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By Daily Mail Reporter
Use your loaf: Owen Wilson and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on set during the shooting of Woody Allen film Midnight in ParisAs movie sequences go, it is the essence of simplicity.
Attractive woman walks into small grocery store. Attractive woman then exits grocery store clutching baguette.
Alas, the lady tasked with performing the role was Carla Bruni, first lady of France and actress of rather limited experience.
Her director? Woody Allen, perfectionism personified.
Take some direction, sweetie: Director Woody Allen decides it's time to get a little hands on as he offers the French first lady some guidance
Another pause for thought: Carla seems to be pondering her motivation, while Woody is clearly mindful of her bodyguards Their collaboration in his latest film, Midnight In Paris, duly descended into farce when she was told to perform the same scene a staggering 35 times.
It wasn't a case of Miss Bruni fluffing her lines - she didn't have any. The problem, apparently, was that she kept staring at the camera - as an exasperated Allen and her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, looked on.
'She seemed to be struggling to avoid looking directly into the camera, which didn't impress Woody,' said an onlooker in Paris. 'The baguette scene could not have been simpler, but she wanted to make it a big one. That's why she had to keep shooting it over and over again.'
Pointed argument: As Woody draws on all of his directorial skill to coach Carla through her scene, it looked like tempers occasionally flared
Don't blame poor Owen: As the light fades, Woody, Carla and now Owen continue to discuss the simple scene'Woody was prompting Carla constantly, although he was very careful to show a lot of respect, especially as she was surrounded by security guards.'
The scene, shot in the heart of the Left Bank, was finally concluded after a number of animated exchanges between Allen, in fisherman's hat, and Miss Bruni.
Hollywood star Owen Wilson, who appears in the romantic comedy alongside 42-year- old Miss Bruni, was on hand to offer support to the one-time supermodel and pop singer.
Loyal support: Carla - cigarette in hand - is seen talking to her husband, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, as darkness falls on the film setIt is, of course, not the first time she has revealed a tendency to monopolise the camera. On a visit to London last month she turned her full feline charm on the photographers, with a husky 'bonjour'.
She glanced at the lenses at every opportunity, tossing her hai r and l icking her l ips seductively.
Miss Bruni, who plays a museum curator in the Allen movie, had a small role in the 1994 film Pret-a-Porter and the 1998 film Paparazzi, each time playing herself.
In November, when she announced her plans to accept Allen's offer of a role, she said: 'I'm not at all an actress. Maybe I'll be absolutely terrible.'
source: dailymail
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