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The many lives of Antonia Desplat

WRITER Chris Saunders

 

At 29, Antonia Desplat is living many lives at once – fashion muse, indie darling, blockbuster star, behind-the-scenes powerhouse. One minute, she’s striding through Chanel’s couture show in a leather-trimmed dream; the next, she’s stepping into the smoky cafés of 1920s Paris as Johnny Depp’s latest leading lady. Effortlessly cool but never predictable. She’s got that rare ability to slip between worlds like she’s just changing jackets (and if you’ve seen her collection of vintage coats, you know she takes that seriously).

Born in France but raised between Paris and London, Desplat grew up in a household where creativity wasn’t just encouraged – it was the norm. Her father, Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat, filled their home with film scores, while her mother, a violinist, introduced her to the magic of live performance. Acting was a natural fit. She booked her first role at 10 and never looked back, training in classical theatre before throwing herself into the world of film.

Her latest role? Running the show at a high-end fashion house in Made in France, a TV drama steeped in luxury and backstabbing ambition. Fitting, considering she’s fresh off the Armani Privé runway circuit, where she mastered the art of looking both powerful and effortlessly chic. But beyond the couture fittings, Desplat is diving deep into the world of historical cinema, playing Beatrice Hastings – writer, rebel, and Modigliani’s notorious muse – in Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness. Spooky coincidence: she grew up in Brancusi’s studio which was visited often by Modigliani. Fate? Maybe.

And the list doesn’t stop there. Up next: a gritty turn in BBC’s The Gold, based on one of Britain’s biggest heists, and a Wes Anderson project (The Phoenician Scheme) that reunites her with her legendary composer father. As she rides this unstoppable wave, Antonia chats with us about fashion, film, and that time she got an email with “Depp / Desplat” in the subject line. Casual.

Chris Saunders: Growing up in a family of musicians, how did your parents’ artistic careers shape your decision to pursue acting?

Antonia Desplat: Growing up with a family of musicians meant that I got to witness their world from a very early age. I watched my mum get ready backstage with her violin in theatres and concert halls, and I was mesmerised by the buzz, the excitement, the nerves, the mess, and the joy happening backstage. I also watched my dad create music from film images that hypnotised me. He is a big cinephile too, so I was introduced to the world of performing arts and films very early on. I was performing all the time, and it very quickly became apparent that acting was the direction I was going to take. I got my first job when I was 10 for a French TV show, and I fell in love with being on set instantly.

CS: You’ve mentioned being classically trained in various disciplines from a young age. How have these early experiences influenced your approach to acting?

AD: Being classically trained has really shaped the way I approach my work and my work ethic in particular. Classical music training is all about technique and repetition and rehearsals in order to be able to let go and really feel the music that you are playing. In both music and acting, you start with a music sheet/page that you dissect and analyse in technical terms, you can then bring life and emotion to it and fully embody it. It’s exactly what I do for acting; every single tool and technique that I learnt at the conservatoire and at drama school is being used in creating my characters, and then I can let it all go because that information sits somewhere in my body, and I can just be present in a scene and bounce off my partners and let the work come to life.

 

 

CS: In the French miniseries Made in France, you play the executive of a luxury fashion brand. How does this role reflect your personal relationship with fashion, and has fashion played a major role in shaping your identity over the years?

AD: I used to play dress-up a lot and would steal my mum’s clothes and parade around the house, but apart from costume playing, fashion hasn’t played a major role in shaping my identity at all actually. I actually used to hate going shopping. Some days what I wear will definitely reflect how I feel, but most days, you’ll principally see me in vintage Levis jeans and Blundstones – but with a great coat. I do have a passion for great coats. Going back to acting, costumes are so important in shaping the characters, so I guess that can apply in everyday life too, and I’ve started doing it a little bit! When I go to fashion shows now, because I get intimidated easily by the photo calls and all, I decided to play characters based on the clothes I’m dressed in, and I find that quite fun now.

CS: What specific preparation did you undertake for your role in Made in France?

AD: Research is so important to me. You need to understand the world the character lives in – political, social, historical, fashion, all of it. So for Made in France, I dove into the fashion world, learning about designers, their process, watching documentaries, going to fashion shows, and getting to know that world. I observed people a lot.

