Charlotte Gainsbourg is brilliant and dishevelled in Étoile

Messy hair, melancholic gaze, French flair. These are the first things that come to mind when the name Charlotte Gainsbourg is mentioned. Right after, her parents come to mind: Serge Gainsbourg, one of the most famous French singer-songwriters and artists of the last century, and her mother Jane Birkin, who passed away in 2023. For cinephiles, the association is instant: Lars von Trier. The pair worked together on three films – or four, considering Nymphomaniac was split in two – diving into themes of depression and destructive addictions, from 2009’s Antichrist to 2011’s Melancholia. But she wasn’t only directed by one of the most oppressive and dark filmmakers in the world. The actress, who is also a singer and, like her mother, of British origin with French citizenship, has worked with filmmakers both from France and abroad, delving into the depths of the soul in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams and the mysteries of a woman returned from the past in Arnaud Desplechin’s Ismael’s Ghosts. When one thinks of Charlotte Gainsbourg, it’s serious cinema that comes to mind, in which she appears consumed by internal turmoil, sometimes heart-wrenching, other times delicate and sensitive, like in Mikhaël Hers’ recent The Passengers of the Night.

That’s why seeing her in something so different from the image we have of her—like the eight-episode series Étoile by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino—is refreshing. For her, and for us, the audience. Not that she’s never strayed from her typical roles. Especially when it comes to American productions, Gainsbourg hasn’t shied away from a bit of madness, like in Roland Emmerich’s 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence, or thrillers with gothic tones (The Pale Blue Eye), auteur style (Sundown), or more standard and questionable approaches (The Snowman). An actress with an eclectic path, Gainsbourg now adds comedy to her repertoire—a genre she’s already explored in France—that can now open her up to an even wider audience, from Prime Video viewers to fans of the creators of Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. A light-hearted yet never frivolous energy, always precise even in its looseness, making her a wonderful Geneviève in this streaming show. Ever so French, chic and yes, once again tousled, as she directs the Paris National Ballet, leading a cultural exchange where the best talents from her company are swapped with top dancers from the American Metropolitan Ballet Theater in New York. An idea to revive the world of ballet, long ignored by the general public and in need of fresh energy—the same that seems to flow through the veins and crumpled-yet-elegant suits of Gainsbourg’s character.

Étoile fits neatly into a career that has already included comedic stints—like the one alongside her husband Yvan Attal, director and screenwriter of My Wife is an Actress, or the dreamy and unpredictable world of Michel Gondry in The Science of Sleep, or in more recent television with Alphonse, next to Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin. But in this Prime Video series, it’s as if she glows with a new, bubbly light, as the series demands, moving at the fast-paced, eccentric rhythm of Amy and Daniel Palladino. A rhythm she seems to enjoy, navigating the absurd requests of her dance troupe and a tangle of business contracts and romantic entanglements between France and the U.S., in which she was actively involved—from helping fine-tune the French dialogue for authenticity to offering set decor suggestions for her character’s office and even meeting with the directors of the Paris Opera and Ballet. The openness of the showrunners was reflected in Gainsbourg’s commitment, which paid off in an irresistible, dreamlike performance. A lead overwhelmed with work, yet still thrilled when it comes to the art that changed her life: dance. Between pliés and choreography, a bull to tame (watch the show, it’ll make sense), and emergencies to handle, Geneviève is one of the beating hearts of Étoile, with a Charlotte Gainsbourg who makes you want to let loose—smiling, dancing, and loving every minute of it.