Actors share about resilience and friendship in filming ‘Prodigieuses’
Camille Razat, star of Netflix’s ‘Emily in Paris’, and Melanie Robert play piano prodigies as they face a disease that weakens their hands.
Camille Razat (left) and Melanie Robert are actors in the film “Prodigieuses”. Photo: Jonathan WongEvery week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written.
Twin piano prodigies face the greatest challenge of their lives when their hands are weakened by a disease. This makes it much harder for them to succeed at a prestigious music university.
Released in November, the French film Prodigieuses is based on a true story.
Camille Razat and Melanie Robert portray the twins as they search for a way to continue the piano. The actors visited Hong Kong in December for the Hong Kong French Film Festival. There, they spoke to Young Post about the film.
“If it were not a real story ... maybe I would not have understood the importance of that disease and the impact that it had on their lives,” said Robert, who is 31 years old.
Razat, who is 30 years old, added: “It’s a lot of pressure, but ... also perhaps you have more empathy towards the character you’re playing.”
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Getting their start
Robert and Razat were not prodigy child actors, but they both got a taste of the limelight at a young age.
Robert started acting in funny skits and plays when she was about eight years old.
“I realised that I liked to make people laugh ... [but] I was not really conscious that I wanted to be an actress,” Robert said through a translator.
As for Razat, she started modelling at the age of two. But acting wasn’t her plan at first – she wanted to study journalism to become a reporter.
Then, she tried an acting class as a teen.
“[While acting], it was the first time in my life where I was not thinking about anything else, so I was fully in the present. And that’s really a gift,” said Razat, who became famous from her role in the Netflix hit series Emily in Paris.
From friends to sisters
Razat and Robert felt that they were perfect to play the main character twins in the film because they were already close friends. They come from the same city in the south of France just two villages apart.
“Our families were quite intertwined,” Razat said. “It’s like we were sisters in real life already.”
Robert added: “The friendship that we had made the filming easier.”
Resilience in the face of illness was a theme in the film’s story and in its creation, as one of the directors was diagnosed with cancer right before shooting began.
“Despite the disease, [he] was coming every day on set. He was so courageous and very resilient ... It’s really moving and humbling,” Razat said.
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Reflecting on the characters they portrayed, the actors both agreed that success was not an easy path for prodigies.
“It’s fascinating to see kids doing things that I wouldn’t be able to do right now,” Robert said. “But they should be careful about the fact that the kids still need to remain a kid. So parents must be careful, and kids need to enjoy their childhood.”
Razat added: “It’s a lot of pressure for a kid. It’s not normal that a kid has to work. I think it has to be done in a very healthy way. It has to have a balance between work pressure and remaining a kid.”
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Reflect: If you had a lot of talent as a kid, would you choose to pursue this career at a young age? Or would you prefer to have a normal childhood?
To test your understanding of this story, download our printable worksheet or answer the questions in the quiz below.
intertwined 緊密關聯
closely connected or related
limelight 公眾關注
public attention and interest
prestigious 有聲望的
having a high reputation
prodigies 天才
exceptionally talented young people
resilience 堅毅
the ability to recover from difficulties