The actor shows his range as a conductor, pianist, singer, and pupetteer in Leox Carax's musical drama&nbsp;Annette.

&ldquo;It was one of the greatest thrills of my life getting to work with Leos and do the impossible,&rdquo; Simon Helberg says.&nbsp;
When pursuing the role of The Conductor in Leos Carax&rsquo;s Cannes opener <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/movie-annette-adam-driver-marion-cotillard-cannes-film-festival" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annette</a>, out now on Amazon Prime Video,&nbsp;Helberg had just one of the three requirements to land the part. In addition to his already-honed piano playing skills, the Big Bang Theory actor would need to learn how to conduct an orchestra. On top of that? Become a European citizen.&nbsp;
Navigating bureaucracy and finding tiny loopholes that allowed him to gain French citizenship, Helberg managed to make the seemingly impossible possible, motivated by his self-described obsession with the opportunity to work with Carax and Sparks&rsquo; Ron and Russell Mael, who wrote the music and lyrics for the movie musical. (The requirement that Helberg be European on paper concerned a hiring quota that would grant EU funding.) Once he secured the role, he tackled the next obstacle&mdash;learning how to conduct an orchestra.

Annette - Official Trailer | Prime Video

Training with Miah Im, the assistant conductor of the LA Opera, Helberg further stretched his musical muscles. He also plays the piano and sings in the film, as he evolves from being the accompanist to <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/marion-cotillard-rare-facts-chanel-la-vie-en-rose" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marion Cotillard&rsquo;s</a> opera singer to the conductor of a 60-person orchestra and mentor to Annette, the young daughter of Cotillard and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/adam-driver-new-face-burberry-hero-men-fragrance-ad-centaur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Driver&rsquo;s</a> characters.&nbsp;
The experimental and, at times, surreal direction of Carax&rsquo;s film sees Helberg become entangled in an impassioned love story that turns toxic. Filled with surprising elements&mdash;from Annette being embodied by a puppet to plot twists that complicate the audience&rsquo;s relationship to the characters&mdash;&ldquo;It feels like a complete experience,&rdquo; according to Helberg.
Here, the actor speaks with L&rsquo;OFFICIEL about stepping into the musical role and doing the impossible.&nbsp;

L'OFFICIEL: Annette opened <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/best-red-carpet-looks-2021-cannes-film-festival" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cannes Film Festival</a> last month, the first one since 2019 due to the pandemic. What was that experience like?
SIMON HELBERG: There was a symbolism to the whole thing, the reopening of cinema after the pandemic. There's a chaos to Cannes that is probably inherent, but it felt particularly like a series of disarray, like a frenzy. I'm sure it's always there, but the COVID element presented some levels of strangeness, just because I hadn't been out of the house in a year and a half. It was like all of a sudden you're on the red carpet in the South of France&ndash;it was a culture shock. But with the enthusiasm to be there, and having gone from trying to become a French citizen and hustling, to the making of the film through the pandemic, and then ending up at the top of the stairs at the Palais [de Festivals]. It really did hit you in all the ways that you might think. It was an emotional moment for sure.
 L'O:&nbsp;The movie has a surreal quality to it&mdash;was that something that you were able to tap into when filming or was that impression surprising for you, too?
SH:&nbsp;I had a pretty clear idea&mdash;based on Leos, his other films and the music of Sparks. I definitely had a tonal sense, although I would say that those guys&mdash;their films and their music&mdash;defy being categorized or labeled with any genre. Getting to the set and meeting the puppet and talking to Leos, you could just viscerally feel what was happening there. There was an absurdity that I always read into a lot of the movie, but there was always the underpinning of truth and tragedy&mdash;and moments of comedy. It certainly had a heightened operatic quality to it.&nbsp;
I will say that from what we were shooting to what you see on the screen&mdash;from the page to the screen&mdash;it&rsquo;s virtually identical. When I saw the art direction and what Caroline [Champetier], the cinematographer, was doing, and when I heard the songs that Sparks wrote and saw Adam [Driver], I knew exactly what movie we were making. I was so excited for the world to get a chance to see it, because it's rare to get a film that comes out these days that is so purely from the mind of one person, or in this case, three: Sparks and Leos. This is not focus grouped or diluted in any way, and it can be demanding in some ways on the audience. I find that to be really inspiring nowadays.

