{"id":5676,"date":"2026-08-07T18:47:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5676"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:47:05","slug":"virginie-efira-a-showgirls-fan-enjoyed-the-benedetta-controversy-when-verhoeven-said-there-would-be-lesbian-sex-scenes-i-just-replied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5676","title":{"rendered":"Virginie Efira \u2013 a \u2018Showgirls\u2019 Fan \u2013 Enjoyed the \u2018Benedetta\u2019 Controversy: \u2018When Verhoeven Said There Would Be Lesbian Sex Scenes, I Just Replied: \u2018No Problem\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tPaul Verhoeven\u2019s \u201cBenedetta,\u201d about a nun embarking on a scandalous affair with another nun, offended many viewers and sparked protests in several countries. But it didn\u2019t offend its lead Virginie Efira, now at Locarno to pick up the Leopard Club Award.<\/p>\n

Read more Pragda Snags Nicol\u00e1s Pereda\u2019s \u2018Everything Else Is Noise\u2019 Ahead of Toronto and New York Film Festival Premieres (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWas it fun? Yes. I liked that. In France, it\u2019s as if God is dead. In the US, well, he\u2019s less dead,\u201d she tells\u00a0Variety<\/em>, recalling the controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the past, people would get so angry about films. They would fight over Maurice Pialat!\u201d When Pialat won Cannes\u2019 Palme d\u2019Or for \u201cUnder the Sun of Satan,\u201d the decision was met with boos.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNow, everyone is so polite. They clap for 15 minutes, even if they don\u2019t like the film. I\u2019m not expecting everyone to love my films and \u2018Benedetta\u2019 was very divisive. So many people love it, and so many don\u2019t understand it at all. You could actually sense that in Cannes. At one point, Paul asked me: \u2018Do you think it\u2019s going to be O.K\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEfira wasn\u2019t worried, however.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI believe in what I love. I didn\u2019t see it as a risky move, because I just don\u2019t think like that. Paul is someone I wanted to follow. I\u2019m proud of this movie and I put a part of myself into it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShe adds: \u201cI was actually intrigued that the Americans didn\u2019t want to work with Paul anymore. I like his films \u2013 \u2018Showgirls\u2019 is an incredible movie. I know that all the critics have now come around and consider it a masterpiece, and maybe that has influenced me as well. But I also know my own taste, and when he told me there would be lesbian sex scenes, I just replied: \u2018No problem.\u2019 I trusted him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also trusted Ry\u016bsuke Hamaguchi \u2013 another Verhoeven fan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I met him for the first time, he asked me a lot about \u2018Benedetta.\u2019 He\u2019s a cinephile, but it was also because he was curious as to why I wasn\u2019t afraid to do something like that. With Ry\u016bsuke, just like with Paul, you really have to give yourself to the role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn May, Efira was awarded at Cannes for her role in Hamaguchi\u2019s \u201cAll of a Sudden\u201d alongside co-star Tao Okamoto. She plays a newly appointed director at a nursing home who meets a terminally ill Japanese artist.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had to study Japanese, and there was a lot of work even before we started shooting. But you\u2019re still surprised when opportunities like this come your way. It makes you work even harder, because you want to reciprocate the gift you\u2019ve been given.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Vietnamese Boy Band Uprize Wants to Take Over the World: \u2018We Won\u2019t Set Limits for Ourselves\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tDespite this, Efira remains level-headed about her job.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSometimes I read interviews with other actors and they make it sound like they went to war, you know? They say: \u2018I really put myself in danger.\u2019 What danger? I made a film about a terrorist attack [\u2018Paris Memories\u2019] and some people went: \u2018It feels like we\u2019re really experiencing it.\u2019 It doesn\u2019t. Once they yell \u2018cut!,\u2019 we can all eat a bar of chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThese days, it\u2019s not about where she\u2019s making movies \u2013 it\u2019s about who she\u2019s making them with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s about the relationship with the director, their sensibility and what\u2019s in their eyes. If there\u2019s nothing there, you can try your best, but nothing interesting will come out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe notes: \u201cBefore working with Ry\u016bsuke and Asghar Farhadi [on \u2018Parallel Tales\u2019], I was thinking about making movies outside France, but it\u2019s a great country for actors. It gives us stability. When foreign directors decide to work there, they often lose something, but Ry\u016bsuke didn\u2019t fall into that trap. He never speaks French, but I think he understands everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSome people say: \u2018You must visualize what you want and then you\u2019ll have it.\u2019 It\u2019s not so simple, guys! There\u2019s a lot of chance involved in what we do, and I accept that. But when you work with someone like Ry\u016bsuke, who really pushes you as an actor, you want to keep on being pushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever she does next, she\u2019s bound to maintain her down-to-earth approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOr maybe I\u2019m actually pretentious when I\u2019m all alone?,\u201d she laughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it\u2019s just the Belgian in me.\u201d Born in Belgium, Efira has dual citizenship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrance feels so big with Napoleon and De Gaulle. Belgium is small, and that\u2019s a good thing. It gives you some distance. My father used to say: \u2018It\u2019s always better to take the stairs than the elevator.\u2019 You have to put effort into everything you do. That way, you won\u2019t lose your head.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Take-Two Interactive Reaches $1.4 Billion in Sales During \u2018GTA 6\u2019 Preorder Opening Quarter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virginie Efira recalls \u2018Benedetta\u2019 controversy, talks working with Ry\u016bsuke Hamaguchi on ‘All of a Sudden’ and picks up Locarno’s Leopard Club Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[492,4436,493,1508,494],"class_list":["post-5676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-all-of-a-sudden","tag-benedetta","tag-hamaguchi-ryusuke","tag-locarno-film-festival","tag-virginie-efira"],"yoast_head":"\nVirginie Efira \u2013 a \u2018Showgirls\u2019 Fan \u2013 Enjoyed the \u2018Benedetta\u2019 Controversy: \u2018When Verhoeven Said There Would Be Lesbian Sex Scenes, I Just Replied: \u2018No Problem\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5676\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginie Efira \u2013 a \u2018Showgirls\u2019 Fan \u2013 Enjoyed the \u2018Benedetta\u2019 Controversy: \u2018When Verhoeven Said There Would Be Lesbian Sex Scenes, I Just Replied: \u2018No Problem\u2019 - 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