Inspired by the instruction-based art of the Fluxus movement, AnOther Magazine gave cover star Marion Cotillard three instructions before her interview: bring an object you love; a photograph that makes you smile; and a piece of writing that has taught you something. The first object that tumbled from her bag was a vintage, folding Polaroid SX70, small enough to slide into her jacket pocket, a constant accompaniment across time zones and film sets. Her photographic heroes are Sarah Moon and Peter Beard. As for the photograph, she told us, “I couldn’t choose one. So I brought three. There’s a wood in Corsica where I went on holiday, a beach near Bordeaux I always go to, and a beautiful wood outside Paris, where I often stay with a friend.” The photographs – otherworldly, mysterious, peaceful havens – seemed to be a kind of quiet, talismanic antidote to the lively chaos that has surrounded Cotillard since 2007. The last object Cotillard brought along seemed to bring us full circle to her childhood quest for answers. She picked up a lovingly battered paperback, a collection of speeches, Freedom from the Known, given by the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. “It’s hard to choose one book that has changed things in your life,” she smiled. “But the way he talks about fears, happiness, violence, time, life, death, us. How to find your own vision, and understand human beings, is so inspiring. As an actress, I feel like an anthropologist of human emotions. I don’t observe people because I’m an actress and I want to steal things from them. It’s the other way around – I’m an actress because I find human beings so very interesting.”