Lily McInerny might be the lead role in the newly debuted Bonjour Tristesse, but up until the film’s premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival – which was followed by a celebration hosted by Celine and Hedi Slimane – she hadn’t seen the final cut. It’s a discipline the New York born and raised actor tells me she inherited from fellow star Cailee Spaeny, who she met at a party last summer in Paris in the lead up to the Venice premiere of Priscilla. “I was so impressed by her patience and willpower that it planted a seed where I started thinking about whether that was a possibility I wanted to explore creatively,” she shared.
“When Bonjour Tristesse was completed, I decided I wanted to wait and be able to appreciate it with an audience, with the best sound and most importantly with my collaborators on the film itself.” As she proceeds to tell me, she has no regrets.
CELINE by Hedi Slimane coat, shoes, sunglasses and earrings.
Starring alongside Chloë Sevigny and working with director and writer Durga Chew-Bose, the adaption of Françoise Sagan’s famed novel might only be McInerny’s second film, but speaking to the recipient of the Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards, you wouldn’t know it. Though like many rising stars, McInerny first cut her teeth as a background actor during what she thought was going to be a semester off from her degree at Bennington; an experience she describes as an “invaluable education.”
“I didn’t know at the time that I was going to drop out, but what I knew for certain was that I wanted to give myself the chance to pursue acting 100 per cent. At the time, I was living in Providence and taking acting lessons in the city once a week while also signing up for central casting,” she continued.
“On those sets, I was a fly on the wall. Absorbing, witnessing, even questioning the workings of film production. That type of exposure and learning is unmatched.”
Naturally, this leads me to ask McInerny about her relationship with the concept of ‘give and take’ in her most recent role and in the film industry more broadly. “What’s one thing you feel you learnt from your co-stars, and what’s something you feel you were able to share in return?” Her response surprises me.
“Some of my most pleasurable experiences on set have been when we were shooting scenes, but my coverage was already done, and the camera was on a single of one of my scene partners.”
“My only job in those moments was to perform in order to serve theirs, and it was one of the brief opportunities you have to actually enjoy your co-stars’ performances and be fully engaged in what they are bringing to that scene. It’s so fulfilling to be able to give that, but also, to have the favour returned.”
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane jacket, top and skirt. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Nino bag in patent calfskin and necklace.
Bonjour Tristesse is the first adaptation project that McInerny has worked on, an opportunity that forced her to shift the way she approached her character, Cécile. The original novel, which was written by Sagan when she was 17 years old is filled with a richness and depth in humour beyond her years – a quality McInerny shares with the French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter – and that was vastly discouraged of literature written by women in the 1950s. It was this voice and candour that imbued the spirit of Cécile within her; a vibrancy that McInerny described as breathtaking and fearless.“Cécile was such an exciting exploration of femininity, because she was raised by a single father – and one who particularly exhibited some of the more traditionally masculine traits of being promiscuous and being carefree but also closed off to a degree. It was super challenging and fascinating trying to grapple with those two sides of her,” she shares.
“A lot of the preparation I do as an actor in exploring my character’s desires and thoughts and feelings and memories and dreams had already been written out for me, and it was a real pleasure being able to experience the source material as a reader and then utilising it as a performer.”
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane coat and shoes. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Garance bag in bicolour patent calfskin and earrings.
CELINE by Hedi Slimane top and skirt.
It’s this response that makes me wonder how McInerny balances the act of character exploration with her sense of self. Is it ok in the context of an adaptation to play the character exactly as they’ve been presented? How does she decide how much of her own experiences to add?
“I think this question speaks to something really foundational to the process of performing and creating through your body and through your emotionality,” she begins. “I think it’s impossible to separate myself from my characters and to try to would actually be a disservice to the story. That’s not to say I don’t believe in extreme capacities for transformation and challenging myself to ‘reinvent’ in my roles. But the materials I’m doing this through have to be from my own memories, otherwise that representation loses all authenticity for me.”
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane top. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, shoes, Teen Garance bag in patent calfskin and necklace.
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Garance bag in bicolour patent calfskin and earrings. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane coat, hat, sunglasses and earrings.
As I learn quickly into our conversation, authenticity is McInerny’s north star. It’s a commitment she upholds in all aspects of her life and an energy she generously shared on set in Paris for our digital cover. Captured in her dream city, (and the place she hopes to call home – or a second home – in the future), the actor’s connection to the city’s bustling streets is far from transient, and forms much of the synergy she shares with luxury fashion House, Celine.
“It feels very natural for me and every time we’ve worked together, it has always felt so empowering. I always feel like the best version of myself and so authentic in the way I wear Celine. I love everything about Hedi’s design sensibilities and have always admired the vision of the House in the way they marry influences from decades or collection’s past while always remaining very fresh and current,” she shared.
“As with fashion as in film, they both centre on creating this fantasy world where we have the privilege of telling stories, making pictures and role playing in this alternate, dream worlds.
“I’m greatly inspired, and I know I share this with Celine and Hedi, by the lineage of theatre and film. I first fell in love with acting while studying at a performing arts school where we were exposed to a lot of method teachings and historical principles that the practice is built upon. In my own work and in my personal style, I’m hoping to honour this while still giving myself the free reign to experiment.”
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane top, skirt, belt, earrings and bracelet. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane coat and earrings.
LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane top. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Nino bag in calfskin, earrings and ring.
With the success of Celine’s ‘Portrait of an Actress’ campaign and Bonjour Tristesse, our conversation shifts to what’s to come. As far as dream roles are concerned, McInerny shares wishfully that she’s always dreamed of starring in one of the classics – “… Shakespeare, Chekhov… a role that allows me to bring everything I have learnt about integrating layers of storytelling through a historical lens.” At the mention of theatre – a space she is not only familiar with as a performer but also enjoys as a participant (she is a New York native, after all), I’m curious whether she has formed a deeper connection to one medium over the other.
“I enjoy having the opportunity to play out a narrative in its completion on stage. There’s something incredibly satisfying about the continuity of telling a story in one single night or day. I also love having the chance to redo things on stage. Theatre is both forgiving and unforgiving, in that you have the grace of trying again, digging deeper night after night. You get to build this character cumulatively. At the same time, there’s only one take, so if you don’t deliver it in the way that you anticipate, that’s the experience that your audience will remember no matter what.”
“Contrastingly, on camera, I love being able to express emotions in extremely subtle ways. I feel incredibly comfortable having a tight lens because it gives me a freedom and purity of experience – I don’t need to push anything. I can trust that as long as I’m present, my body will communicate the way it needs to.”
CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Garance bag in patent calfskin and earrings.
Explore the latest Celine collection at CELINE.com and at your nearest boutique now.
PHOTOGRAPHY Olivia Parker
FASHION Charlotte Agnew
TALENT Lily McInerny
HAIR Joel Philips
MAKEUP Gillian Campbell @ The Artist Group
STYLIST'S ASSISTANT Barnabe White
Feature image: LEFT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress, Teen Garance bag in patent calfskin, earrings and necklace. RIGHT: CELINE by Hedi Slimane dress and sunglasses.
