Jodie Foster in The Brave One Courtesy of Warner Bros.

The Brave One had mixed reviews in France.
You mean everyone hated it! [laughs]

Did you expect these extreme reactions?
I'm very proud of the film and of all the risks it took. It's a drama that is both intelligent and primal at the same time. It's extremely primal — and I think that's what shocked people. To adopt the point of view of this woman — whose shame eats away at her, kills her, makes her hate herself — can unearth some particularly disturbing feelings. In France, this kind of film is only accepted if it presents a specific moral lesson. [The Brave One] recalls films from the '70s that focused on one character — like Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy or Straw Dogs — and had no moral lesson. They showed a brutal reality that [the audience] encountered head-on. We don't say it's good or bad; we say it exists.

Are you hoping that roles like the one that you played in Spike Lee's Inside Man will make you more attractive to directors?
I read everything, but I work very little. It's me who chooses. I've changed, my desires have changed. I've been making movies for forty-two years, and after a while some stories have been overdone. In fact, I would particularly like to work with directors who would be able to help me advance as a director.

Would you like to direct in the near future?
I've had other priorities in the recent past; I had to raise my children. Now that they are older, I would really like to focus on directing.

We are still eagerly awaiting Flora Plum. Luc Besson is co-producing, right?
Yes. He always supports me, and I sincerely hope that Flora Plum will one day get made. It's a film about a circus in the '30s, with complex costumes that drive up the budget. As is the custom with independent cinema, we've had a lot of trouble financing it.

Another of your projects, Sugarland, also fell through. Why, despite your popularity and that of Robert De Niro, who was supposed to act in the film, did it not come together?
Isn't it unbelievable? But that's the way it is. On top of that, Robert quit the project. It's a film about social politics, and because the world changes so quickly, our screenplay is already outdated...

On a recent magazine cover, you were described as "the antidote to everything one hates about Hollywood." Is this a compliment or a sad realization about the state of American cinema?
I obviously take it as a compliment. Since I've been around for so long, perhaps I work differently than other actors. I've managed to find a balance, to create stability for myself in a professional environment that is very volatile, very superficial. I think at 45, one could say that I survived, right? [laughs] They were also commenting on all the young actors who are targeted by the media.