Delpy’s problem parents

Julie Delpy has some very unusual parents, said Emma Brockes in The Guardian (U.K.). In her childhood, the actress’s mom and dad were leading members of the French experimental theater scene, and frequently embarrassed Delpy with their shocking productions. In one memorable performance, her father appeared in drag and pretended to change a—Delpy fishes for the right term—“feminine hygiene product. Yeah. Crazy stuff.” Unsurprisingly, her parents’ plays never made much money. Delpy, 42, thinks she was 8 years old before the family could afford a home with a bathroom. “I didn’t suffer from it,” she says. “I knew we were eating a lot of pasta, but that’s okay. Healthier than steak every day.” Her father, Albert, is still a rebel. Whenever he flies to the U.S. to visit his daughter, he stuffs his suitcase with French cheese and sausage in defiance of customs rules. “He’s never been caught, but when he comes, I tell him, please don’t bring anything. I have to tell him 100 times.” Delpy recently directed her truculent dad in a movie. “He’s an actor, but I’m his daughter, so when I give him directions, he doesn’t always want to follow them. He’s like, ‘F--- you,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay.’”

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