PARIS—Selfies and social media have been the death of film stars, iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve said in an interview published on Sunday.
“There are no more stars in France,” the 71-year-old bemoaned just days before her latest film, Emmanuelle Bercot’s “La Tête Haute (Standing Tall)” opens this year’s Cannes Film Festival which begins today and will end May 24.
The doyenne of French cinema was speaking to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper about her film career, which has made her one of her country’s best-known actresses abroad.
Deneuve criticized celebrities addicted to social media.
“A star is someone who must show themselves only a little and remain discreet. In the digital age, there is an intrusion [into] everything, everywhere, all the time,” she said.
“We see a tremendous amount of people who are very famous, with millions of followers, and who have done absolutely nothing.” Deneuve said she had a very “limited” relationship with technology.
“It’s wonderful to be able to take photos (with your cell phone) but I detest selfies, photographing yourself all the time … it makes everything banal,” she said.
“And this idea that we are looking at ourselves doing things, without actually experiencing them, is horrible.”
Deneuve plays a children’s magistrate in her latest movie. AFP