Tautou doesn't spend much time thinking about her craft. Or, for that matter, herself. (Apparently, she does think about the reporters she's spoken to over the years: At the end of each interview, she politely asks if she can take a picture for her ''collection.'') ''I'm not really into self-analysis,'' she says with a Gallic shrug. ''I like things to happen more unconsciously.'' As does Jeunet, which partly explains why the two work so well together. Though fully aware that another high-profile movie with Jeunet raises expectations — a $60 million budget is virtually unheard of in France — the actress is not concerned with scoring another hit. ''I know I will never have another movie as successful as Amélie,'' she says in her accented English. ''And it's not a problem. I'm not looking for it.''
For sure, Tautou's choices reflect more of an interest in super-directors than superstardom. In addition to Jeunet, she worked with Stephen Frears in 2003's thriller Dirty Pretty Things (in a role that improved her English ''tremendously''); edgy Cédric Klapisch in last year's frothy L'Auberge Espagnole; and veteran auteur Alain Resnais in Pas Sur la Bouche, a musical comedy yet to be released in the States. Her next project is Klapisch's Les Poupées Russes, an Auberge sequel due next year. To date, she has turned down all of Hollywood's offers, and recoils at the idea of ever leaving the City of Light for the City of Angels. Still, after some coaxing, she admits there are Americans ''with their own style and cleverness'' for whom she would gladly learn lines, among them Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, and Tim Burton. ''I didn't get any offers from them,'' she laughs. ''I don't know why they would want to work with a little freedom fry.''
Perhaps they will now.
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