Despite being one of the highest grossing French film ever released in the U.K (they speak English), Tell No One (Ne Dis Personne) has only just been released here in the U.S. The film adapted from the novel by Harlan Coben is a taut thriller about a man spurred by passion to solve the mystery of how and why he lost the wife that he loves. We spoke with Guillaume Canet recently.

How did you decide to make this film?
I was at the production office where I was writing my second script with the same producer that I did my short films as well as my feature film. The assistant to the producer gave me this book (Tell No One) the American writer Harlen Coben to me and my co-writer and urged us to read it. I remember, I was halfway through it when I called my co-writer. We both were really crazy about the story even before we had finished the book.

It was because of the story.
I was really excited because for the first time I was reading something that I had not written myself and saw myself capable of directing it because I loved the characters. They were really original. I like how passionate the main character was and how the love story was the engine of this thriller. The thriller itself is interesting and well constructed but without the love story it’s not the same movie. So that’s what really grabbed/inspired me about the story itself.

Getting the rights:

We tried to get the rights and finally heard that the movie was suppose to be made in the states by Michael Apted. So we just had to forget it. But then a couple of months later I went to L.A. for the French festival and sitting in front of me was Michael Apted. So I told him ‘you know this is pure coincidence but I’m talking about you for a long time because you’re going to do a movie from a book that I love.’ And he said, ‘ you know what, I just found out 2 days ago that I’m not going to do it, so you do it.’

Then I pretended to go to the bathroom and I called my producer and told him we had to get the rights. After that we had quite a long negotiation with Harlen Coben, trying to convince him to give the rights to this young French director. I sent him a letter saying how I wanted to adapt the book and what I liked in it. I knew that one really important thing for him was the love story and it was the same for me. That was something I didn’t like in the adaptation they did here (U.S.). For example, instead of the main character grieving alone for 8 years, it was only 3 years and he was already married again. It seemed like in that version the guy was not that broken, that affected. He really like my opinion. I also sent him my first film also which he really liked. So he accepted and trusted me.

As you were reading the novel did you have an idea of setting it in France as opposed to Los Angeles where the novel is set..

I thought of setting it here actually. I said to myself perhaps it’s a good opportunity to do a film in the U.S. That would have been really easy: I wouldn’t have had to do all this adaptation of cops, of serial killer stuff and everything else. But after awhile I realized it wouldn’t be easier in fact. You know, I’m just French. And the film would be really complicated because I would need a big star to get money etc.

Big stars are complicated.

I knew exactly how I wanted to do the film with a lot of handheld camera and to do it fast. I wanted to have a partner with me, an actor who was ready to jump in the water at 5 in the morning, naked. I wanted to have an actor who was ready to run in between the cars on the highway. (This refers to scene where the main character is chased onto a traffic filled highway) I knew I wouldn’t have that in the U.S. And the budget would be double because of the price that you have to pay the star. So I said you know in France we don’t have many movies like this, so why not.

And then there’s Paris.

I quite liked that decision because while I was reading the book I could imagine it taking place in summer in Paris. There is the heat, and then there is this the difference between the happy people who are on vacation in Paris, having fun and this guy who is in the middle of something so huge and so crazy, so life and death. I guess I was always really seeing it in Paris.

How did you shoot it?

I operated the film with my DP. We shot most of the scenes with 2 cameras because I really like that. It can really help me to be on both actors, with the editing because on the same take I have two angles. I also thought the handheld camera was good to show the instability of his situation as soon as the main character understands that his wife is probably alive. So for all those shots, I operated. Otherwise for all those crane shots, steadicam, my DOP (DP) did it. I know him really well, we started together and have done everything together since. He’s a really great guy. We have the same feelings about how shots should look.

We mainly shot on 35mm, some of the scenes chasing him with a small lightweight ARRI (IMO). One scene I had to shoot in HD. I tried in the editing to put some grain in, to make it dirtier, because it was the scene with the lawyer when she is in the gym. We were supposed to shoot in a place and suddenly we didn’t get the authorization to do it. We were close to a hotel and they said you can come but not with all the trucks and equipment. So I just reacted quickly and we had someone run to the rental store. We had 5 people with just the sunlight so we shot it on HD in 2 hours.

This film was released in France in 2006, why late release here?

In fact I don’t know either. The movie has been sold all over the world and has worked everywhere. What I know is that I co-produced the movie and I’ve been really clear with my co-producers about my wish that film would be released in the U.S. before we would sell the remake rights. Because as soon as the film was released we had lots of propositions to buy the remake rights and I said you know we did the film and the film exists so why should we sell first the remake rights and forget about the release.

