require any acting. It's got to do with this lightness of touch and both Louise
and Laurent have that in spades".
Louise Bourgoin
explains she was impressed with the originality and ambition of the script.
"Joel Hopkins's script is pretty bold and several scenes could seem
unrealistic at first glance, but they blend in seamlessly and they perfectly
make sense in the story", she remarks. "There's also a screwball
quality to it that I enjoyed and that is a real departure from the gritty,
realistic dimension of French movies". The actress portrays Manon, a young
romantic idealist who's just about to lose her illusions… "In the
beginning, she's a young woman whose destiny is all laid out for her – just
like Grace Kelly, she's about to marry a multi-billionaire prince!", she
quips. "But the guy is actually a
n embezzler and when she finds out, she
turns out to be a free-spirited, selfless soul. The truth is she feels she doesn't
belong there and she eventually rediscovers her true self through her meeting
with Kate". 
Manon's clothes
also say a lot about her personality. "When I read the script, I saw her
as a Beverly Hills-like upstart, on the gaudy and showy side", she goes
on. "Now, the filmmakers asked me to hark back to movies from the 1950s
and 60s and to try to look like Audrey Hepburn. What Joel had liked about me
when I met him for an audition was the fact that I came in a trench coat, with
my hair in a bun and a very 'French' look, and he wanted me to remain elegant
like that throughout the film. So I had to wear waisted dresses going knee
length, glasses and a wide-brimmed hat. I thought it was more interesting than
if I had had to wear more contemporary outfits, which would have dated the
movie much more".
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