This beautiful young French actress will certainly intrigue anybody who knows the unique films of Alejandro Jodorowsky, the master Chilean filmmaker who innovated the world cinema of the 70s with El Topo and The Holy Mountain. Yes, she carries the same last name. It's not a coincidence. Alma Jodorowsky is Alejandro's granddaughter, and a promising star with a career of her own. Until a couple of years ago, Jodorowsky was the best-kept secret in French cinema, briefly seen abroad thanks to a small part in Blue is the Warmest Color. She had her big break in the British independent film Kids in Love, where she plays an artist who leaves an indelible impression on a confused young man played by Will Poulter. The international release of Kids in Love was certainly helped by the big part Poulter had in The Revenant, which also featured a substantial small role for another Kids star, Cara Delevigne. Obviously now everybody in the film industry is checking Alma, who at 25 is also a musician and a sought-after model, a constant on magazine covers and a go-to name for Chanel and other designers. Kids in Love premieres in US cinemas and V.O.D on October 7th.

How did you get involved in Kids in Love?

_I received the script with a self tape request, I think they weren’t fully looking for a French girl at the beginning, but they couldn’t really find the girl, and so the Casting Director suggested that they should maybe contact me, so they did through my agent in a very simple way. And then I had a Skype with the director. It was nice. And then I went to London and met with the producers.

Were you looking for it, or it came from nowhere?

_It came from nowhere, because it was from my French agent, and it was unusual and I was glad.  I think it’s a beautiful work also because it makes you work with different kinds of people and different kinds of cultures and it’s really interesting as an actress, but also as a person and to be able to do that, I was very happy.

This was a very independent British production. In which ways was it different to what you were doing in France?

_It was different because it was a really short period of time when I shot it, just a bit more than a month. And so it was really quick, but at the same time, since it was a low budget movie, it was really nice because you knew the people who were committed to the project really liked it. And they were doing it because they were attracted to the project and that they thought it would be a fun adventure to do. So it was really wonderful because the energy was positive and I think it worked really great with the team and with the cast.

The story and the attraction between the characters seems very simple, but there is more to it. So can you explain why she is toying in a way with Jack, why is Evelyn acting the way she does in the film?

_I think she is pretending to be someone she is not. She built a character and I think she is not very confident, but she is always trying to pretend that she is, and when she meets Jack, something happens, because I think he can really see her for what she is and not for what the representation of what she shows other people. And I think that’s really disturbing for her, she gets lost and maybe she doesn’t have the bravery to say okay, I am just going to take this relationship, be more open and be myself and that’s why at the end maybe it doesn’t really work, because she doesn’t let him really help her with that. 

A scene from Kids In Love, with Alma Jodorowsky, Cara Delevingne, Will Poulter and Sebastian de Souza.

Londinium Films

Do you think they will meet again and we will have another movie in a few years?

_That would be nice.

Do you identify with Evelyn in any way?

_You always find things that you can connect with a character, but it was not really obvious because she doesn’t really know what she wants to do and she is very shy about her work. It’s not something that I could really connect with because I knew that I wanted to be an actress since I was very young, so I always try to forward and do things. And I think I felt more free about myself and what I wanted to do than her. But I can connect more with the love story at this point when you are getting out of the teenage years and you ask yourself a lot of questions about love and who you want to be with and I think for our generation, it’s a subject that is really only present because most of the people my age have divorced parents and so we have this image of love which is really different from what it used to be. And it’s something that I can connect with, the fact that it is difficult to make decisions about love sometimes. 

When you did this film, could you imagine that the careers of Will and Cara were going to start in a way that they started after that?

_I wasn’t really surprised, because they are both really talented and Will already had done quite a few movies that were very popular in the United Kingdom and he was in The Millers, which was an American comedy that had also had a lot of success. So it wasn’t surprised and I am so happy for them because they really deserve it. Will is really amazing in The Revenant.

