Emmanuelle and Mathilde Seigner reunited at the theater to play Marilyn Monroe and Simone Signoret

2023-06-18 10:40:37

For their first collaboration, the two actress sisters chose this play by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt on these two cinema icons.

They will give each other the replica for the first time. The Seigner sisters, Emmanuelle and Mathilde, will soon be reunited at the Théâtre de la Madeleine in Bungalow 21a room in which they will camp Marilyn Monroe and Simone Signoret.

“It’s curious: until then, no one had ever thought of bringing us together”, is surprised Emmanuelle Seigner in the columns of the Sunday newspaperwhich publishes an interview with the two actresses.

“A very long time ago, we both shot in Smile by Claude Miller, but we didn’t have a scene together”, she continues. “We had always promised to do it in the event of a real proposal, with meaning and characters as strong as each other. ‘other.”

The opportunity arose with this play written by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, based on an idea by Benjamin Castaldi. The former host of Secret Story was inspired by letters and conversations he had with Simone Signoret, his grandmother, to tell the true story of the meeting of the two actresses in Beverly Hills in 1960.

Four stars and an adventure

That year, Simone Signoret accompanied her companion Yves Montand to Los Angeles, where he filmed The Billionaire by George Cukor. He gives the reply to Marilyn Monroe, herself in a relationship with the playwright Arthur Miller, co-screenwriter of the feature film. A bond is born between the two stars of the film.

“Leaving Los Angeles, Simone said to Marilyn: ‘I entrust my husband to you. You could say that she followed his advice: she took good care of Montand!” ironically Emmanuelle Seigner.

The actors who will play the two male roles have not yet been revealed. “We have options, for Montand as for Arthur Miller”, explains Mathilde Seigner. “But it’s not easy because it’s a play where women are central”… and his sister adds: “The actors are used to being given flexibility, so they’re not very hot to serve it to us, the actresses.”

“All the big names refused the role of Montand after reading the play”, assures Mathilde, getting annoyed with their “ego”. “And I can tell you that with Benjamin we had a few on the phone.” Patrick Bruel, for example? “I won’t tell you, but we thought of him, of course.” The first performance is scheduled for September 14.