20.09.23 in ambassadeurs
maxence danet-fauvel
could you tell us who you are in a few words?
I am Maxence, I am 28 years old and I am a young French actor. I started playing 5 years ago. Previously I had done a few years of modeling. It allowed me to put a little money aside to pay for acting training. It's very important for me to say that I put modeling on hold to learn acting techniques and that it was not an opportunity due to fame.
I am Maxence, I am 28 years old and I am a young French actor. I started playing 5 years ago. Previously I had done a few years of modeling. It allowed me to put a little money aside to pay for acting training. It's very important for me to say that I put modeling on hold to learn acting techniques and that it was not an opportunity due to fame.
how did you learn the acting profession?
I learned acting techniques at the actors factory . It's a training course led by a coach called Tiffany Stern. This intensive training is normally done over 2 years but I am heading into my 6th year! After these first two years we join the studio group which is a sort of laboratory. all the actors and actresses who have completed the training meet there. It's a mix of people who have been in the factory for 12 years and others for 1 year. we see each other once a week, we coach each other. which allows us to continue working during periods like this when I don't have filming for example. it also allows you to regain confidence before filming, we also have access to the first and second year courses, it's very interesting!
What inspires you ?
walking inspires me a lot, I walk a lot. I love looking where people aren't looking! I don't like the city but I try to make it my own by creating mini worlds. for example, I look at gutters a lot when I walk and I am fascinated by puddles of gasoline or water. They are fascinating because of the reflection of light they make when there is sunshine immediately afterwards. I love photographing them on film.
artists also inspire me such as jim kilan. he is a young Parisian artist who is a painter and tattooist. he does ceramics, drawing…a little bit of everything. I'm quite inspired by young artists, I don't really have a big knowledge of art history. obviously, there are big names in art that I adore, but my main sources of inspiration are young people. I remember that for two or three years I was super inspired by the work of an artist who calls herself fleur de pesto, whose real name is Zoé Joubert. When I discovered her she was 20 years old and she was making paintings on the theme of anxiety which were absolutely incredible. she works on all forms of media like digital, sculptures… it's my use of social networks, I'm going to dig a little and find the little artists of tomorrow and what they do really inspires me.
“It's my use of social networks, I'm going to dig a little and find the little artists of tomorrow and what they do really inspires me. »
Are your tattoos a form of art too?
yes clearly! and the only times when my brain goes off are the times when I'm drawing and mainly when I get to the end of a sketch and I go over it with black lines. It requires such a level of concentration to follow the lines and it brings me such peace that this is how the idea came to start tattooing one day. I am considering the idea of also being able to express myself as a tattoo artist. I like the fact that the support is alive, that it is not a conventional support. The skin is such a vast and unique territory of expression.
Who are the people who constitute references for you in the acting profession?
it's a profession with a multitude of facets, wes anderson is really someone who fascinates me in his mastery of the symmetry of planes. it's really something that speaks to me a lot because when I started in illustration and drawing, I spent hours gridding my sheets, doing very symmetrical things, I really had a passion for that. It's a style that has evolved a lot since then, now it's really on the rise.
I'm also a huge Terrence Malick fan, it would be a dream to make a film with him. I started liking cinema quite late, at 16, after seeing The Tree of Life at the cinema. I became interested in this director and watched everything he had done. It's thanks to him that I fell madly in love with the acting, the corporeality and the sensitivity of Jessica Chastain, who is truly, I think, a model of an incredible human and actress.
Have you already mentioned your admiration for Heath Ledger?
Yes ! big fascination with heath ledger! Several days ago I was introduced to a documentary about him. There are lots of fantasies and legends around him and even I have repeated this thing. this documentary is very down to earth and it shows him as he really is. he's a guy who filmed himself all the time and with all these archive images and by bringing together the people who knew him, this documentary paints a more human portrait of the actor. it was already a reference for me in terms of play, choice and determination, and this documentary only confirmed it!
what compliment would you like to hear or hear again in your profession?
I think the best compliments we can give you as an actor is to tell you that you managed to tell a true story, to be honest in what you did and to respect the character you played . it's the most important for me. I do a huge amount of preparation work on my roles when I have the opportunity. before each shoot I write a letter to my character, before even starting to create him. It is a form of testimony, of respect for its history. Then, everything else, how to light a cigarette for example, is our only place as an artist because otherwise we are just simple performers. our role as creative comes in at that moment.
you took me on a journey or you took me out of the ordinary are compliments that I also like to hear or hear again as an actor.
yes clearly! and the only times when my brain goes off are the times when I'm drawing and mainly when I get to the end of a sketch and I go over it with black lines. It requires such a level of concentration to follow the lines and it brings me such peace that this is how the idea came to start tattooing one day. I am considering the idea of also being able to express myself as a tattoo artist. I like the fact that the support is alive, that it is not a conventional support. The skin is such a vast and unique territory of expression.