Are you aware that in your own career it can work that way too? That one day you will make a movie that will change everything?

_I don’t really think about it like that because for me it was really step-by-step. The first time I was on a film set, it was for a French TV movie when I was 14. It was the first time I acted in a movie, so it was quite a long time ago, but at the same time it didn’t happen too quickly and it was more and more every year. I think for me it was good because it gave me time to work and take drama lessons while enjoying my teenage years and my life apart from the work. So I don’t think there is just one way to do a movie career and mine actually suits me.

Are you interested in coming to this side of the Atlantic to work?

_Yes, I would love to. It’s not my goal, but it would be amazing and I would love to work in a bunch of different countries actually because when I was filming Kids in Love, it was such an interesting experience to work in another language and with another kind of crew and also to live in another city because I had been to London before, but just for only days, but to live there for a month and a half and work there, I really felt like a real English girl. And it was really cool to also experience the city like that. It’s always really nice for your life and for the creativity to observe and to live in a different way and to see how people work and live in other countries is something that is also very helpful for the creativity.

With two parents who work in the theater, was there any other way for you to go instead of becoming an actress?

_I never really thought about doing anything else. It’s true that I grew up with my parents in the theater world and for me I was really amazed about it, and it was something that always fascinated me. To think that it was possible to make a living of Art and I think I am still grateful for that. I can’t really picture myself doing anything else. 

When people hear your name, they go Oh my God, she is Jodorowsky’s granddaughter, but how difficult is it for you to show that you are your own self?

_Well, I think what I do is more to not to try to show people that I am different or that I am also just me and stuff, but really to feel that way. I think the more I feel confident with myself and the person I am and not as a member of a family, the more people will see it also. So I think now I am more peaceful about that because I feel that I have grown up and felt more confident step-by-step and I prefer to just try to be myself and then it will be natural. 

How is your relationship to your grandfather’s films and his career?

_Well I am very admiring of his work and I think he is somebody who experienced a lot of forms of arts and it’s something that I also am interested in and trying to do because I also do music and I directed my music video and stuff. So it’s something that is also in the family and I think my dad wrote a book, so it’s something that I feel that we are all connected to. And yeah, it’s nice to have creative people in your family and I can’t really complain about it, it’s very inspiring.

Your grandfather was born in Chile and he worked a lot in Mexico, but he also sees himself as a French citizen. How did this background influence you? Do you feel any little bit of Chilean or Mexican in you, a connection with those countries?

_I would feel a more a connection with Mexico because my dad is Mexican and he was born there. He was born in Mexico City and he lived there until he was 17. I have never been to Chile, but I have been to Mexico with my dad. He introduced me to his old friends and he showed me the house where he was living as a kid, so it was really moving. I feel really attracted to this country more than Chile actually.

Did your father talk to you in Spanish when you were a kid?

_Not that much actually. I was a bit disappointed because I can’t really speak Spanish. I understand it really well and I can speak it when I am surrounded with Spanish people, but I am not completely fluent. But maybe one day I will. He used to sing a lot of Spanish songs to me and read children’s books and stuff like that. Also they were always speaking English on my father’s family side, so it’s a language that I know that is somewhere in me. But I think I would need to spend more time in a Spanish speaking country to really speak it fluently. But for example, I went to Cuba for two weeks and I really improved my Spanish, and I am sure if I stay for a longer time, I would be able to speak it better.

What places does music and modeling have in your life?

_Music has a very important place now for me because I have been doing music for five years now with my band. We are releasing our album in a month, so it has been an amazing experience and I am really impatient to release the album.  It’s something that is very important now.  I rehearse every week and I do Press about the album which is coming out, so that’s something that is keeping me busy. The modeling is something that is not really important for me because I never really did it that much actually. I never did any catwalks or things like that.  I like to collaborate with the brands I am working with and especially with Chanel and we do a lot of photo shoots and stuff like that together, but for me it’s more a way to talk about things that really matter for me, acting and music.