Charlotte Gainsbourg: since she was a child, this French actress-singer has made a habit of popping onto the cultural radar in provocative contexts, alongside her famous father, Serge. Now she's the love interest in this season's smartest film, Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep. Can't wait to see what happens next

Charlotte Gainsbourg has been in the spotlight for most of her life. The daughter of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and English actress Jane Birkin, she made her film debut at the age of 12, opposite Catherine Deneuve. Not long after, she recorded a headline-making song, "Lemon Incest," with her father, and was directed by him in another provocative project, Charlotte for Ever (1986). Since then, she has worked for many of the world's leading filmmakers.

In Michel Gondry's romantic fantasy, The Science of Sleep, Gainsbourg plays Stephanie, a girl who becomes intensely involved with her Parisian neighbor, Stephane, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. The actress also recently shot her scenes in Todd Haynes's Bob Dylan project, I'm Not There.

BRENDAN LEMON: The Science of Sleep is not a straightforward, linear story. What kind of challenge does that present to you as an actor?

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG: I didn't think about the challenge when I was doing the film. I just love Gondry's spirit. Making the movie was like being a child again and playing. A child has to pretend things. I know we always do this as actors, but this was more a childish game with deep feelings.

BL: Your character's relationship with the one played by Gael Garcia Bernal is almost an amour fou. It's very charged.

CG: Yes, it's really tortured. The story was very autobiographical on Gondry's part. So I was conscious that I was putting my finger onto his own feelings. The woman that I played does exist, so I know that he had references to a character he knew. Which made it more difficult, because I didn't know the person and I didn't want to disappoint Gondry.

BL: Anyone familiar with Gondry's music videos will be able to make at least some rough connections to the movie. Were you familiar with those videos?

CG: Just before the shoot I was able to buy the big DVD with all his collection of videos. And when we talked, he often made references to things he already did.

BL: Did the poetry of the film surprise you?

CG: It was a whole surprise. His way of shooting is about creating such poetry with nothing--using just cardboard boxes, for example. It's so unpretentious and funny.

BL: You recently did a comedy called Pretemoi ta main. What was that like?

CG: It was a very funny film to make. I haven't done a lot of comedies. Gondry's film could be considered a comedy, but this one was meant to be funny.

BL: You have a CD, 5.55 [Because/Atlantic/ Warner], that just came out in Europe and will be out in the United States early next year. Tell us a little bit about the evolution of that project.

CG: Well, I worked with the group Air--Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel--on the music. We worked with the producer Nigel Godrich, and a lot of the songs are written by Jarvis Cocker, and some of them by Neil Hannon from Divine Comedy. We worked for a year, on and off, because I had films I wanted to make. It was a year of preparation for me, in my mind, just to go through the whole idea of making another record. Because I had made a record when I was really young. So it was nearly 20 years later, going back to music. It was a big step for me, but it took me a long time before I was certain of what I wanted to do.

BL: Had you kept a personal connection to making music?

CG: I hadn't really. When I was very young I did it with my father. When he died, there was no reason to continue with music. I had to take a lot of time before I even felt like it was legitimate to do something else in music without him.

BL: Your father is an especially iconic figure in French popular music. Did you think of him much while you were making the new CD?

CG: He's very present in my mind even if I'm not doing music.

BL: Was the kind of music on this album close to the kind of music that you, as a listener, would gravitate toward?

CG: Yeah. But it's true that I did ask myself, before meeting Air, who I would like to work with. Because I'm not a musician. In the end, it wasn't only the fact that I loved their music; it was also the fact that I could imagine my voice on top of their sound.

BL: What about their sound made you able to imagine your voice on it?

CG: It's something a bit dreamy.

BL: The Science of Sleep is dreamy, too. You're in the dream period of your career.

CG: It's true!

Brendan Lemon is a New York-based freelance writer and editor.

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