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At his grandfather’s funeral in 2021, Victor Belmondo described the legendary nouvelle vague star as an ‘eternal sun’. Now beginning to light up the screen himself, he talks about trying to capture his predecessor’s famous insoucianceIt can be both a head start and a burden to bear the name of an illustrious predecessor – but what if you look like him, too? Victor Belmondo’s pillowy lips purse in amusement when the inevitable question comes up. “It’s not annoying. I get it,” he says. Although a touch less pugnacious-looking, he is unmistakably of the same lineage as his grandfather, Jean-Paul. “I know the name I have and who my grandfather was. From the moment I do the same job, it’s normal people have questions. As long as we talk about my films as well, it’s OK.”So we park the trifling matter of Jean-Paul, who died two years ago, to chat about other things. Belmondo, 29, has been quietly firing up his own acting career, this month with a meaty supporting role in Lie With Me (Arrête avec tes Mensonges), a faintly Almodóvarian homecoming drama directed by Olivier Peyon. He plays Lucas, who works for a distillery in the town of Cognac that is welcoming back – 35 years after he left – a bestselling novelist, Stéphane, to act as its brand ambassador. But both men are forced to grapple with the past: Stéphane’s unrequited first love was Lucas’s late father. Continue reading...