Who are the people who constitute references for you in the acting profession?
it's a profession with a multitude of facets, wes anderson is really someone who fascinates me in his mastery of the symmetry of planes. it's really something that speaks to me a lot because when I started in illustration and drawing, I spent hours gridding my sheets, doing very symmetrical things, I really had a passion for that. It's a style that has evolved a lot since then, now it's really on the rise.
I'm also a huge Terrence Malick fan, it would be a dream to make a film with him. I started liking cinema quite late, at 16, after seeing The Tree of Life at the cinema. I became interested in this director and watched everything he had done. It's thanks to him that I fell madly in love with the acting, the corporeality and the sensitivity of Jessica Chastain, who is truly, I think, a model of an incredible human and actress.
Have you already mentioned your admiration for Heath Ledger?
Yes ! big fascination with heath ledger! Several days ago I was introduced to a documentary about him. There are lots of fantasies and legends around him and even I have repeated this thing. this documentary is very down to earth and it shows him as he really is. he's a guy who filmed himself all the time and with all these archive images and by bringing together the people who knew him, this documentary paints a more human portrait of the actor. it was already a reference for me in terms of play, choice and determination, and this documentary only confirmed it!
what compliment would you like to hear or hear again in your profession?
I think the best compliments we can give you as an actor is to tell you that you managed to tell a true story, to be honest in what you did and to respect the character you played . it's the most important for me. I do a huge amount of preparation work on my roles when I have the opportunity. before each shoot I write a letter to my character, before even starting to create him. It is a form of testimony, of respect for its history. Then, everything else, how to light a cigarette for example, is our only place as an artist because otherwise we are just simple performers. our role as creative comes in at that moment.
you took me on a journey or you took me out of the ordinary are compliments that I also like to hear or hear again as an actor.
“the best compliments that can be given to you as an actor are to tell you that you managed to tell a true story, to be honest in what you did and to respect the character you played. »
How do you prepare for your roles?
my preparation varies enormously depending on the characters. when I receive a script I will read it and really do some research. I'm already going to do two or three blank readings without setting a tone, just looking at the story. Then, I will take the script and dissect one by one all the tricks, all the lines of my character and all the information hidden in these lines, a comma, an exclamation point, an intonation or whatever. sometimes there are even things that I will rewrite because we sometimes change the way our own characters speak.
During preparation, I will walk a lot and observe people. I try to absorb attitudes, movements, gestures. it already creates a corporeality, the envelope of the character, and then for all the work in the eyes, to create the whole experience, I go back to his childhood which I try to imagine. I always start from the childhood of the characters and then I depict a form of journey that they had until the moment when I appropriate the character and I play him.
For my very first character that I played, Elliot in skam , the first thing I did when I finished reading the script was open a book and I drew a whole page. I drew the character from behind and with a hood so he didn't have a face, and then I put words and drawings all around. I realized at the end of filming that the character was bipolar and that I had written all the words and their opposites.
What I like most about this job is all this preparation that I do at home. on the set we perform, it's collective, the only slightly artistic, individual and creative side that we have is really the preparation, that's where we can put a little of our art into the characters.
what was your biggest challenge?
finding what I wanted to do in life was my biggest challenge! Being an actor was initially not obvious to me. from 14 to 23 years old I must admit that I was completely clueless about what I wanted to do. I drew a lot, all the time, everywhere, even on my tables. at that time no one really knew how to support me and guide me towards a creative path. The French education system is poorly designed and very formatted.
At 23, when I started acting training, I thought I was never going to be an actor. And when I prepared for my role as Elliot, during that whole month-long phase before filming, I felt really good, like I had never felt before. I told myself that this is what I wanted to do all my life. Now when people ask me what I want to do with my life, I know what to answer and that's a real satisfaction!
my preparation varies enormously depending on the characters. when I receive a script I will read it and really do some research. I'm already going to do two or three blank readings without setting a tone, just looking at the story. Then, I will take the script and dissect one by one all the tricks, all the lines of my character and all the information hidden in these lines, a comma, an exclamation point, an intonation or whatever. sometimes there are even things that I will rewrite because we sometimes change the way our own characters speak.