The problem was that no one was interested in releasing it. After awhile we had Music Box film propose doing a small release like the one they’re doing now. What I heard from my producer when I asked why we didn’t have any offers (to release the film) they told me that most of the distributors including the big ones told them that they loved the movie, they really loved but that it was not looking like a French movie. I really don’t know what that means because my movie is a French movie. But they were saying there is an American way of shooting it. It’s just a film and we’re speaking French. If people like French films I think they will like it.

On Winning the Cesar at age 34:

It gives me a real opportunity as a director to perhaps have some projects and be financed. Because you are suddenly respected by the business. It’s also some pressure that I don’t want because when you do a film you always have to put yourself in some risk. So I would prefer to do a film where I can take some risks rather than have to worry to show that I deserve my Cesar. But for sure it helps. But the best reward is the public and how people react to your film and how many people go and see it. For example, in the U.K. it has been a really big hit for a French movie. That’s good for me because that shows that a French movie can be accepted and well received. So for sure it can help you to finance the next movie.

For sure I’d love to do a bigger movie but for me the most important thing for me are the characters. And it’s not only a question of budget. It’s...the most important thing for me is the story and the characters. You can have some beautiful films made with some really...not a lot of money.

Talking about future ambitions, do you see yourself...there is quite a tradition of European directors filtering into Hollywood. Do you see yourself doing that?

Actually I’m really scared about it. After my first film, I’ve been reading a lot of scripts the studios sent me and everything and I’ve turned down all their propositions because I’m not seeing myself directing them because I need to be in the writing process because that’s a moment where I really see the film, how I want to shoot it and how I want to direct the actors. That’s exactly what happened with the book. I really loved Tell No One, the novel but I knew there were things I wanted to change in it.

And also I think I’m really anxious about the final cut and all that. But nowadays you can also do some films here with some really smart producers and even studios who respect the choice of the director. And I think that’s the most important thing for me: to do a film and control it from beginning to end without being ejected from the editing room or having like 10 producers behind me on the set telling me what I should do, what kind of shot should I make. But I think for sure I want to do a film in English and I feel ready now to do it. But I think I will go with what I’m doing right now. I am working on a script which I think I will be able to shoot here in the U.S. but I think I will go with my script, my cast, decide everything and present it and say: here is the film I want to do, are you interested in it? You know I’m behind the wall, and you throw me the money and I throw you the film.

Has being a director changed your views on acting?

Definitely. I have learned so much. In fact, before I was directing long feature films, I did not have the same approach to my acting roles. As soon as I understood how it was complicated to work on a script and how it was interesting to develop a character and make his past and imagine what he is going through and how he is living; how to invent a lot of things around the character. So I would be able, after that on the set, to talk to the actors and give them as much information as I could give them. So as soon as I started to do that work as a director it became so interesting for me as an actor to do the same. Even the director saw that I really needed to speak with him first and see what he has in mind. That doesn’t mean I get involved with the direction process. I respect their work and everything. It’s just on the script at the beginning to be sure that once we start the film there’s no more questions and we’re okay on everything on the lines and we know the way of the character, how the character’s going to go through the film.

So how did you get into the business??
Yeah, I had this bad accident and a year and a half after when I decided to stop I had been doing some short films on video and super 8mm and I was really passionate about cinema. So I said to myself if I want to direct some actors I have to understand first how it is to be an actor. So I went first to drama school. And I stayed for 8 months and I did some testing and started to work as an actor very quickly and I had this part in The Beach where I had nothing to do but be in a bathing suit on the beach. But it helped me as an actor because Leo got famous and it helped me because I could choose my roles good projects in France. So I started to work a lot and while I was doing that I did some other short films in 35mm and finally my long feature films and here I am.

I understand you had a career before you started acting, tell us about that.
I grew up in the countryside. I was in the horse world. That’s why you have horses in the film because it’s not in the book. I was on the French show jumping team, that was my work. I was not in the Olympics I was doing international competitions then I had a really bad accident at 19 and I broke most all of my bones. I did exactly what you see in the movie: I fell under the horse and the horse stood up on me. I broke my hand, my forearm, my shoulder, my ribs and my feet. I started riding again and rode for 3 or 4 months and got back to the high level (with the highest fences) but one day I was scared I realized it was over. It was a really great life lesson because this job teaches you humility. You are always 2. You can’t jump over the wall alone, you jump over the wall with the horse. And if one day the horse gets sick you’re nobody. You’re not anymore jumping over the wall.
A little bit like the film business, maybe without enough of your humility.

Tell No One is currently playing in theaters.