Catherine Deneuve’s new French-language movie “On My Way,” presented by the Cohen Media Group, is upon us. She says:
“Director Emmanuelle Bercot’s shooting schedule — filming in difficult situations, me in every scene — was intense. I was frightened at the beginning.
“I play a former beauty queen, living with her mother, owning a Brittany country restaurant, has an estranged daughter. Mother gets on her nerves, she goes on a road trip; she’s driving, she stops various places, meets assorted people and finds love with her grandson. (C.A.’s note: She also finds love with a few others.)
“In one scene, dying for a cigarette, a gentleman makes me come into his room (C.A.: Hey, I told you it’s a French film, and she’s Catherine Deneuve.)
And he rolls a cigarette for me.” So, does Catherine smoke in real life? “Yes.”
Then: “We filmed along the road with nonprofessionals I’d never met before. No rehearsals. No points of reference. Ever changing scenery, 65 changes. To save time, we always rushed.”
The hotel-room scene with a man, was he a professional actor? “No. He interacted well — but it was risky.”
Right. So, Catherine, you watched the Oscars?
“Yes. There were colorful moments, but it was not glamorous. And many stars looked disheveled. Some work of the actors was marvelous. But all talk was about the gowns or the jewels. Nothing about the films.”
We spoke Friday. Saturday, clearing a drawer, I came across a Jan. 8, 2001, column of mine that included: “Want to see Catherine Deneuve? Check the Sixth Avenue flea market Sundays. She can be found there bargaining.”
Wish I’d remembered to ask her about that.
Odds & ends
MagnIficent as LBJ in B’way’s “All the Way,” where’s Bryan Cranston get strength to dominate West 52nd’s Neil Simon Theatre for three hours? It’s next door Victor’s Café’s delicioso arroz con pollo . . . COME summer, Major League Baseball players licensing Danbury Mint’s true-to-life, numbered Derek Jeter sculpture. In pinstripes . . . IT’S daylight saving. Maybe Obama, an hour behind, will spring forward.
Omelets for pol
Huntington, LI. Supervisor Frank Petrone, scratching for money, is hustling supporters to be a $3,500 sponsor. But a sponsor for what? In exchange, he’s doing breakfast. For your 3 ¹/₂ grand, this grand pol suggests — “Honor Frank; Stay for the Omelets.” Omelets for politics? That Frank is a really good egg.
Her honeymoon’s over
Sheila MacRae played Alice Kramden on Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners” and sang with husband, “Oklahoma!” star Gordon MacRae, on Ed Sullivan’s famous ’64 Beatles show. Fragile, my longtime friend disappeared. Searching, I finally located Sheila MacRae — but it was a total stranger named after her parent’s favorite celebrity. The one I knew just left us. Sorry. She was nifty.
Medley’s memoir
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bill Medley, with his Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, did his bio. “The Time of My Life’s” out in April. Foreword by Billy Joel . . . Seth Rogen slurping up Joe’s Shanghai dumplings . . . Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher seeing “Jersey Boys” . . . “The Big Bang Theory’s” neuroscientist Mayim Bialik is out with “Mayim’s Vegan Table.” Veggie cookbook yummies like — oy — tofu curry.
Friday, the Schoenfeld Theatre, “The Bridges of Madison County,” at intermission a strange guy runs to me with: “Can you believe, the men’s room was so packed, such a long line, that they let me use the ladies’ room. Isn’t that an Only in New York?” Yeah.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.