Dinner with Patrick in a little Russian restaurant on the left bank that has 65 different kinds of vodka. Patrick and the owner got into a long conversation which, thanks to some miracle wreaked by the vodka, I was actually able to follow. Arthur H. comes there a lot.
“OK,” Patrick said. “You want me to tell you your life story? I’m drunk enough for it.”
“You’re never going to be really happy,” he said. “You’ll become a director and a producer and all the things you want to be, but you won’t be a star. You’ll never be a guy like Coppola who takes the spotlight, who climbs the steps of Cannes with a crowd watching him and says ‘This is me, I did this. I’m a genius.’ You’ll be the guy in the shadows. The people who know you and work with you will respect you, but it won’t make you happy, because what you really want is to beat this shyness that’s in you. You want to be the cool guy, the hot dude who has the spotlight and who everybody gathers around. But this shyness you have will prevent you. Every time you have a chance to be the center of attention, you’ll deflect it. You’ll say ‘Oh, this wasn’t really my success, I’m just a little guy.’”
We got back to 8 rue Boutarel at two in the morning. Sandrine was waiting. She jumped into Patrick’s arms like a cat.
Blog
So…was he right about the shyness?