Lambert Wilson to Star as King Louis Philippe in ‘Chopin, Chopin!’: ‘I Live With His Music’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Lambert Wilson will play King Louis Philippe in Michał Kwieciński’s upcoming drama “Chopin, Chopin!” about composer Frédéric Chopin.

“I’ve always adored Chopin,” Wilson told Variety. “I live with his music and the music of Liszt, and I’ve always been fascinated by the Romantic era in Europe. Particularly in France, with this connection between writers and musicians [revolving] around the character of George Sand.”

According to Lambert, the film’s script — written by Bartosz Janiszewski — gives an “accurate and very touching” vision of the last part of the composer’s life. Chopin died in 1849.

“It alternates between lavish court scenes, where French King Louis Philippe [played by Lambert] will appear both flippant and distressed, and intimate moments, showing the solitude of this artist and his eventual descent into illness and death,” the actor adds.

Chopin will be played by Eryk Kulm, who will also perform the composer’s music in the film.

“Lambert Wilson was my dream choice for the role from the very beginning, and it actually worked out! His king is a tragic figure,” added Kwieciński.

“He’s a great actor, but he also has a personality that perfectly fits my ideas about this character: he’s stern, charismatic, but also warm and looking for real human connections. Chopin was special to him: the most beloved among artists. Unfortunately, his world came to an end with the revolution — and so did the world where Chopin was universally adored and supported.”

While Kwieciński always appreciated Chopin’s music, he didn’t know that much about his true nature.

“I’ve read dozens of books about him. Most of them were based on all these stereotypical portrayals we’ve gotten used to, but I felt they weren’t true. I longed to find out more.”

Meeting Kulm also helped. In Kwieciński’s previous film, ambitious war drama “Filip,” he played a young Polish Jew who hides his true identity in order to survive.

“Apart from resembling Chopin physically, Eryk has musical training. He’s always been dreaming of this role,” he said.

“He was born to play Chopin — it’s really that simple. What they have in common, above all, is this hypersensitivity to the reality that surrounds them. Apparently, it was said that if Chopin wasn’t a composer, he would have been an actor instead.”

The world’s view of Chopin, who left Poland for Paris at barely 21 years old and struggled with his health for most of his life, has been completely “distorted,” claimed the director.

“Chopin was a volcano of energy, a prankster and the king of society. He loved parties and going to bed at 10 in the morning. On the other hand, he was an introvert, shunned by the world and locked in a cocoon of music, and plagued by terminal illness. That’s how he was and that’s how I want to show him: as a man torn between two women, death and music.”

Produced by Warsaw-based Akson Studio — behind Andrzej Wajda’s Oscar-nominated “Katyń” and “Warsaw 44” — and co-produced by Polish Television, the film will be an intimate psychological drama with a “very rich, almost baroque setting.”

“There’s a cholera epidemic, balls of the nouveau riche, parties at the king’s house, countless social events, concerts, travel, sex, shopaholism and passion for violets,” noted Kwieciński, listing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Venice premiere “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance” and “The Worst Person in the World” as his references.

“I refer to contemporary stories, because I don’t want to make your usual historical biopic. I am more inspired by the lives of today’s rock stars,” he said. “It’s a larger-scale production than ‘Filip’ because, at least from my point of view, there’s always time and space for films that carry not only artistic but also cultural potential.”