L'O: Do you think audiences are hungry for movies and shows that are a bit escapist?
SH: Probably. All I want to do is watch something that makes me feel nice&ndash;which I don't think this quite does. [Laughs] I don't think this is like Ted Lasso for people. It is escapist, but at the same time, it feels very much relevant. That word is probably overused, but when something is so purely a part of someone's vision and so honest, and it's coming from such a place of heart and soul, I think people do tend to connect more to those things. Or they tend to say, God, this feels like it's touching on themes that are happening all around us. This movie does that. There's no real theme that I think it leaves out. I do hope people get an opportunity to see it on the big screen at some point because it was made for that venue. People like Leos, who make a movie every seven years, they make it to be seen in a theater with people and with that sound and to see the image. It's just so gorgeous.&nbsp;

If I had to choose, I would rather be asked to do the impossible.

L'O: The Conductor becomes a father-like figure to Annette&mdash;how did your own experience as a dad inform your role?
SH: That's really amazing, because I feel that the resounding theme&mdash;while I think there are many&mdash;[is] fatherhood. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but it touches on the length that I would go to, and I think most parents would go to to protect their child. Then there's this corruption of that purity and that integrity you see these characters struggle with. The conflict of trying to protect this kid versus trying to benefit from them.
 L'O: Did the fact that Annette is played by a puppet affect your approach to that dynamic?
SH: In many ways, I found it to be no different. If you've worked with child actors, you might prefer working with a puppet or la poup&eacute;e, as the French say. But it actually never felt cheap. [Laughs] I mean, I think I just cheapened it by making that joke, but it felt like there was a gravity to it.&nbsp;
The puppeteers, Romuald [Collinet] and Estelle [Charlier] are their names, are so skilled and they've worked for so long developing this particular character. Then, a lot of the times in the scenes we [the actors] had to operate the puppet. They would have to hand her off to us. So there was an interesting parallel that lent itself to the scene between what it would be to have to care for a child versus having to, in many ways on camera, give life to this creature&mdash;this inanimate object. Or the kind of the love and the passion that went into [Romuald and Estelle] creating this puppet and then handing her off to these actors who don't have any ability in puppeteering. There was something very delicate and tender about it that, for me, allowed a much greater connection, and I felt like I needed to do justice to these two people who had created her.

L'O: Music is a big part of this movie&mdash;what role does it have in your own life?
SH:&nbsp;I was obsessed with playing music and being a musician really from the time I was probably 10. I guess I always had something that I was hyper-focused on. Before that, it was martial arts, and then after music, it was acting. Now I'm still on the acting train and I play music for fun. It plays a large role in the sense that it's always something that I'm continuing to try to explore, like listening and also playing. At this stage, I find it to be a great escape to be able to sit down at the piano. It's a little more rare once you have children to actually have that moment. I try to keep sitting down at that piano.
L'O:&nbsp;What was it like conducting an orchestra for the first time?
SH: There was some conductor that called them &ldquo;the 60 headed monster&rdquo; or something like that. It's like playing an instrument, but your instrument is 60 people with their own instruments. I got a chance to do it on day one and I didn't even expect to get to conduct in [rehearsal]. When I got there&mdash;we were in Li&egrave;ge, Belgium the first day of shooting&mdash;I got to conduct this orchestra and it was a really magical experience. It was like surfing&mdash;which I've never done, but I hear it's really wonderful. It was like riding this wave and you have all this power in your little hand. It could go to your head, all that power. There were these moments where they were slowing down and I thought, Why are they slowing down? And then I looked at my hand, which was like, limply trudging along. And I said, Oh, well, it's me&mdash;I'm responsible for this. And it was all live. The orchestras were playing, the singing was live, and a lot of it's done in one shot. It's a pretty impressive feat that Leos managed to pull off.

L'O: You have a couple other movies in the works as well.
SH: I got to make these wonderful movies; Space Oddity, directed by Kyra Sedgwick and with her husband Kevin [Bacon]; and As Sick As They Made Us, with Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen. It was nice to walk into something where I wasn't going to be throttled by Adam Driver or try to figure out how to sing underwater or maneuver a puppet while playing the piano with no hands. It was a little less demanding, but I have to say, if I had to choose, I would rather be asked to do the impossible. And that's what Leos did and everyday was thrilling cause you thought, How is this going to actually work? That breeds creativity when you have to figure out how to tackle these challenges.

Simon Helberg Expands His Musical Talents in 'Annette'

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