Elsa Zylberstein turns lockdown fibs into her first film
The French actor will direct and star in My Best Life, a comedy-drama born from her viral pandemic sketches, Variety reports.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Elsa Zylberstein is taking the leap behind the camera with My Best Life, a comedy-drama that grew out of the lockdown sketches she posted online during the pandemic, according to Variety.
The French actor will make her feature directing debut on the film, which is inspired by Mytho du soir, her social media series about a woman refusing to live by pandemic restrictions. In the sketches, Zylberstein’s character kept inventing a grander life for herself, from dinner parties and salon visits to a New York trip, mountain getaways and even an interview with Donald Trump.
Variety reports that My Best Life will not be a straight screen version of those sketches. Zylberstein and Michael Pierrard kept the idea of the fantasist at the center of the story, then built a new plot around her.
In the film, Zylberstein plays an actress whose career has fallen apart. After her mother has a stroke, she wakes believing her daughter has become a major international film star. The daughter keeps the fantasy alive, building a more complicated make-believe world for her mother and, as the story develops, for herself.
Zylberstein told Variety the film is about imagination and dreams, saying, “Imagination can save you.” She described the project as a comedy-drama led by feeling rather than broad industry parody, adding that she wants viewers to “laugh and cry.”
The actor also told Variety the movie is a mother-daughter story and said she has long been drawn to how people reshape reality. The film, she said, gently pokes fun at cinema while focusing on family and dreams that have been set aside.
Zylberstein cited Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy as an influence on the main character, pointing to its portrait of someone living on the edge and willing to go far. For tone, she mentioned films by David O. Russell and Paul Thomas Anderson, including Silver Linings Playbook and Licorice Pizza, Variety reports.
The idea for the movie came after Zylberstein saw how strongly people responded to Mytho du soir, according to Variety. The series ran to about 60 videos, each roughly a minute long, and the clips often averaged around 80,000 views on Instagram.
Zylberstein will co-direct with Pierrard, who also worked with her on Mytho du soir. Variety describes Pierrard as a longtime assistant director whose credits include work with Claude Lelouch, Leos Carax, Sofia Coppola and Pawel Pawlikowski.
Miou-Miou will play the mother opposite Zylberstein, while Mathieu Demy will appear as the heroine’s childhood best friend. Lucas Bravo is in talks to play a well-known actor dealing with burnout, according to Variety.
UGC is producing the film, with backing from Canal+ and France Télévisions. Variety reports that the production has a €3.6 million budget.
The crew includes production designer Jean Rabasse, costume designer Pascaline Chavanne, Oscar-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker and sound engineer Erwann Kerzanet.
Zylberstein told Variety she wants to draw on what she has learned from directors across her three-decade career. Her credits include the César-winning I’ve Loved You So Long, Olivier Dahan’s Simone: Woman of a Century, the 2025 French hit Cycle of Time and several films with Lelouch, including Un + une.
Variety also reports that Zylberstein is already writing a second feature and developing projects as a producer, including a film about Simone de Beauvoir and Nelson Algren, written by Christopher Hampton with Anne Fontaine attached to direct.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.