Noée Abita’s poignant interpretation in Ava, the story of a young girl who is going to lose her sight, launched her career in 2017. After portraying various roles, including in Le Roman de Jim by the Larrieu brothers and in the series Merteuil, the talented 26-year-old actress has entered the circle of actors approved by Christophe Honoré, and is now filming in his upcoming movie. A profile of an up-and-coming star in French cinema.
Noée Abita joins Christophe Honoré’s troupe
Since January, Noée Abita has been filming in Mariage au goût d’orange, Christophe Honoré’s next film, inspired by his play Le Ciel de Nantes. This is a first for the actress, who joyfully joins the director of Love Songs’ troupe. “I feel lucky. I love his cinema and this story touches me. All the characters were real people in his family. I play Isabelle, one of the sisters,” she says.
These concrete and theoretical questions that arise from it, Noée Abita did not ask herself at the beginning of her career in 2017, when director Léa Mysius chose her to play the heroine of her film Ava, a visually impaired teenager who discovers love. “I had never done anything. I was completely letting myself be carried,” she shares. Her work focused on body, postures. “As Ava was younger than me – I was 16, the character was 13 – Léa told me to take small steps, so that my teenage girl’s pelvis moved as little as possible. To prepare for the film, we walked, we ate together. It wasn’t about working on the text at all.” The result, poignant, launched her career.
A trajectory affirmed
Facing us, Noée Abita speaks with a mix of modesty and directness, as she takes on multiple roles. She has been seen with the Larrieu brothers, in the series Merteuil, as well as in Le Grand Bain, Les Passagers de la nuit, or the comedy Classe moyenne. The 26-year-old actress is no longer a newcomer. Her calling appeared early. “I was not fulfilled at school. Meeting creative adults who listened to me, curious about what I thought, was a breath of fresh air,” she says.
In her family, cinema held a central place, like other arts. This opened up perspectives for the young woman, who quickly preferred to focus on art house cinema and its aesthetic acrobatics. “What we choose to film, why and how we build a film, all of this captivates me,” she says, before specifying her approach to acting. “About a character, I can say that it interests me, but also that I interest him. We are one body and at the same time, we can interact. By playing, I find myself in a strange space, between reverie and fantasy.”
A critical look at cinema’s imaginaries
This capacity to dream, Noée Abita doesn’t necessarily find it in mainstream cinema, even though she acknowledges her love for comedies. “In this field, it is difficult to find good roles. The films that attract the most audiences often offer a misogynistic and violent imaginary,” she reflects. Joining cinema at the same time as MeToo, the actress doesn’t hide her mixed feelings about changes in mentalities, even though she recognizes the power of cinema.
“When I shot Slalom by Charlène Favier in 2020, about abuse in sports, speaking out began in this environment. But the film was difficult to finance. Cinema has the power to circulate ideas in the air, images that can be positive, but also negative, like the male gaze and rape culture.”
“The hate is a disaster, but anger is a noble feeling,” says Noée Abita
She, who loves fashion and participates in performances with artist Cham Lavant, advocates for a creative life outside of filming. “I am always thinking about what I will feel, what a character will feel, what we could do,” she says. A fan of Kristen Stewart and her first film The Chronology of Water, which had a shock on her, Noée Abita embraces anger as fuel.
“I didn’t always know what to do with it. When you’re a girl, you’re not taught to be angry. Today, I put it into my roles. Hate is a catastrophe, but anger is a noble feeling. It leads to revolutions, changing lives, making choices. My anger has kept me alive.”
“Mariage au goût d’orange by Christophe Honoré, coming soon to cinemas.”