During preparation, I will walk a lot and observe people. I try to absorb attitudes, movements, gestures. it already creates a corporeality, the envelope of the character, and then for all the work in the eyes, to create the whole experience, I go back to his childhood which I try to imagine. I always start from the childhood of the characters and then I depict a form of journey that they had until the moment when I appropriate the character and I play him.
For my very first character that I played, Elliot in skam , the first thing I did when I finished reading the script was open a book and I drew a whole page. I drew the character from behind and with a hood so he didn't have a face, and then I put words and drawings all around. I realized at the end of filming that the character was bipolar and that I had written all the words and their opposites.
What I like most about this job is all this preparation that I do at home. on the set we perform, it's collective, the only slightly artistic, individual and creative side that we have is really the preparation, that's where we can put a little of our art into the characters.
what was your biggest challenge?
finding what I wanted to do in life was my biggest challenge! Being an actor was initially not obvious to me. from 14 to 23 years old I must admit that I was completely clueless about what I wanted to do. I drew a lot, all the time, everywhere, even on my tables. at that time no one really knew how to support me and guide me towards a creative path. The French education system is poorly designed and very formatted.
At 23, when I started acting training, I thought I was never going to be an actor. And when I prepared for my role as Elliot, during that whole month-long phase before filming, I felt really good, like I had never felt before. I told myself that this is what I wanted to do all my life. Now when people ask me what I want to do with my life, I know what to answer and that's a real satisfaction!
“What I like most about this job is all the preparation I do at home. preparation is where we can put a little of our art into the characters. »
what is important in your life?
my friends, I am a very well surrounded person. I am extremely grateful because without this entourage I would not have done even a tenth of what I have done in my life. not because people opened doors or helped me but because I feel supported all the time. no matter what decisions I make, I know that I will be listened to and understood. I am incredibly lucky at this level and I have never been disappointed or betrayed. Since I was little, my friends have been on the highway! they are there when you need it and when you need it through small actions, proof, they say nothing, but do a lot.
your jewelry on le gramme, what are they? how do you wear them?
I am wearing pieces from the entrelacs collection, a 253g necklace and an 87g bracelet in vintage silver. what I really like about le gramme is the hyper-worked but also mega-raw side of certain jewelry. the creations that I like at le gram are not necessarily those that are clean, it is rather those with the play of textures or materials that will interest me. It’s close to drawing work, it’s perfect. you have the impression that the entire world of jewelry is accessible on a single wrist. I hadn't seen the brand for two years and when I came to the showroom I was surprised by all these new features. the clasp of the interlacing necklace is incredible, it is both a clasp and a pendant. what's crazy is that I'm not really sensitive to jewelry, I certainly wear a lot of it, but at le gram there's really this thing that makes me happy to spend an hour in a jewelry showroom when it's This is something I would never usually do.
what if le gramme was a drawing?
It's funny because yesterday I was sorting through all my art books and I found a book by Mc Escher. he is an artist born in 1898, he worked on completely crazy perspectives. there is a work of lights, materials, perspectives, three-dimensionality that I find in le gramme.
my friends, I am a very well surrounded person. I am extremely grateful because without this entourage I would not have done even a tenth of what I have done in my life. not because people opened doors or helped me but because I feel supported all the time. no matter what decisions I make, I know that I will be listened to and understood. I am incredibly lucky at this level and I have never been disappointed or betrayed. Since I was little, my friends have been on the highway! they are there when you need it and when you need it through small actions, proof, they say nothing, but do a lot.
your jewelry on le gramme, what are they? how do you wear them?
I am wearing pieces from the entrelacs collection, a 253g necklace and an 87g bracelet in vintage silver. what I really like about le gramme is the hyper-worked but also mega-raw side of certain jewelry. the creations that I like at le gram are not necessarily those that are clean, it is rather those with the play of textures or materials that will interest me. It’s close to drawing work, it’s perfect. you have the impression that the entire world of jewelry is accessible on a single wrist. I hadn't seen the brand for two years and when I came to the showroom I was surprised by all these new features. the clasp of the interlacing necklace is incredible, it is both a clasp and a pendant. what's crazy is that I'm not really sensitive to jewelry, I certainly wear a lot of it, but at le gram there's really this thing that makes me happy to spend an hour in a jewelry showroom when it's This is something I would never usually do.
what if le gramme was a drawing?
It's funny because yesterday I was sorting through all my art books and I found a book by Mc Escher. he is an artist born in 1898, he worked on completely crazy perspectives. there is a work of lights, materials, perspectives, three-dimensionality that I find in le gramme.
“what I really like about le gramme is the hyper-worked but also mega-raw side of certain jewelry. »
