@zoeydeutch, Instagram
Nouvelle Vague (‘New Wave’), Richard Linklater’s new film starring Zoey Deutch in the role of French-American actress Jean Seberg is set to begin shooting in Paris this week. Described as a “love letter to Godard, Truffaut and company,” it will be the first film by Linklater shot entirely in the French language. It will portray the history of the New Wave movement in French cinema, with an emphasis on A Bout de Souffle (‘Breathless’), Jean-Luc Godard’s iconic film from 1960.
Besides Seberg, other characters portrayed in Nouvelle Vague will include Robert Bresson, Jean Cocteau, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, and Roberto Rosselini.
With her signature pixie haircut, Seberg became a widely acclaimed actress after her appearance in A Bout de Souffle. She was an American actress who was working in France in the 1950s and 1960s. It has been speculated that her 1979 suicide was provoked by FBI harassment because of her reputed association with the Black Panther Party and other radical groups.
The 29-year-old Zoey Deutch had earlier worked with Linklater in his 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!! She also appeared in the romcom Set It Up and in the Netflix comedy series, The Politician. Other of her film credits include The Year of Spectacular Men, a 2017 film directed by her mother, Lea Thompson, plus Buffaloed (2019) and Not Okay (2022). An activist for various causes, including pro-choice and movements to end sexual harassment, she’s been described as a symbol of a “new generation of actresses-activists.”
Linklater’s other film credits include Dazed and Confused, Waking Life, The School of Rock, Boyhood, the Before trilogy, and Apollo 10-1/2: A Space Age Childhood. His most recent television production was God Save Texas (2024), a documentary series that focused its lens on the state’s energy industry and its prison-industrial complex, among other topics. In June, Netflix will release his next film, Hit Man, starring Glenn Powell and Adria Arjona.
Deutch revealed her Seberg look on Instagram. Seberg was American, so Deutch’s casting makes perfect sense.