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Noémie et Adèle

Summary:

Just a series of vignettes. No disrespect meant in any way.
Fictional imagining of the relationship between the 2 actresses Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant from the movie "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" - before, during, and after making the movie.
Totally made up scenarios with references to real events.

Also, lots of picspam.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Notes:

A few notes:

1. I read the study in the prologue - (there were more recent studies that yielded the same result) a long time ago - that prolonged gazes could induce strong positive emotions in the people doing the gazing

2. With that study in the back of my head, I couldn't shake the thought that, empirically, the actors who spent almost the entire Portrait movie gazing at each other, would eventually find themselves attracted to each other. After all, it's been scientifically proven

3. My theory was (maybe) supported by their interactions during the few Q&As and interviews I saw; or maybe they were just being French, I don't know

4. I have been writing the story for a while now, after March 29 when the movie became available on Hulu. One of the very few movies that I sought fanfics for. Not many out there, so I just started writing one for myself; amid work and school, I would write one or 2 chapters at a time, hence the relatively short chapters. That's all I could handle

5. Until 30 May, I did not know what an "RPF" meant. Now that I do, I cannot help but wonder why people find them as the "dark side" of FF. After all, Shakespeare wrote a slew of them: The Henrys, Richard III, Antony & Cleopatra, Julius Caesar. Then you have the more contemporary ones: Network, Judy, Theory of Everything, The Favorite, Bohemian Rhapsody... the last Oscars were give to actors and actresses who played real people. I also understand that some RPFs have gone beyond simple story telling to indulge the darker side of humanity. This RPF is not one of them. As I said, this is just a story, given what I read in #1, and I sincerely hope that no one, especially the real folks who bear the characters' names, will be offended, but will be gratified that they have inspired others. I owe them a sincere thank you.

Chapter Text

Prologue

Researchers Kellerman, Lewis, and Laird (1989) set out to explore the effects of mutual eye contact on participants' feelings of romantic love. In two experiments, participants were randomly paired into (opposite-sex) couples and given the instructions to either gaze at their partner's hands, gaze at their eyes, or count the number of eye blinks for two minutes. After completing that task, participants filled out various questionnaires to assess their feelings about their assigned partner.

Results of the questionnaires indicated that couples who participated in mutual eye contact reported stronger feelings than any other group. Specifically, couples who both looked into each other's eyes reported significantly higher feelings of affection, passionate love, dispositional love, and liking for their partner. Thus, as the researchers note, "subjects induced to exchange mutual unbroken eye gaze for 2 min with a stranger (of the opposite sex) reported increased feelings of passionate love for each other"

Noémie had just received the call from her agent that Céline Sciamma, the writer and director of a new project, and Christel Baras, the casting agent, would like her to come in for a second audition, but this time, with Adèle Haenel, the lead actress, present. Sure, she had seen Adèle in several films, and with two César gongs, it was not hard not to know of her. Noémie always thought there was this certain innocence and honesty that Adèle brought with her in every role, even when she was playing an enfant terrible or a quirky character. They had never met before – they moved in different circles; she among the models-turned-actress set while Adèle was with the crème de la crème and avant-gardes of French cinema. She was doing okay in her career; not Marion-Cotillard great, but okay. She had her modeling gigs and a decent body of work tucked under her belt, but nowhere near Adèle’s, whose films had been screened at Canned for five years in a row.

She was nervous.

She called her husband of just over a year, Simon, to tell him that she made it the second round. He was in filming in Hollywood and would not be home for another three weeks or so. And maybe it was the distance, but he sounded dismissive of her news.

“Adèle Haenel would be there for the screen test,” she told him.

Oh, that dyke? What a waste. When is it?” he said curtly.

Day after tomorrow,” she replied.

What? Who do they think they are to give you such short notice! Make them wait!”

I already told them I would be there. Anyway, hope your film is going well,” she said.

“They guys and I are having In-and-Out burger. We’re taking a break and driving down to San Diego and maybe cross over to Mexico,” he said, already forgetting his wife’s news.

“D’accord. Ciao, Simon.”

“Ciao.”

Noémie decided to cut the call short - he was in one of those moods, when the whole world should revolve around him and nothing was more important than what he was currently doing.

She decided to sit by the window to have a cigarette, her mind already far away. Later, she got her iPad and watched some clips of Adèle on You Tube, particularly the interviews. What a smart woman, she thought, with very jagged edges. And funny even without trying! She made a salad, poured a glass of wine, and settled on the couch to watch more clips and videos. Before she knew it, it was almost bed time. She had been watching Adèle for almost 5 hours!!!

That night, she had a dream that she had the screen test with Adèle, who laughed at her derisively.

You want me to act with that?!” Dream Adèle mockingly said.

It was just a dream, but she woke up with tears in her eyes. As an actor, she was already used to rejection, it’s a part of the job. But this rejection from Adèle was something that hurt very much, even if it was only a dream. She was not sure why, they had never met, for fuck’s sake, but it was almost a nightmare. Lying in bed at 3 in the morning, her chest still recovering from the dream, she thought that maybe she should just say “thanks but no thanks.”