French Actress Fanny Ardant's inimitable voice rang out for 10 minutes in the mesmerized Paris courtroom where she had come to defend her lifelong friend on Wednesday, March 26. Ten minutes of a sensational monologue saluting the "genius" of Gérard Depardieu, who "carries within himself something extravagant, rebellious, dangerous."

"Yes, he takes up space on a film set. Yes, he has a big mouth. Yes, he's rude. But Gérard has always given his all, like a volcano. The acting profession can only be practiced at the risk of one's own life. Without this risk, you're no longer an artist, you're just a servant."

"I know that society has changed, that there are things we used to tolerate that are no longer tolerable," said Ardant, a woman from a time when women didn't lodge complaints: "I've experienced things like that, I've thrown slaps, insults. I know we can say no to Gérard." The "fear" which, according to the actress, today prevents others from coming forward to testify to support Depardieu who has become a pariah, "must not be a way of making citizens obey, and must not be used as a moral code. I believe only in reaching out and forgiving, in friendship and in love."

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