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Tom Mercier | SYNONYMS

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Courtesy ![Courtesy](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472ba8f29ed4fd156b12f4c_image-asset.jpeg) Courtesy Tom Mercier makes his acting debut as the charismatically chaotic “Yaov” in Nadav Lapid’s Golden Bear winning film, Synonyms. Following the story of Mercier’s character who left the dark socio-political climate of Israel with hopes of finding beauty in France, the film develops as an almost arbitrary response to the jarring turns, flips, and halts Yaov makes as he explores the ends of his own sanity and curiosity in a new city. As the film approaches its debut, and Tom Mercier gears up for upcoming HBO features among other projects, we got to chat with the newly established actor to discuss how he tapped in to his character’s chaos, freshman nerves, and what we can expect to come in the near future.  **Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is your first big screen debut, right?**  Yes, Exactly  **Did you feel any extra pressure because of that? I guess I really want to know what it took to prepare for such a big role.**  I think from the beginning it came from curiosity. I was very curious about working on this particular text. The one tip from the director was to learn french so in a way, I loved working with the script but at the same time I loved discovering a new language. So for me, I worked for one year learning a new language and it was fascinating.  **So it took a lot of preparation because of a language gap?**  Yes but it didn't feel like I was putting in a lot of hours in a way because I enjoyed playing with those words. I put a lot of time and work into maybe having a teacher for French, but some time was also spent watching movies. So for me it was a sort of a very large work from all sides. Cinema or the language. So yeah, I did have a lot of hours where i was working but it never felt like I was ‘working”  **I’ve noticed a recurring word among a lot of critics, they call the film “unpredictable”, what’s would you say contributes to that theme?**  I think that you can’t expect what’s coming. Sometimes, maybe when I would act I couldn't predict what i would do in a way, or how i would react to people, or to the environment around me. So in a way it was also very unpredictable for me as an actor.  **So like learning as you go..**  Yeah, because in a way it was also my first experience in cinema.  **Were there ever any other professional routes you pursued before acting or has it always been your practice?**  I also wanted to go for theatre and I love dancing and so I never thought I would go to acting or work in the cinema. It was very surprising to me, the director chose me to work on that project and I was very fascinated by the director and his script.  **What was it like working with the director and getting to know him through your character?**  He always told me he never wanted me to act or behave like him, or his gestures. He gave me the key to his garden and I just needed to get in to extract what I needed. I think from the first moment that we started to work together, he gave me a dictionary. I started to work with the dictionary and id look for words and for synonyms; and he told me to explore that, and also explore the way of discovering language. He never gave me borders to work but he was very precise when he wanted something in regards to the camera. He wanted the actor to be in a way unaware of the camera, like when I cross the camera sometimes I can push the camera. He wanted it so that even if there were times when the photographer was scared of me, i would not be scared of the camera. He wanted me not to respect the camera, not to give a shit about the camera, shake the camera, break the camera.  **So it really required you to embody that reality as a whole**  Yeah because every story was very real so he knew exactly what he wanted to do in those moments. I would just look at him and see the expression on his face and eyes and just listen to him in a way. And when I listened he offered me total liberty to tell his story.  **I can only imagine how personal of a connection that must have been, did it ever make you uncomfortable?**  Yes, yeah. There were moments where you're not finding yourself because you're starting to mix yourself with another story and the story becomes the reality and everything is mixed together. But this is the beauty of cinema, you never know if its a dream or a reality sometimes.  **If you had to describe your character in two words, what would they be?**  No Fear. (laughs)  **Why No Fear?**  Because for me the most difficult thing in life is to live without fear and I think through this character I learn not to be intimidated by anything. Im accepting the fear, and I'm letting him come into my mind, into my bones, its becoming one platform.