French-Finnish actor Edouard Philipponnat has taken a deep dive into the mayhem of movie making. Starting out when he was just a child, the opportunities presented to the 25-year-old actor have shifted from growing steadily to happening all at once. Recently, Philipponnat acted in Ridley Scott’s larger-than-life Napoleon, acting as Tsar Alexander I alongside industry giants such as Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. Shifting between indie-films and big production sets, he has learnt to embrace the excitement and spontaneity that come with the job, while remaining attuned to the realities of the industry and the unique position he finds himself in.

Aaron Weinberg You started acting around 13 years old. What was it like to move into the industry so early?

Edouard Philipponnat I was very lucky. I came to LA for the first time, and I met someone and they very unconventionally said to me, “We’ve got this role and we think you could be right for it.” Nothing ended up coming out of it, but that same producer got back to me after about eight months and said, “okay, there’s another movie. It’s a tiny part, but you know, you've got to step on a set to know if it’s right for you.” There are a lot of roles in a movie. Once I got that opportunity, I knew I wanted to act.

AW What was the first role that you felt was a significant step forward? 

EP I did a movie called The Runner and that was significant because I had just graduated high school. I came to LA and was naively trying to figure it out. There was this one lady, Michelle Danner, who owned an acting school and had her own production company. She made a movie every three or four years. She took a chance on me, and that movie ended up changing everything for me. I had no idea what the budget was or what it made in the box office, but it got me into rooms with some extremely serious people. It’s a movie that had a very small release, so most people would never have heard about it. The right people still saw it, including my agency. From there, I entered another league of opportunities. It changed my life.

AW Would you call it your ‘big break’?

EP Industry wise, yes. Then there’s the big break career wise, which would be my role in Napoleon. All of a sudden not only industry people are paying attention, but fashion and press companies start seeing your potential. It becomes interesting because it starts enhancing your opportunities and the directions you can go. I’m very fortunate to be in the position I am in now. It feels like I’ve won the lottery, twice now. Now I have to learn how to nurture it, to be consistent and to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

AW As you grow, have you felt a greater sense of competitiveness within the industry?

EP I was talking to someone about this just the other night, actually. We were discussing the difference between jealousy and envy. I think there is a very fine line. The difference is whether it inspires you or if it…

AW Holds you back?

EP Yeah. Is it a negative or positive emotion? And a lot of the time, you can look at someone’s career and wish you were in their situation. But then again, I can look at myself a week ago and feel shock. Oftentimes, the competition is a compliment. I get a phone call from my agent saying it’s between me and Harry Styles. And I say, “what’s the hold up? I could run the numbers and they should have signed him already!” It doesn’t always go that way. It’s very hard for an unknown to be given a chance against the known, especially when it comes down to money. But even the fact that I’m in that conversation, gives me a little bit of fire, of competitiveness let’s say.

AW How do you approach auditions?

EP I’ve learnt to take a step back and just audition and leave. I think it was Bryan Cranston who described an audition as “my take on it.” Acting is very much about putting yourself on the line and opening yourself up to any comment or remark. You have these things called slate, when it’s really awkward, and you just stand in front of a camera, close up, in full body, and you say, “Hi, my name is, Bob Smith. I’m seven-foot-five and I live in San Francisco. Please hire me.” It'’s really sad [laughs]. Over time, I started seeing it as a more honest way of presenting myself. This is my pitch, you know, and at least for me, it works, and it feels a lot better. It takes the competition out of it.

AW You’ve spoken about preparing for your previous roles in quite an experimental way, with intense dieting and even scriptwriting. Is there a method that remains consistent throughout it all?

EP It’s completely unknown. The diet was straightforward. In the script for The Runner, there was a synonym for skinny every four words, so it was quite obvious to me what I had to do. At the time, I was training bulkier. A lot of people would see me as a Romeo type-cast and nothing else. I wanted to break away from that. I wanted to do something that I thought very few people could do.

It was such a long lead-up to production, so the scriptwriting came along because I didn’t know what else to do. I’d read the script maybe thirty times. I’d listen to myself reading my lines. So, I decided to write the beginning of the movie before The Runner. I went into it thinking theoretically, knowing exactly who had been where, done what, who puked at what time, and who took drugs. It was all invented, but it was fun.

AW You tried to embody the script. You also did that on the set of Napoleon. I read that you found pockets to improvise and to play with the role as you went. Do you always look for those opportunities on a set?

EP I think everyone wants more screen time, but you always want to make sure you’re not stealing the show. You have to be smart about what you bring to the table. Sometimes it’s just improvised and it works on the spot. In my case, I knew that there was one page of monologue that was shortened. Every male character had been mean towards Vanessa Kirby’s character. So, I thought, why don’t I try to give her some validation? It’s very current, but it’s also very deserving and very true for her character. Ridley Scott sat with me for ten minutes and asked me, “What do you want to do here?” I said to him, “I may want to try this.” He said, “Don’t tell me what you might do. Do it and I’ll react. If it’s good, I’ll let you know. If it’s not good, I‘ll let you know.” I ended up doing it and he loved everything. It was fantastic to have that time with Ridley and be able to present an idea to someone who is open enough to listen to it. The whole scene that was aired ended up being improvised. They cut out everything they had written.

AW Can you tell me about your most recent project, Lost in Wonderland?

EP It’s very indie and artistic. It’s Alice in Wonderland-esque but without the Disney aspect. It’s more of a street version of it, a little grittier, which I liked. It was during COVID. I had just done a cameo in House of Gucci and we flew from there to go shoot Lost in Wonderland. I was still getting used to everything. I got to spend two and a half months in Budapest, enjoying and learning. In Hungary, the people were open to trying things. It was an environment of trial and error.

AW There seems to be a kind of intimacy and closeness that comes with being in an indie film. Is that something that you actively look for in your roles?

EP My definition of indie is probably different from other people’s. I think the highest level of indie film is a Scorsese movie. It’s an indie spirit on a studio budget. Indie movies are the ones that you really cry for—the ones that you really root for and celebrate. I think indies help filmmaking stay alive. But the industry has changed so much, especially with streaming services. It can feel like you’re almost making a movie for the industry instead of the world. Those movies stay in conversation with people long after their screen time.

AW When you’re not acting or preparing for a role, what do you like to do?

EP A lot of music. Exercising, naturally. Video games. I am a die-hard fan of documentaries and murder mysteries. I read a lot. You’d be surprised at how many scripts I read that I don’t end up doing. It’s about wanting to be ready for it, wanting to be prepared. A lot of the time, I think it’s more mental than physical.

AW What keeps you motivated?

EP I’ve never felt the feeling I feel when I’m on a movie set at any other point in my life. It’s one of the best things in the world. I want to keep acting because when I’m not doing it, I’m not as happy. It’s not even the thrill. It really is genuine love.