“I’m the quintessential Englishman but not the quintessential British snob if you see what I mean. I also do speak French which helps — not very well but I do speak it,” he said afterwards.
Sir Michael said he fell in love with French cinema while watching Jean Gabin, an iconic postwar actor because he was “blond like me, while all the actors in Hollywood films at the time had black hair”. He admitted, however, that he has never acted in a French film.
There was a touching scene when he met the man who has been his French voice for the past 50 years, 80-year-old Dominique Paturel, who said he was “mad with joy” to finally meet the actor whose “breathing and very heart beat hold no secrets for me”.
Mr Paturel said that it was impossible to find a French equivalent of Sir Michael’s Cockney speech.
“One can only try and find the same spirit, in his way of being, his behaviour, his reactions. His diction is not easy to imitate – it’s a kind of light stammering, he stumbles on every word. That was quite difficult to capture but essential as it’s his hallmark — but I’ve cracked it after all these years.” Sir Michael, he said was “much loved by the French public due to his likeable nature, his talent, exceptional adaptability to roles, his inventiveness. I’m a bit older than him but hope we both keep going strong for years more,” he said.
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