alk about hot! Olivier Martinez has been called one of the best kept secrets in France. He first gained
international recognition with the 1995 film Horseman on the Roof, in which he played a dashing 19th-century Italian cavalry officer. He also recently co-starred with Oscar nominee Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls. Now all eyes are on Martinez, who is currently heating up the screen opposite Diane Lane in Unfaithful.
  Tribute had the opportunity to talk to Martinez (who has been dubbed the French Brad Pitt) in Los Angeles about making his North American film debut and taking it all off in the process!

What was your initial reaction when you got this script from Fatal Attraction director Adrian Lyne?
O.M. I was thinking that the challenge was how I was going to make my character nice and empathetic because he could be very quickly a jerk and a cliché. So all the work went into avoiding a cliché and to make him human with a lot of heart. That was the challenge and I really enjoyed it.

When you get a script and know that Adrian Lyne is attached to it, you had to know what you were getting into, when you look at his other films.
O.M. I was happy to go into the universe of the director. It's something that I enjoy. I loved Fatal Attraction - so it was fine.

Yes, but what I was getting at is that you know you are going to have to do these pretty graphic sex scenes. How does a director like Lyne put an actor at ease?
O.M. Well, to tell you the truth, I saw a few movies this year that were much more sexual in graphic ways than this movie. I would call this an average erotic thriller; there's not too much. We spoke with the director before because I'm an actor, but I am also a human being. I have my bottom line and I won't cross it at any price. I'm there to do a job; I am not there to betray myself. I have a future and a career, so I spoke with Adrian about how he wanted to do it. One thing I told him from the very beginning was that I didn't want to go too far. For example, I don't act completely naked. So I told him that I can't be naked and he said, "I don't care. We don't want that." He didn't want to make a porno movie.

And he does it so well.
O.M. Hitchcock was a very sexual director. How many times did his actresses take off their bras or not have a bra on under their dress? And they were blonde and beautiful - that's manipulation. It's all about manipulation, and I love it.

Most of your scenes were with Diane Lane. How did you enjoy working with her?
O.M. It's always nice to work with great actresses, especially when they are nice on the set. Working on this movie, the atmosphere was happy.

This was your first big American feature. After people see you in Unfaithful I don't think you are going to have to worry about getting jobs over here. How do you like living in the U.S.?
O.M. I don't always live in North America, because I'm not ready yet. I started acting late in life. I was about 24, so I am still getting used to all of this. But the thing is, I really enjoy working here with all these great people and I love being able to use my English. I also think that I have many more opportunities here.
I love to open the door just to see what is behind it, because I am very curious. I don't know what to expect from people seeing Unfaithful but I know that I did a good movie. I was so happy to be part of it. That is really my goal in life, just to make good movies.

- Bonnie Laufer-Krebs