I recently watched the movie Unfaithful, a cautionary tale about infidelity and the tragedy it can unleash. My sympathies should have all been with the cuckolded husband, right? I did empathize with him, but also, to my surprise, with the guilty wife. I totally understood the madness, the passion, the recklessness that drove Diane Lane's character into the affair. I blame my regrettable lack of moral steadfastness on Olivier Martinez' character in the movie. Someone, please tell me how on earth can a mere female mortal find the strength to resist the charms of such a one?
The man is beautiful. He's French, and his accent is to die for. "Heet me!" he tells Diane Lane at the start of their first erotic encounter, and she does hit him, shedding her principles and inhibitions in the process. Not only is Olivier's character très bandant, but his house is full of books - everywhere, on shelves and stacks from floor to ceiling. Aarrgh! He's dangerously hot and he's got thousands of books too? It was easy to understand how he could make a woman like Lane's character lose her head and risk everything that was good in her life. Far, far too easy. And very disquieting.
Martinez is 43, the son of a French mother and Spanish-Moroccan father. During his promotional tour in the USA he was billed as "the French Brad Pitt." (A preposterous comparison, in my opinion. So - you can tell I'm not a Pitt fan!) He's dated Kylie Minogue and Mira Sorvino, and lived with Juliette Binoche.
Personal quotes:
"I like Paris. My problem is I don't like Parisians."
"I'm not very comfortable in love scenes because I'm shy, because I don't play naked. It's very rare for a French actor. I have an issue with that." [Awww!]
"I personally think you must believe in something. You must have a point of view on everything even if you have to change it often."
"I don't consider myself a sex symbol because all my cousins would laugh at me."
Monsieur Martinez, you're a sex symbol, and I'm not laughing.
