‘It was magical to see her’: The Name of the Rose director is full of praise for the Oscar-winning actress.

French director Jean-Jacques Annaud is best known for his films The Bear and The Name of the Rose. And in his memoirs, entitled “Life for the cinema”, the filmmaker confided the pleasure he had shooting with Sean Connery in “The Name of the Rose”, the story of the investigation of the murder of several monks in an Italian Benedictine abbey.

I have a goose

While he was still searching for his lead actor, as his discussion with Michael Caine took a turn for the worse (lawsuit!), Jean-Jacques Anon received numerous phone calls from Mike Ovitz, Sean Connery’s agent. At that time, the actor was at the bottom of the wave, because he filmed James Bond, which was not connected to the official saga (Never Again), and then the very average Sword of Courage (1984).

Anno agrees to meet with him, and Sean Connery arrives with the script under his arm. The director writes in his memoirs: “He sits down in front of me and starts reading my written and transcribed pages, which I know by heart, down to the intonation. He reads so well that my skin crawls. I stop him and hurry to Bernd Eichinger: it is finished, we have our Guillaume.’

Sean Connery Therefore, he will play the main role in the film together with Christian Slater and Helmut Kwaltinger. And when the work between the British actor and the French director begins, the latter is amazed by the precision of his actor, which he describes as “Swiss watches”:

“During the first rehearsals, he asked me:

– Shall I take the cup in my left hand or in my right hand?

– in the left hand, because you will have to take the glasses with the right hand.

– Good. What word should I get?

– You take it when you say: “Yesterday, I saw the librarian.”

– Where should I put it? 20 cm from the nose or 25?

After 25, take a break.

– And then, how many steps did I take to the window?

– Two.

After perfecting the mechanism, he performed all these gestures with amazing grace and naturalness.”

Sean helped me understand the actors

A precision that is almost too thorough at times, as the actor studies his text down to the millimeter so much that even the slightest change in lines on set causes him difficulty. But Anad does not regret anything, on the contrary:

Shawn helped me understand actors who work with methods that come from the theater, that are old school, where you learn to be in your marks without looking at them, to put your face to the closest degree, where I think acting is a profession where you respect that profession (.. .) Anyway, it was magical to see him and it would be a dream to work with him again.

The Name of the Rose won a César for Best Foreign Film and Sean Connery a BAFTA for Best Actor for his portrayal of William Baskerville. When it was released in France, The Name of the Rose reached nearly 5 million in 1986. The same year saw the release of Highlander, also starring Sean Connery, which drew 4.1 million curious people to theaters, relaunching the actor’s career.