- Dominique Laffin, La femme qui pleure (US: The Crying Woman), France, 1978. Which came first, scenario or the reality… Yet another French film about the breakdown of a couple – being, of course, the auteur Jacques Doillon and his editor, Noëlle Boisson (parents of Lola, the 2006 director of Et toi, t’es sur qui?) Among his earliest casting work, Dominique Besnheard met all, the bright young things of the hour: Anicée Alvina (from Alain Robbe-Grillet’s erotics), ex-child star Brigitte Fossey (Les jeux interdits, 1951), Jacqueline Parent, and two opthers who later became directors: Garcia and Brigitte Röuan. Doillon played himself (obviously!) opposite the lovely Laffin… who died far too young, after 19 films, in 1985. Officially, a heart attack (at 33?), although her daughter, French Communist politician Clementine Autain, later confirmed it was suicide.
- Dominique Sanda, Le Voyage en douce, France, 1980. Garcia was seen for Geraldine Chaplin’s friend in what was, at times, almost a Monty Python parody of French film-making – where beaucoup nudity hardly compensated for beaucoup inarticulate blah-blah. Michel Deville directed. He’d made better. So did Garcia as a realisateur, herself.
- Dominique Sanda, L’Indiscretion, France, 1982. Lost again to Sanda. Then again, Garcia won. On the scale of 1 to 10, the film was minus-25. For her eighth outing as realisateur, Un beau dimanche, 2013, Garcia chose Sanda as the mother of Pierre Rochefort. And he is Garcia’s son, didn’t she want the role ? “Oh no, she is magnifique in the part with her vulerability and brutality.”
- Fiona Gelin, Parole de flic, France, 1985. Alain Delon heroes need bimbos. Not actresses. Another daughter of French star Daniel Gélin, Fiona is the step-sister of Maria Schneider.
- Robin Wright, Adore, France-Australia, 2012. Always up to date with the latest books, plays, ideas, etc, it was Jeanne Moreu who told Dominique Besnehard – now a producteur – about the Doris Lessing book, The Grandmothers. He immediately thought of (who else ?) Nathalie Baye opposite, say, Ardant or Nicole Garcia – with old pals Jacques Doillon or François Ozon directing. Instead, it became the first English language film helmed by the former actress Anne Fontaine (put up by Besnahard in his casting icon days, for Isabelle Adjani’s role in L’Eté meurtrier, 1982). Her husband, Philippe Carcassonne, produced with Besnahard’s Mon Voisin Productions among the five co-producing entities. (In his autobiography, adore appears to be Besnehard’s favourite word).
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 5