Born to a French father and Russian mother, Cecile Plaige
grew up in Paris. after pursuing competitive figureskating
in Moscow as a teenager, she made an acting
career as a “foreigner” in Russian cinema. Her current project
is “Cecile in Wonderland,” a documentary television series that
presents the people of “deep Russia” through the eyes of a foreigner.
My father was really, really into Russia, he had a phase
when he was young. He found a year study [abroad program]
in Moscow, and he met my mother, fell in love, and
the rest was history.
I moved to Moscow to pursue my ice-skating career. I
began to ice skate when I was 11, and things went well. My
mother proposed that I go to Moscow to train. When my
father began to work with the European Council of Something-ish,
and to work with the former USSR countries, we
thought, why not just move?
I’m not a competitive person at all. I like ice skating, but I
didn’t like the competition. I love people watching me, and
that’s all. So I told my parents: “I want to try acting.”
I like to be funny. It’s my thing. One of my favorites is
comedy. When I moved to Moscow and went to GITIS [the
Russian University of Theater Arts], I had a language barrier.
Being funny was a step-by-step goal for me. I love to
make people laugh. I wanted to show people that I can be
funny. For me it’s a full-time job, exploring humor. For me
it’s a joy.
Do I consider myself French or Russian? That’s the major
question of my life. I consider myself both. Depending
on the situation I see my Russian side coming out, and then
my French side. When I’m in Moscow I miss Paris; when I’m
in Paris, I miss Russia.
People say that I have an accent, but it’s not an accent.
In Russian, it’s a “melodiya rechi,” the melody that’s in the
phrase, the intonation. Which I don’t mind.
I don’t call myself a DJ, I call myself a selector, because
I just select music that I like. I do it for [bars and restaurants]
LaBoule, Café Tazhin, Noor Bar, 3205. I’ve done a lot
of events, private events, but these four places are my “carte
generale,” my base.