CS: If you had the chance to collaborate with any fashion brand on your own collection, which would you choose, and what would you want that collaboration to represent?

AD: I think Chanel. Chanel has this timeless elegance, femininity with a little bit of edge to it. If I could collaborate with them, I’d do a collection that would represent the power of a woman’s silhouette through coats and beautiful textiles like Fortuny. It’s not about what shape or height is underneath the coat, all you see is a strong silhouette with a beautiful textile and fabulous shoes. It’s like the cover of a book. You don’t know what’s inside in a way, but the cover alone can draw you in.

CS: What’s your favorite piece in your wardrobe right now, and why does it stand out to you?

AD: A vintage leather coat and some high-heel Chanel boots. Both leather. I have a bit of an obsession with leather at the moment. It makes me feel powerful in some ways.

CS: You’ve worked as an actor, writer, and producer. How do you balance these roles, and do you find that one informs or influences the others?

AD: I love every aspect of filmmaking. I think having an understanding of every department needed to create a movie is incredibly useful. They absolutely do inform and influence each other. I’ve also been a camera assistant on shoots I wasn’t acting on. I just wanted to be on set in whatever shape. I’m fascinated by every facet of it. When I’m on a job abroad and I’m not shooting, I go on set and hide behind a monitor and I watch. I love it. It’s like in theatre – you come to rehearsals every day even if you’re not in the scene.

CS: What’s the most meaningful connection you’ve had with a character you’ve portrayed? Did that role affect how you view your own life?

AD: I think my character in Shantaram. Karla was such a strong and powerful character, she gave me confidence and strength. She is a loner, and I really discovered so many parts of myself in trying to understand and experience that aspect of her personality. I travelled to India, Australia, and Thailand with that role, and already just that experience of traveling and discovering these cultures shaped me in some ways.

CS: Looking ahead, are there particular genres or types of roles you’re eager to explore in your career that you haven’t touched upon yet?

AD: To be honest, I’m interested in any genre as long as the story and the character are interesting and have depth. I do have a penchant for character-building roles—I love a challenge and a physical transformation. Being interested in all types of genres and roles means it’s always different, and you learn so much by being taken out of your comfort zone every time. I strive for that!

CS: What would you say has been the most surreal moment so far in your career?

AD: Receiving an email entitled “Zoom meeting: DEPP / DESPLAT” – my heart stopped for a second. And then receiving a text from one of the producers of Modì casually saying, “Hey, Al [Pacino] wants to have dinner with you on Thursday, are you free?” Are you freaking kidding me?!. I’d fly across the world to be there. These two actors have been my idols since I was a child, and being in their orbits for the last year and a half has been pretty absurd and surreal, I have to admit. The little girl in me is still screaming.

CS: What has been your most challenging role to date – can you share a memorable lesson you’ve learned from it that you still carry with you today?

AD: The most challenging, I think, was the role I actually wrote for the short film I co-produced and created with Edward Japp entitled Held for a Moment. It’s about a young woman who has a stillbirth. We teamed up with a charity called Sands and interviewed women and families who have lost their babies to try to raise some awareness. I felt an immense need to do justice to their stories and help educate people about it. I devoted my whole being to making that film. My heart broke for these women but the impact that the film had and the response we received made it all worth it. But in the future, I’ve learnt that when I do go to such deep emotional places for a part, I need to protect myself and have the right support system in place so I can keep the process a little bit safer. As actors, we are emotional sponges, so we can easily create a trauma that isn’t ours, and our body will believe it to be ours. I tend to switch off in nature after a job now, even just for a couple of days with some good books, and it really helps me to recenter myself.

CS: Do you have any quirky rituals or superstitions that help you prepare for a role or performance?

AD: Playlists! They feed the world I create for my characters! I always have a hidden object in my pockets or bag that I attribute to my character, and I write a diary as my character during the shoot.

 

 

CS: What do you have coming in the near future? Is there anything you can share with us?

AD: I have three projects coming out in the next few months – Plaine Orientale, a new show about the Corsican mafia for Canal+; The Gold 2 for BBC; and Modì: Three Days on the Wing of Madness by Johnny Depp. The rest… I leave it to the universe! I’ll manifest in the meantime.