I just hope the film [Aquarius] doesn't feel overly nostalgic because too much nostalgia for me leads to depression. I think Clara is very pragmatic.

I'm scared of rehearsals, I'm scared of doing all this because I don't feel like I'm an actress.

Nobody who comes out of the movie [Aquarius] focuses on those [sexual] scenes, because they are not the heart of the film. They are a consequence of the story, but I don't remember hearing audiences talking about them afterward. They came out discussing themes of resistance, history and memory. They're talking about the beauty of the self and how it can become demolished.

When Sônia [Braga] talked about the script in detail, it was as if she had seen the film [Aquarius] last night, even though it hadn't existed yet. It was a completely bulls - t-less reaction, so I knew it had to be her, and she has been great ever since.

The reaction I got from Sônia [Braga] in less than 48 hours after I sent her the script [Aquarius] was so genuine that it left me stunned. Often when you show people scripts, you get polite, absent-minded reactions, as well as exclamations of "What the f - k is this?".

Sônia Braga reacted in a beautiful way to the draft I sent her, so we just made the film ["Aquarius"] as I had written it. Emilie [Lesclaux], my wife and producer, told me, "This is not a two-hour film. This is going to be longer." And I said, "Well, let's try and make it work, whatever length it is."

It's a great role for any age. Any actress wishes they would find a screenplay that means as much to them as "Aquarius" meant to me, as a person and a citizen.