Translation of an interview from the French ELLE magazine, issue n°2829, March 20/2000, by Karelle.

THE HAPPINESS OF VANESSA PARADIS
"Johnny Depp, my daughter and I, it's the perfect triangle".
by Dany Jucaud, photos by Ellen Von Unwerth

VANESSA PARADIS, MUMMY, SINGER
The most beautiful part in her life? Mother…
Vanessa Paradis has just recorded her new album in Los Angeles where she lives with Johnny Depp. For the first time, she passionately and admiringly talks about her "amoureux" (=boyfriend) and their daughter Lily-Rose..
What happiness!

Harsh-voiced little girl star, multicoloured canary for Chanel, moving interpreter of "Le tourbillon de la vie" ( ="the whirl of life") in duet with Jeanne Moreau in Cannes (At the 1995 Cannes film festival, Vanessa had paid tribute to the president of the jury, Jeanne Moreau, with the famous song of François Truffaut's "Jules et Jim")…. Vanessa Paradis has never stopped to charm us. From "White Wedding" to "The Girl on the Bridge", she has proven that she is also a terrific actress. The French Lolita lives now in Los Angeles. She recorded her new album there, which will be release in the autumn. At 27, she still is this little poetic personage. Exquisite. She always refused to talk about the man who shares her life, Johnny Depp, father of their little girl, Lily-Rose. For the first time, she confides. Simply.

