VANESSA PARADIS cites Marilyn Monroe as one of her all-time life inspirations. The actress – who is currently promoting her latest film, Café de Flore – is known for being one of France’s treasured exports, but her success doesn’t stop her from having her own personal heroes.
“When I was really young, I think I was six years old, I found this book on my parents’ book shelf and it was these pictures, I hadn’t seen movies of her – and I got really mesmerised by this beautiful deep soul,” she told W. “And then I started to see the movies and listen to the records and I listened to her singing. And we never speak of how great a singer she was. She had an amazing voice. Everyone always talked about her beauty, her dramatic life. She had an amazing jazz voice. She was the one for me and she still is.”
The Vogue cover girl and Chanel muse also reiterated her dislike of the term soul mates. She split from her long-term partner Johnny Depp in June this year, having spent 14 years together.
“I believe in love and I believe in wanting to make it last,” she said. “But as soon as you start to say: ‘Here’s my soul mate’, it feels like you’re done. Love is a constant, evolving emotion. And the fact of putting a title on it, whether it’s your husband or your wife or your soul mate, then it seems like you know the end of the book. And I don’t like to know the end of the book or the movie. But I mean it’s beautiful when one day someone tells you you’re their soul mate – it makes you feel good.”