Marion Cotillard recently confessed that her male director “manipulated” her during the Cannes Film Festival. The French actress is promoting her latest film, Little Girl Blue, in which she plays Mona Achache’s mother Carole, a writer and set photographer. Following the film’s festival premiere, Marion attended a press conference where she was asked about a scene in which Mona (the film’s director and writer) encouraged Marion to stay in character during her “tea break.” When questioned if this is an example of a “manipulative relationship” between a filmmaker and a celebrity, Marion answered, “I don’t see a director and an actor as being in manipulative relationships.” It’s more of a team effort.” However, the Lady Macbeth actress told Variety, “It happened to me only once where I felt that I was being manipulated by a director, and I really didn’t like that.” Marion, who did not name the male director, revealed that he made her “believe that their experience would consist of a process of working together with a collaborative connection”. But the actress realised his intention and mentioned that she felt “uncomfortable”. “I thought, ‘Is he manipulating me because he thinks that I’m going to be unable to give him what he needs, what he wants, if he doesn’t act this way?’” she recalled. “And I felt like an object, and I really hated it,” asserted the actress. Marion explained, “I saw right away all the manipulation, and I had the judgement that it was kind of dumb that you can’t ask me to do things without trying to use ways of manipulation that really don’t work with me,” adding, “with my personality as a woman, I mean, as a human being, and as an actress.”