ELLE: You didn't win the César award for best actress. You must be disappointed. What is the most important thing for you? Your judgement or that of others?
VANESSA PARADIS: An award pleases for a moment, but it doesn't mean much… It's my mum who was very disappointed. She was so excited, so proud that her little girl was nominated! You write, you sing for only one person that you would like to flabbergast, to surprise. You want him to be proud of you. The main thing for me today, more than anything else, is what my family thinks. My real family is the one I built myself: my "amoureux" (=boyfriend) and Lily-Rose.
I like when you say my "amoureux"…
It's a little old-fashioned, I know, but it's true…
One day, you said: "I wouldn't want that the end of my days to come without having had a child". Do you think you would have failed your life if you hadn't had a baby?
Before being a mum, my professional life was very successful but my private life was pretty sad and melancholy. I always thought it was a waste to live so many things, so many wonderful experiences just for me. My job excited me, it still fascinates me. But, after a certain age, when there is nobody to hold your hand… I missed the point. Now, everything makes sense. If I hadn't had the chance to meet my daughter's father, if I had felt the effects of the famous biological clock, I would have, all the same, made this baby, it's very selfish, I know… Dying without having known this happiness must be dreadful. I've learned life in fast forward. Now that I'm a mummy, it's beyond all. With Lily-Rose, I have everything i could wish for.
It's a pretty name, Lily-Rose!
I liked Lily and I like Rose. I couldn't make up my mind. It's mummy who told me: "But why don't you name her Lily-Rose?" I call her more often "mon amour"(="my love") or "mon ange"(="my angel") than Lily-Rose. Every time someone pronounces her name, it gives me the shivers.
Does she look like you?
She looks like her father very much. She has a gap in her teeth, like me, poor girl! She is absolutely sublime and smart, but particularly, she's a good person. She is extremely generous, I can already see it. Kids are often very selfish, but her, she shares all that she has. She's very special, very strange, very very easy to get on with, she never cries. Children, even ones of others, have always moved me. Often, I wondered: "But how will it be when I'll have a baby?" You know what! It's more wonderful than I imagined.
Are you going to have more?
Of course we are, I want her to have lots of little sisters and little brothers. Many of them.
When your "amoureux", as you say, talks about Lily-Rose, he is as much overwhelmed as you, it's very moving.
We certainly talk the same as all parents. You must think I'm ridiculous, don't you? She's still more than all I'm telling you. She touches me Every time. I always had the conviction that children choose us and that their soul exists even before we give birth to them. She's an angel fallen from the sky! She has chosen us.
When we look at both of you, we have the feeling that you are from the same planet. You certainly must have thought that, haven't you?
I don't like very much to share my life with everybody. But… it's true, yes, it's true. In this world full of dramas and horrors, we are inclined to forget that things can be just simple and beautiful. My amoureux, my daughter and I, it's the perfect triangle. We are just like one person. I don't think we could be with somebody else!
In this recent interview, Johnny Depp said this very nice thing: "Before meeting Vanessa, I lived in a fog". What about you?
It's not only because he's the man I love, but I've never met a personality as beautiful as his. I would say the same thing about him if I was only his friend. (She is visibly very moved. She pauses.) When you are happy, you want to share your happiness. We would like everybody to be as happy.
How is your life now?
Since Lily-Rose is in our life, we really need nothing. Nobody else. We are self-supporting… Before I had my boyfriend and my daughter, I thought routine must be boring and insipid, it scared me a little. I was afraid that after the first three months of passion, things between us would settle down a little. It's the contrary! Our story is more and more beautiful, stronger and stronger. We organized our schedules to always be with each other.
Do you have the feeling that your present live gives you more strength, more inspiration in your work?
I don't want to do something just ordinary. For both of them. We talk about our projects. We ask each other questions. We help each other, but it's not the centre of our life. Our life, it's Lily-Rose… I've done this job for 13 years. I couldn't play guitar because I'm shy. Not only did Johnny give me one, but he also had the patience to teach me to play it. He makes my life so much easier! I'd like to be able to help him as much as he helps me, but, maybe in that way, he needs me less than I need him. I told you. He's somebody very rare.
Wouldn't love make you blind?
No, I assure you. Johnny has an great taste. When I ask him for advice, what he says is extremely correct, smart and never the norm. He knows when I need to be put on the right track. The album that I'm recording with Mathieu Chedid is, by far, the most personal that I've ever made; Without Johnny, I would have never achieved it. He relies on me so I'm more self-confident. However, I'm a better cook than him!
You are talking as a real woman in love…
I know the battle for women to be taken seriously. I know that sometime, we would like to break everything and shout to be heard. It's a fight that I know well, so as I live surrounded by men, I have sometimes had difficulty being taken seriously. But my greatest happiness today, is to wait on my man hand and foot. I want him to feel good… I like to see that he has a good meal when he comes home. I like to run a bath for him. I like to see that he has all his buttons on his shirt. I like to take care of him when he's ill. It's not a song, but, for me, it's another form of creation. However, I must stop myself because it could become stifling and I don't want to smother him. But I admit I love that!
Let's talk a little about fashion: what is it, for you, fashion? Because, when I look at you, it's really anything.
I can't stop buying clothes. My closets are full to bursting. What do I love? First, tissues and colors, purples, fushias, oranges, printed matters, soft things… Between my sister and I, it's the quarrel to swipe my mother's old tee-shirts and old sweat-shirts, quite faded, quite fine, so much they are worn out. I always made my own fashion. What I like, above all, is to feel comfortable.
Your ideal clothes?
In the evening, after the bath of my daughter, I pull on my large navy blue pants, which have become almost grey, quite sweet, quite soft and a large tee-shirt, or I wear my amoureux's sweaters.
Do you also strip displays of cosmetics?
As I have a very delicate skin, I can't change product all the time. My darling and I are very regular customers of Clarins cosmetics. I almost use just them, I wash my face with the lathering gel, I use the clarifying masks, oils for the body, I love… From 15 to 20, I used too much makeup. As I thought I was hideous, I had to hide myself. I still have this dark circle around my eyes, which makes me look dead. Anyway, when people saw me without makeup, they felt sorry for me. I'm beyond all that now. It's obviously thanks to the look of the man who loves you and makes you feel comfortable.
Do you practice physical training?
I took some ground bar courses in Paris, now I exercise at home. I also runs a little, but I'm not enough disciplined.
You had a very eventful youth. For having taken all that you took at 14, you had to be unconscious or totally determined!
Without play on words, I'd say that it was an unconscious determination. At 14, you aren't accomplished. I was strong, it's true, but I especially had much pride. When you have a real passion, you can't be easily hurt. Even if I hated those people, I'm delighted with having lived those extremely difficult years. They have given strength to me for the rest of my life.
What was the most important event in your career?
My first tour in 1993, after my third album. The only one I've done. That's the most intense thing I've lived. Applause has always made me cry. I'll never forget either the three months I stayed with serge Gainsbourg. I was 17, he was 61, and I had the feeling to have in front of me a little seven-year old boy, touching and frail. I regret I didn't tell him how much I admired him, how much he was unique. I regret I didn't hug him more often. Since, I've learned to print in my memory every moment, every look, all the things which move me. Often, by over modesty, you prevent yourself from doing something. I understood it was better to have remorse than regrets.
Today, do you have the life you dreamt about?
I have a life I would never have dared to dream about. I would have thought I expected too much!

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