But have people come up to you and given you positive feedback in France?

Yes, we have very positive feedback. But what I see in the feedback, it's not about me. It's about...What I notice, what I feel, is that all those people who come to me and share what they felt, it's like a circle. Because she was a very emotional person, and I lived a very emotional adventure. And people who see the movie, and what they tell me is, what they share now with me is all the emotion that I shared with all the crew, with Piaf, with Olivier, and I can feel and I can understand what they feel, because I felt it before. That's something that I love, and that's what I am here in that job for, amongst many things, to be able to share this and to feel like there's a circle of emotion in sharing.

As Edith you had to scream and yell at a lot of people. Did you strain your own voice?

 [laughs] I have to be honest. Yes, a little bit. [laughs] But in a measure that I would control. To have that in order to get that voice, the preparation in the morning was to sing very, very, very loud. And very low. Low register, but very loud. And that's how I tried to get to that voice I wanted to have. But for the end, for example, of the movie, I wanted this little broken voice. But then you can't break your voice, because you have to work the next day. But sometimes I tried to be at the limit to have that voice. But I'm not able to hurt myself, [fortunately] for me. And I don't want it. I want to push to the limit, but never cross it.

Was there anything you learned about Piaf's life from your own research that you would have liked to see in the film?

Not really...Her last husband was someone very important in her life, and who was a very good guy. He loved her. He really, truly loved her, even if, of course, it was like a platonic love. But he was there for her, and the love was true. And when Olivier asked me if I would have loved to see something add to the movie, it was the only thing. But when I read the movie, I knew that it was Olivier's vision, and I really liked it. So yeah, I was fulfilled with what was there. And the thing is, I knew that all the scenes would teach something about her, would tell something about her. And I really think it was about her intimacy. For me, I had all I needed in the script.

Do you think people will rediscover Edith Piaf through this movie?

I think that not many people know about her life. But I think that yes, you can re-discover her songs.

Do you plan on doing any more American or English-language movies?

I don't see it that way. I mean, there's a lot of directors I dream of in this country, but it's more about the stories and the people who you meet than about the country you work in. But I hope so. [laughs]