In his new film, “Young and Beautiful” (opening April 25 in New York), François Ozon introduces his star, the newcomer Marine Vacth, with a tableau that’s typical of the French auteur: she appears lying naked on a beach in the South of France, seen through the lenses of a pair of binoculars. The voyeuristic shot establishes her character, the affluent high school student Isabelle, as an unknowable object of desire whose motives remain inscrutable even when she starts working nights as a high-class prostitute in Paris hotels (a plot device reminiscent of “Belle de Jour”). The role’s abundant nudity and questionable morality is certain to rocket Vacth into the consciousness of American art-house audiences.  “She’s a teenager searching for something and realizing she has power through men’s desire for her,” says Vacth, 23 in real life, about Isabelle. She’s on the phone from Paris, where she lives with her boyfriend, the photographer Paul Schmidt, and their newborn son Henri. “I had empathy for her. She’s a teenager discovering something, just like teenagers experimenting with drugs, even if she doesn’t know what she’s looking for.” Having modeled since she was 15 (she has worked with Louis Vuitton and See by Chloé, and succeeded Kate Moss as the face of the Yves Saint Laurent fragrance Parisienne), she was comfortable using her beauty to tell the story. “In both modeling and film, you’re there for the pleasure of the viewer,” she says.  After “Young and Beautiful,” there will be no shortage of film work for Vacth, including the family drama “Belles Familles,” which she’ll begin shooting this summer. But for the moment, she is preoccupied with the first weeks of motherhood. (She politely postponed this interview so she could breast-feed Henri.) “No friends my age have children yet,” she says. “But I don’t feel strange having a baby so young. It just worked out this way and we’re all very happy.” Motherhood suits her personal style, which is pared-back in a way that’s typical of chic young Parisian women. “I like certain designers like Rick Owens,” she says, “but most days I’m wearing Clarks shoes and Levi’s 501’s. Nobody told me I was beautiful growing up. That came later after I was discovered and started working in the fashion industry. I’ve been financially independent from a young age and got to travel a lot.” That unexpected early-career success has also allowed her other kinds of independence. “I’m conscious of my looks,” Vacth adds. “But I’m not thinking about them on a daily basis.”
The French actress, a successful model in her native country, reflects on her provocative performance and becoming a mother.