What was the first role you got when you arrived there?

I landed a role in a very well-written independent film called Stand-Ins. It was a film coveted by a lot of actresses in Hollywood, because the whole thing was done by women. Getting this part truly helped me to gain more confidence for my adult career because it was my first adult role. Truly the first.

My agent really pushed me toward television. I never had the desire to do it. I thought that I was made for a career in movies. I wanted to hold myself to that and even had an arrogant attitude about it. Then Roswell happened and I suddenly was enticed. The scenario had something different and took an interesting form, and I said to myself, “That can make it.” Then, I passed all the auditions before the creators and producers, then before the network executives. I think they waited a week before telling me I had the role.

Is there a big difference between television and movies?

A huge one. At first, I found that nice because I had nine months to define my character. But in fact, it’s kind of difficult. You have the feeling you’re stagnating within the character. I think that the screenwriters care, but only after caring about storyline development. I was lucky to be able to play a character so different, who resembled me, but wasn’t me. This girl from somewhere else has been a surprising experience for me. First of all, because I’m not usually hired for this kind of serious character, everyone believes I’m there as decoration. I had auditioned for roles like that without landing them. For me, this was a chance to prove that I could do it, that I was capable of it. I am truly grateful for having had this opportunity. Nearly all the episodes follow a certain framework. I have to continually imagine new things and new ways for my character to approach the situation. That’s the most difficult part.

But it seems that you did have a certain creative freedom.

Yes, that’s the good thing about television. You create ties with people because you work with them every day. You can go into the offices of the writers or the producers and talk to them about our ideas. They may not use them, but they listen and are respectful. I respect them just as much. It is a true collaboration and it’s very satisfying from a creative point of view.

You’ve worked with several great actors, like Gérard Depardieu and Peter Fonda. What did you learn from them?

Gérard was marvellous. I remember him sitting me down and telling me, “Be an actress. Don’t be a star.” That had a lot of influence on me, being only 14 years old, that a big star like that would sit next to me and tell me that. That truly influenced my way of looking at my own creativity.

What goals do you hope to achieve in your career? What challenges are you going to take on?