French icon Alain Delon declared it was the women he had met in his life to allow him to have success as an actor.
Delon has appeared in seven competition titles over his 60-year-career, including Luchino Visconti’s Palme d’Or winning The Leopard, but has never won best actor.
The 83-year-old was greeted with a standing ovation as he entered the Salle Buñuel theatre at the top of the Palais des Festivals for the masterclass, which was packed with mixed gender inter-generational crowd.
“When I came back from Indochina I didn’t know what I want to do. If I hadn’t met the women I met, I would have died long ago. It’s the women – I don’t know why – who loved me, who got me into this profession, who wanted me to do it, and who fought for me to do it.”
He added that in that particular moment he couldn’t help but think about the love of his life, Romy Schneider.
