Me Mom & Morgentaler • Deja Voodoo • Mado Lamotte • Ellen Gabriel • Francine Pelletier • Ivan • Michael Pintard and amuna baraka-clarke • Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick • Pascale Bussières • Steve Galluccio • Michel Tremblay • James DiSalvio • Nicole Brossard • Édouard Lock • Mack Mackenzie • David Fennario • John Kastner • GrimSkunk • Cecil Seaskull • Gros Michel • Ian Stephens • Great Antonio • Harry Mayerovitch • Robin Spry • François Gourd • The Gruesomes • Tiga • Five poor neighbourhoods

Sa vie en cinémascope

Quebec screen queen Pascale Bussières still insists on the audition process

by SARAH ROWLAND

With the constant clanking of pots and pans in the background and occasional outbursts from some boisterous little tykes, it’s no surprise what the biggest change has been in Pascale Bussières’s world since she graced the Mirror’s cover in 1997.

“Well I’ve become a mother, and that is the most important thing in my life,” says Bussières, who’s calling from her country home. “They are the heart and the core of my life and the rest is just accessory.”

The accessories Quebec’s premiere screen queen is referring to is more than 30 English and French feature films, numerous television series and several awards, including a Jutra for best actress for her role as Alys Robi in Ma vie en cinémascope —a local blockbuster that put her in the franco spotlight 24/7 last year.

“In fact, it was so successful that I feel like I’m experiencing a bit of a backlash from all the big promotion and media exposure,” she says. “But it’s good because I’m taking this time to relax.”

After talking to the crossover thespian for just a few short minutes, it’s obvious that one aspect of Bussières that hasn’t changed since her interview with Matthew Hays eight years ago is her frankness. Back then, she was more than willing to reminisce about the way she botched an audition for Patricia Rozema’s When Night is Falling. Though she didn’t get the part she read for, she was called back to play another character.

“That was nothing—I’ve fucked up most of my auditions since then,” she says. “But what I’ve realized over the years is that when it goes too well, when I feel too confident after I close the door like I’ve made a real connection with the director, it just doesn’t work.”

Despite having big-name clout in the Quebec film industry, she’s not above meeting a new filmmaker for a little high-stakes improv now and then.

“I totally respect that process,” she admits. “It’s not that I love it—sometimes it’s unfair and sometimes it’s a nightmare because the director is an asshole whose demands are really stupid—but I think it’s an important part of our job.”

Much to her agent’s dismay, she’ll even insist on auditioning for roles that have been offered to her on a silver platter. A couple of months ago, for instance, an Australian production was ready to sign her up, but she arranged to meet with the director anyway. “So we did and I didn’t get the part,” she laughs.

And it’s not just the international productions she insists on trying out for. Here at home, according to Bussières, producers have been known to use her name to secure financing, only to impose a director without any consultation with her.

“That freaks me out because if I’m going to work two or three months with that person, I want that person to be sure of me,” she says. “That’s why I like to establish a connection before we actually start making the film.”

As for her future projects, the offers are fewer and further apart, but according to Bussières, that’s okay.

“I’ve never been a careerist,” she says. “I guess that’s because of the way cinema came to me. I didn’t have to fight a lot to get there; it just happened by chance. I would wait for the call to come and it always came. And now, 25 years later, I feel I have to fight a little more to get what I want and that’s fine. I’m ready to do that.”