'Our Generation Can Take This': An Interview With Xavier Dolan, and the Actors of Laurence Anyways

Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan might seem combative about age, but what he is most interested in is the differences in generations. A former child actor who began life on set at age five, he's been equally revered and reviled for having his first three films debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival (the first being I Killed My Mother, in 2009, which he directed at the age of 19, followed by Heartbeats in 2010). His newest film, Laurence Anyways, also debuted at Cannes (in 2012), and is finally starting to play in theaters in the U.S. this week.

Being on set at such a young age got Dolan around adults much younger than most, and has perhaps enhanced his ability to write older characters with the nuance and observation of someone much older.

"Being on set as a kid and hearing about sex stories and hearing people swear ... it's a very specific atmosphere." Dolan laughed when I met with him for an interview during the AFI Film Festival, "When you're a kid and you're missing school to enter this world of adrenaline that's so peculiar it changes the way you see things forever. It helped me in studying and looking at adults and dig for psychological information."

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Brian Formo","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKDpb_HcuZi8dbP7SVjiMlw","cache_age":86400,"description":"An interview with Xavier Dolan about his film \"Laurence Anyways\"\nNovember 18, 2012 following the USA premiere at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles, California (for The Huffington Post -- read more of the interview, plus with actors Suzanne Clement and Melvil Poupaud here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-formo/our-generation-can-take-t_b_3515369.html)\nreleased in the USA, June 28, 2013 by Breaking Glass Pictures\n\n\nThanks to \nXavier Dolan\nSuzanne Clement\nMelvil Poupaud\nLaurent Boye\nLiz Tapp\nKathleen Miles\nJustin Cook","provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BAmK0pTqTJI/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Xavier Dolan Interview -- \"Laurence Anyways\"","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=BAmK0pTqTJI","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":true,"entryId":"5bb42ea2e4b066f8d255d5d1","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/our-generation-can-take-t_b_3515369","entryTagsList":"laurence-anyways,xavier-dolan,interview,transsexual,cannes-film-festival,entertainment","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://action.news/entertainment","subcategories":"entertainment","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":6},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5bb42ea2e4b066f8d255d5d1","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"laurence anyways","slug":"laurence-anyways","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/laurence-anyways","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/laurence-anyways","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/laurence-anyways"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/laurence-anyways"},{"name":"xavier dolan","slug":"xavier-dolan","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/xavier-dolan","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/xavier-dolan","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/xavier-dolan"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/xavier-dolan"},{"name":"interview","slug":"interview","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/interview","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/interview","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/interview"},"relegenceId":3592978,"url":"https://action.news/topic/interview"},{"name":"Transsexual","slug":"transsexual","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/transsexual","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/transsexual","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/transsexual"},"relegenceId":6446425,"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Queer Voices","slug":"queer-voices"},"topic":{"title":"LGBTQ Sexuality","slug":"lgbtq-sexuality","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/voices/topic/lgbtq-sexuality"},{"name":"cannes film festival","slug":"cannes-film-festival","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cannes-film-festival","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cannes-film-festival","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cannes-film-festival"},"relegenceId":3475629,"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Cannes Film Festival","slug":"cannes-film-festival","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/cannes-film-festival"},{"name":"entertainment","slug":"entertainment","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/entertainment","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/entertainment","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/entertainment"},"relegenceSubjectId":6325647,"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Celebrity","slug":"celebrity"},"topic":{"title":"Celebrities","slug":"celebrities","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/celebrities"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">