Vincent Cassel, who packed on 40 pounds to portray Jacques Mesrine, said loathing the real-life antihero had no bearing on his decision to accept the role. (Music Box Films)
Story Created:
Aug 19, 2010 at 3:18 PM PST
Story Updated:
Aug 20, 2010 at 3:47 PM PST
Everyone either loves — or, more precisely, loves to hate — a villain.
No matter which way you slice it, emotions are stirred. On film, it is often better when based on a true story.
“Mesrine: Killer Instinct” (which opens Aug. 27) and “Mesrine: Public Enemy #1” both delve into the rise of one of history’s greatest gangsters: Jacques Mesrine. The two-part film — based on the Mesrine memoir “Book L’instinct de mort” — explore the man behind the icon, charting the outlaw journey of the legendary French gangster who reigned terror in the 1960s and ‘70s, becoming famous for his bravado in a series of daring prison escapes, robberies, kidnappings and murders.
But writer and director Jean-Francois Richet needed an actor to display Mesrine’s intensity. He found it in Vincent Cassel.
Short-tempered by nature, Cassel immediately set out to tap into that side of himself for the role. It was difficult however, because “when you get angry in life, after three minutes you are tired,” said Cassel during an interview this month at the French Consulate in Beverly Hills. “On a movie like this you have to be on a nervous scale everyday for like 12 takes. He is not a comfortable character to play. He is always nervous, he is always violent. It was very tiring to play that guy. ”
Not only was Cassel challenged emotionally, he was tested physically. He and the cast shot for nine months — an average of 12 hours a day — across Canada, the United States, France and Spain. And if traveling or shooting were not enough, Cassel had to pack on 40 pounds for the role.
“He was much bigger than me, so I had to get there at some point,” he said, “otherwise the audience would be a little disappointed.”
The French native skipped the gym and consumed fatty, sugar-filled foods — including, bizarrely, beer with syrup. (The calorie overload came back to bite him. Every morning for months, he found himself in the bathroom vomiting. He had hit a wall and began taking medication to regulate his blood sugar.)
The strategy worked: Mesrine’s daughter burst into tears when she saw Cassel on set in costume; the resemblance was too much. And Mesrine’s son, Bruno, has inadvertently called Cassel “dad,” and sends Christmas cards every year.
With such a toll taken on his body and mind, it is natural to wonder why Cassel would put himself through such torment to play a character he admittedly despises.
The answer, as the French-born actor explains it, is simple: He only needed to understand Mesrine’s actions, not agree with them. In fact, with many of his own friends counted among fans of the Mesrine legend, Cassel hoped that by exposing Mesrine’s evil deeds, they too would come to loathe him.
“I put a lot of effort into not glorifying him. I thought people would hate him afterwards and they don’t,” he said. “They don’t care.”
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