Woody Allen wants to direct Carla Bruni

In Paris to promote his latest film, Whatever Works, Woody Allen told RTL radio that he would like to direct Carla Bruni, the wife of the French president, because she has the charisma for the big screen.

"I'm sure she would be wonderful," he said this week. "She has charisma, and she performs, so she's not a stranger to an audience."

Bruni, 41, was a supermodel-turned-pop-singer before marrying President Nicolas Sarkozy last year.

Allen plans to shoot a film in Paris next summer, but he did not say whether he will ask Bruni to star in that project.

"There are a lot of ways I could use her, though I don't have a story for her at the moment," the 73-year-old writer and director said. "But I'll certainly talk to her and see if she's interested."

Allen is expected to visit the Elyse presidential palace to meet with Sarkozy and his wife during his stay in Paris.

Bruni has appeared in a number of films and television series, including a cameo in Robert Altman's 1994 Prt--Porter, but always playing herself.

After marrying Sarkozy, she pledged to stop singing live.

But Sarkozy has agreed to her performing a duet with former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart in a July 18 concert in New York's Madison Square Garden to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday.