Glourious Mélanie Laurent

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Glourious Mélanie Laurent

Mélanie Laurent, star of "Inglourious Basterds," feels very close to her character, Shosanna, in the movie.

"I'm very close to her. You need to be strong to do that job, to have an actor's life. And you need to be fragile. I'm a little bit French and rebel sometimes, a little bit like Shosanna, and I'm Jewish."

Laurent plays a Jewish woman who sees her family massacred by Nazis and comes to Paris to run a movie theater and develop a revenge plan.

Laurent is new to Americans, but is well established in France. She's been acting since 1999, when she appeared in "Un pont entre deux rives" opposite Gérard Depardieu.

She also won the César award, which is France's equivalent of the Oscar, for most promising actress in 2006 for her movie "Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas."

She's a little bemused by the fuss surrounding her appearance in "Inglourious Basterds." She isn't going to go to Hollywood to be famous or make money.

"It's not that I do not care. I have amazing parts in France. The dream was just to make a movie with Tarantino."

Laurent revealed that writer/director Quentin Tarantino had been looking for an actress to play his Shosanna for eight years. He was just as nervous to meet her as she was to meet him.

In addition to promoting "Basterds," she's currently producing and recording a rock music CD.

She directed a movie that was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, and she would like to direct some more.

She also plans to finish writing a screenplay in September. "perfect life would to be have an amazing part every year and to spend all my free time to just write," says Laurent.

Gina Wilhelm Actress