Virginie Efira Says She Never Feared the Controversy Around ‘Benedetta’

Belgian-French actress Virginie Efira has never been afraid to take on controversial roles. Looking back at Paul Verhoeven’s 2021 film Benedetta, in which she played a nun involved in a passionate relationship with another nun, Efira says the controversy surrounding the film was part of what made the experience exciting.

Speaking to Variety at the Locarno Film Festival, where she is receiving the Leopard Club Award, Efira recalled the very different reactions to Benedetta in France and the United States.

“In France, it’s as if God is dead. In the US, well, he’s less dead,” she said, referring to the protests and criticism the film faced in several countries.

Efira said she actually enjoyed seeing audiences react strongly to the movie. She compared the response to the days when films could provoke heated arguments, recalling the controversy surrounding Maurice Pialat’s Under the Sun of Satan, which was booed after winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

“Now, everyone is so polite,” Efira said. “They clap for 15 minutes, even if they don’t like the film.”

Benedetta was highly divisive when it premiered at Cannes. While some viewers embraced the film, others strongly rejected it. Even Verhoeven wondered whether the movie would be well received.

Efira, however, said she was never worried about taking the role.

“I believe in what I love,” she said. “I didn’t see it as a risky move, because I just don’t think like that.”

The actress said she admired Verhoeven’s work and trusted him completely. When he told her the film would include lesbian sex scenes, her response was simple: “No problem.”

Efira also defended Verhoeven’s reputation in Hollywood, pointing to Showgirls as an example of a film she believes deserves more respect. The movie, which was heavily criticized when released in 1995, has since gained a strong cult following and is now often reassessed by critics.

Her willingness to take creative risks has continued with Japanese director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi. Efira worked with him on All of a Sudden, for which she was recognized at Cannes alongside co-star Tao Okamoto.

In the film, Efira plays a newly appointed director at a nursing home who encounters a terminally ill Japanese artist. Preparing for the role required her to study Japanese before filming began.

She said working with Hamaguchi, like working with Verhoeven, requires an actor to fully commit to the director’s vision.

Efira is also skeptical of actors who describe filmmaking as an almost physically dangerous experience. She pointed to her work on Paris Memories, a film about a terrorist attack, as an example.

“Once they yell ‘cut!,’ we can all eat a bar of chocolate,” she joked.

For Efira, the most important part of choosing a film is not the country where it is made, but the director she will work with.

“It’s about the relationship with the director, their sensibility and what’s in their eyes,” she said. “If there’s nothing there, you can try your best, but nothing interesting will come out of it.”

She also praised Hamaguchi for maintaining his creative approach while working in France, saying that foreign directors can sometimes lose something when they move into a different filmmaking environment.

Efira admits that chance plays a major role in an actor’s career. She had considered working more outside France before collaborating with Hamaguchi and Asghar Farhadi on Parallel Tales, but she still values the stability France offers actors.

Despite her growing international profile, Efira says she remains grounded. She credits her Belgian upbringing for giving her a sense of perspective.

“France feels so big with Napoleon and De Gaulle,” she said. “Belgium is small, and that’s a good thing. It gives you some distance.”

Her father’s advice has stayed with her: “It’s always better to take the stairs than the elevator.”

For Efira, that philosophy applies to acting as much as to life. Success, she suggests, should come with effort, humility and a willingness to keep challenging yourself.