We thought our invitation had been clear, that he should suggest a spot convenient for him and choose the drinks. But Guillaume Canet arranged to meet us at a hotel bar in which he'd never before set foot. We're assuming he asked the publicity agents handling the release of his latest film – Just Philippot's Acide, in cinemas September 20 – to make the arrangements, and that's why we found ourselves, in the middle of July, in an intimate parlor with thick carpets and banquettes upholstered in taupe velvet, candles on the black lacquer tables, feeling like we were in a nightclub at 2 am.

When we arrived the actor was holding a glass of red wine and posing for the camera, and looking irritated by it. But he played along, flashing his irresistibly boyish and dimpled smile, despite his impatient fidgeting. "This is making my head spin," he said to the photographer. And he wasn't talking about the wine, because his glass was untouched. He didn't know what to order but thought "as an aperitif it would look the part".

A different drink was waiting on a table to the side, called "un chose" ("a thingy"), a non-alcoholic cocktail a friend had introduced him to, made of grapefruit juice and tonic on ice. He made us taste it and it was good – fresh and seasonal. There were variants he told us: "le machin" ("the whatsit"), with orange juice instead of grapefruit, and also "le truc" ("the doodad") with apple, and then a combination "machin truc" with gin. At that point, he wasn't sure anymore. As for us, we were completely lost.

Each with our "thingies" in hand, we started talking. There was not much risk of being distracted by noise, as the venue's manager, no doubt thinking he was doing us a favor, had closed the bar to other customers when he saw the star arrive. Added to which, another Guillaume in the shape of a large man in charge of keeping a protective eye on the actor was sitting two tables away "just in case". We told him that he really had nothing to worry about, and that we were not planning on attacking Canet with a cardboard straw so he was fine to leave him alone with us. He calmly replied that he would stay put, as that was the way he operated. So we got on with it.

Fortunately, the conversation with Canet was straightforward. Firstly because, at 50, the actor, director, screenwriter and producer, who has long been one of the leading figures in French cinema, obviously has one or two interesting stories to tell. Since 2000, he has played notable parts: alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Danny Boyle's The Beach, in Cédric Kahn's Une Vie Meilleure (A Better Life, 2010), in Le Grand Bain (Sink or Swim, 2018) by Gilles Lellouche and in Edouard Bergeon's Au Nom de la Terre (In the Name of  the Land, 2019) among many others.

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