Lambert Wilson can make disappointment funny with a low growl. We value that dry humour, though the sophisticated authority figures he is often asked to play have not always given him a character worth our attention.
Fi1m perspective
In Ernest & Celestine (2012), Lambert Wilson gives a hungry bear the voice of someone who has been let down too often. His Ernest has a low, put-upon growl and expects little good from the mouse he finds in a bin. We laughed at that weary voice because it makes being talked out of eating someone sound like another tiresome imposition. Pauline Brunner's quick, unafraid Célestine gives him someone who will not accept his view of things. The pleasure is in hearing his grumbling meet her determination.
Wilson's French ensemble work with Alain Resnais includes Same Old Song (1997), part of a collaboration that helped restore his standing in French cinema. The Merovingian in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) then brought wider international recognition. Hollywood has often confined him to French-accented villains and upper-class men, making sophistication a job requirement. Brother Christian in Of Gods and Men (2010) is a reminder that his dramatic work extends well beyond those parts. Those different strands make more sense of his career than treating the Hollywood parts as the main event.
Catwoman (2004) makes the limits of that casting clear. Wilson plays George Hedare in a cosmetics-business plot that gives him too little convincing motive, and the character stays difficult to care about. The screenplay credited to John Rogers keeps the plot moving through behaviour that feels arranged for its convenience. Sharon Stone's Laurel Hedare fits the exaggerated tone more comfortably. Wilson does not make George compelling, but the failure is not his alone.
Ernest & Celestine gives him better support without making a fuss about it. Editor Fabienne Alvarez-Giro keeps the break-ins short and brisk, while composer Vincent Courtois uses small-scale acoustic music that leaves the jokes alone. Wilson has room to let the bear sound put upon, with Brunner supplying the quick replies. The film is slight, and we would not pretend the performance makes it weightier than it wants to be. Start there if the grander villains have left you wondering what else he can do.
Biography
Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He was born on 3 August 1958 in Neuilly-sur-Seine and is the son of actor and director Georges Wilson. He studied acting at the Drama Centre in London and has worked in both French and English-language productions.
Wilson is known internationally for playing the Merovingian in The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). His other credits include Catwoman (2004) as George Hedare, Sahara (2005) and Timeline (2003). He has received seven César Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
