France’s Elsa Zylberstein Draws on Viral Lockdown Sketches for Directorial Debut ‘My Best Life’ (EXCLUSIVE) 2 hours ago World Cup Final Ratings Skyrocket Across Europe, Despite England and France Losses 1 day ago Bong Joon Ho’s First Animated Feature ‘Ally,’ With a Voice Cast Including Bradley Cooper and Ayo Edebiri, Sell Globally for Pathé (EXCLUSIVE) 1 day ago Elsa Zylberstein , one of France’s most popular actors, is set to make her directorial debut with “My Best Life.” The film is a comedy-drama inspired by “Mytho du soir,” the viral series of sketches she posted on social media while on lockdown during the pandemic. Rather than doing a straight adaptation of “Mytho du soir” – in which she played a compulsive fantasist living as though there were no restrictions – organizing dinner parties, going to the hairdresser, flying to New York, heading to the mountains and even interviewing Donald Trump — Zylberstein kept only the central character and co-wrote with Michael Pierrard an entirely new story for “My Best Life.” Related Stories Chloe Fineman Says 'SNL' Boss Lorne Michaels Was at World Cup Match When She Called to Say She Was Leaving the Show Angelina Jolie-Directed 'Without Blood,' Starring Salma Hayek Pinault, Sets September Release Date (EXCLUSIVE) In the film, Zylberstein will play a failed actress whose mother suffers a stroke and wakes up believing her daughter has become an international movie star. Rather than shattering the illusion, the heroine invents an increasingly elaborate fictional life to protect her mother — and, ultimately, herself.
Popular on Variety “The film is really about the power of imagination,” Zylberstein said. “The message is simple: believe in your dreams. Imagination can save you.” Zylberstein described the project as a comedy-drama rooted in emotion rather than broad satire, saying she wants audiences to “laugh and cry.” While the film gently pokes fun at the movie business, she said it is ultimately about family and abandoned dreams.
“It’s also a mother-daughter story,” she said. “I’ve always been fascinated by the way people arrange reality. Everyone reinvents the truth a little bit.” Speaking of influences for the story and her onscreen character, Zylberstein mentioned Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy” for its portrayal of someone “who’s constantly on the edge and ready to do anything.” For the tone, she said she was inspired by movies by David O.
Russell and Paul Thomas Anderson, such as “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Licorice Pizza,” respectively. “I love stories that are funny and deeply moving at the same time,” she said. While the movie is different from “Mytho du soir,” Zylberstein said she idea for “My Best Life” came after she noticed how “obsessed” people were with the sketches “because they offered an escape.” The roughly 60 videos – lasting about one minute each — would often get an average of 80K views on Instagram.
Zylberstein co-wrote and will co-direct the film with Pierrard, a longtime assistant director who made “Mytho du soir” with her and has worked alongside filmmakers including Claude Lelouch , Leos Carax, Sofia Coppola and Pawel Pawlikowski. She stars in the film opposite beloved French actor Miou-Miou who plays her mother, alongside Mathieu Demy who plays her childhood best friend. Lucas Bravo is also in talks to play a famous actor suffering from burnout.
The film is produced by UGC, the French studio which runs a leading multiplex chain, welcomed last year Canal+ Group as its shareholder and is behind some of the country’s biggest comedy hits. “My Best Life” has secured backing from Canal+ and France Télévisions and is being made on a €3.6 million budget. Despite its compact budget, Zylberstein has assembled an all-star key crew, including production designer Jean Rabasse (“Jackie”), costume designer Pascaline Chavanne (“Nouvelle Vague”), Oscar-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Gravity”) and sound engineer Erwann Kerzanet (“Annette”).
“I’ve learned so much from all the great directors I’ve worked with. Now I want to take everything they taught me and put it into practice,” said Zylberstein, whose career spans more than three decades across auteur cinema and mainstream hits. She won a Cesar Award for “I’ve Loved You So Long” in which she starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas, and most recently delivered a critically acclaimed performance in Olivier Dahan’s “Simone: Woman of a Century” in which she plays Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became a feminist icon and human rights activist.
The movie became one of the highest-grossing French films of 2022. Last year, she starred in “Cycle of time” (“C’était mieux demain”), a time-travel comedy directed by Vinciane Millereau which turned out to be one France’s biggest local hits of 2025 nearing one million admissions. She also starred in several films directed by Claude Lelouch, notably “Un + une” with Jean Dujardin.
While she is already writing a second feature, Zylberstein is also developing several projects as a producer. Having launched production vehicles in France and the U.S., Zylberstein is working on a film about the passionate romance between French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir (who she will play) and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. Spanning nearly two decades from 1947 to 1964, the movie is being written by Oscar-winning writer Christopher Hampton and has Anne Fontaine attached to direct.
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