Gainsbourg: 'I didn't think of Antichrist'

Charlotte Gainsbourg has claimed that she did not think about the similarities between Antichrist and The Tree when she first read the script for the latter.

In Lars Von Trier's Antichrist, Gainsbourg plays a mother whose child dies in an accident. In Julie Bertucelli's new film, the actress's character Dawn experiences the death of her husband.

Gainsbourg told the Cannes press conference for The Tree: "I feel a little ashamed in fact. It's crazy to say this, but I'd already made Lars's film and when I read Julie's script I didn't think of Lars's film at all.

"Here obviously, once again I'm in mourning - you see me mourning - with nature, which is very, very present in the film, but which is dealt with in such a different way. But that's the end of the comparison."

On choosing a follow-up to Von Trier's controversial movie, she added: "I read the script and I was enchanted immediately, without thinking about what I'd just been doing and thinking of a follow-up.

"I wasn't looking for a logical choice, it was just coincidence - chance. I was convinced as soon as I read it that this was the right choice."

> Click here for our review of 'The Tree'