Charlotte Rampling delved into the works of women crime novelists as part of her research for her latest film The Swimming Pool.
The British actress plays a prim English writer of detective novels who becomes involved in a real life crime while on holiday at a friend’s house in France.
“This character is very different from me,” she said in an interview.
“The Englishwomen who write detective novels live in a very particular world. I read up a lot on them and read certain authors: Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell.
"They’re truly very singular personalities, a little bit disdainful and ill-humoured and fond of alcohol. They determinedly seek out their solitude and lock themselves away in an uncomfortable world of silence.”
She co-stars with Charles Dance and the French actress Ludivine Sagnier in the mystery, directed by French filmmaker Francois Ozon.