NEVER SHOW YOUR MOM a picture of your nude boyfriend with balloons tied to his man-part. That's one of many lessons to glean from "2 Days in Paris," Julie Delpy's saga (opening Friday) of a woman introducing her American boyfriend to her French folks. Delpy denies basing the heroine on herself but admits to snapping a shot like the one in her flick.

» EXPRESS: So, like your character, you live both in Paris and in the U.S. How is the lifestyle different?
» DELPY: When I'm in L.A., I have a house. In Paris, I have a little apartment, because buying a house is so expensive. I have a much more simple life in France, because it's hard to afford anything. In L.A., my place is very modern. The house isn't. It's falling apart. But the furniture is Eames reproductions and Danish modern.

» EXPRESS: When you're in France with your family, do you really eat rabbit?
» DELPY: I thought about the rabbit, and it seems like such a stereotype that the American wouldn't want to eat it. But my father does cook rabbit often, at least once every two weeks. We're bunny eaters. I love little rabbits, but I eat them. I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian. But I'm not.

» EXPRESS: Are you much of a chef?
» DELPY: I'm an extremely good cook. I make a lot of exotic foods, like curries, but from Madagascar, couscous with vegetables, stuffed vegetables and stuffed cabbage, which could be French or German. I know it sounds bad, but I stuff them with meat.

» EXPRESS: What is a Madagascar curry?
» DELPY: It has tomato and you eat it with bananas. It's a mix between African and Indian food. It's lighter than other curries.

» EXPRESS: Do you agree that French women don't get fat?
» DELPY: They don't get fat because they chain-smoke. I really easily gain weight.

» EXPRESS: What's your personal style?
» DELPY: Doggy-style. [Laughing.] I love vintage stuff. For the party scene in the film, I got this dress from the '80s. It's flashy red and blue. I love to mishmash colors and styles and mix a really expensive piece — which someone has lent me because I couldn't afford it — with cheap flea-market stuff. I don't like all perfectly head-to-toe designer. I like to mess it up.

» EXPRESS: How do you make that work?
» DELPY: I don't. If I end up in some worst-dressed list, I don't care so much. I'm not very vain. I love clothing, though. I get so excited when there's a sale that my boyfriend can't come near me.

» EXPRESS: Do you have a favorite scene?
» DELPY: Moments with my parents [who play my parents in the movie] — I think they're cute. The best one is my dad, my mom and me arguing about whether my cat is too fat.

» EXPRESS: Is that really your cat, too?
» DELPY: We tried to rent a cat, but they're hard to train. And my cat, Max, is so easy, because he travels with me everywhere. He even has favorite hotels — he likes the Chelsea in New York. So, we used him.

» EXPRESS: Does he have a good set-up at your various places?
» DELPY: Of course. He gets to sleep in bed with me.

Photo by Pouya Dianat courtesy The Washington Post

Posted by Vicky Hallett at 12:11 AM on August 24, 2007
Tagged in Entertainment , Lifestyles , Stage , Top Stories