Elsa Zylberstein, one of France’s most popular actresses, will make her directorial debut with “My Best Life.” The film is a comedy-drama inspired by “Mytho du soir,” the viral sketch series she posted on social media while locked down during the pandemic. Instead of making a direct adaptation of “Mytho du soir” – in which
Elsa Zylberstein, one of France’s most popular actresses, will make her directorial debut with “My Best Life.” The film is a comedy-drama inspired by “Mytho du soir,” the viral sketch series she posted on social media while locked down during the pandemic.
Instead of making a direct adaptation of “Mytho du soir” – in which she played a compulsive fantasist who lives as if there were no restrictions – hosting dinner parties, going to the hair salon, flying to New York, heading to the mountains and even interviewing Donald Trump – Zylberstein kept only the central character and co-wrote with Michael Pierrard a completely new story for “My Best Life.”
In the film, Zylberstein will play a failed actress whose mother suffers a stroke and wakes up believing her daughter has become an international movie star. Instead of destroying the illusion, the heroine invents an increasingly elaborate fictional life to protect her mother and, ultimately, herself.
“The movie is really about the power of imagination,” Zylberstein said. “The message is simple: believe in your dreams. Imagination can save you.”
Zylberstein described the project as a dramedy based on emotion rather than broad satire, and said he wants audiences to “laugh and cry.” While the film gently pokes fun at the movie business, she said it’s ultimately about family and abandoned dreams.
“It’s also a mother-daughter story,” she said. “I’ve always been fascinated by the way people organize reality. Everyone reinvents the truth a little bit.”
Speaking of influences for the story and his on-screen character, Zylberstein mentioned Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy” for his portrayal of someone “who is constantly on edge and ready to do anything.” For the tone, he said he was inspired by films by David O. Russell and Paul Thomas Anderson, such as “The Bright Side” and “Licorice Pizza,” respectively. “I love stories that are funny and deeply moving at the same time,” he said.
While the film is different from “Mytho du soir,” Zylberstein said the idea for “My Best Life” came about after noticing how “obsessed” people were with the sketches “because they offered an escape.” The 60 or so videos, which last about a minute each, often garnered an average of 80,000 views on Instagram.
Zylberstein co-wrote and will co-direct the film with Pierrard, a longtime assistant director who made “Mytho du soir” with her and has worked alongside filmmakers including Claude Lelouch, Leos Carax, Sofia Coppola and Pawel Pawlikowski.
He stars in the film alongside beloved French actor Miou-Miou, who plays his mother, alongside Mathieu Demy, who plays his childhood best friend. Lucas Bravo is also in talks to play a famous actor who suffers from burnout.
The film is produced by UGC, the French studio that manages a major multiplex chain, which last year incorporated the Canal+ group as a shareholder and is behind some of the country’s biggest comedy hits. “My Best Life” is supported by Canal+ and France Télévisions and has a budget of 3.6 million euros.
Despite its compact budget, Zylberstein has assembled a key team of stars, including production designer Jean Rabasse (“Jackie”), costume designer Pascaline Chavanne (“Nouvelle Vague”), Oscar-winning sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Gravity”) and sound engineer Erwann Kerzanet (“Annette”).
“I’ve learned a lot from all the great directors I’ve worked with. Now I want to take everything they taught me and put it into practice,” said Zylberstein, whose career spans more than three decades between auteur films and blockbusters.
She won a César Award for “I’ve Loved You So Long,” in which she starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas, and most recently gave a critically acclaimed performance in Olivier Dahan’s “Simone: Woman of a Century,” in which she plays Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became a feminist icon and human rights activist. The film became one of the highest-grossing French films of 2022. Last year he starred in “The Time Cycle” (“C’était mieux demain”), a time travel comedy directed by Vinciane Millereau that turned out to be one of France’s biggest local hits in 2025, reaching close to a million viewers. He also starred in several films directed by Claude Lelouch, notably “Un + une” with Jean Dujardin.
Although she is already writing a second feature film, Zylberstein is also developing several projects as a producer. Having launched production vehicles in France and the United States, Zylberstein is working on a film about the passionate romance between French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir (whom she will play) and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. The film, which spans nearly two decades from 1947 to 1964, is written by Oscar-winning writer Christopher Hampton and directed by Anne Fontaine. Zylberstein is also one of the few French actors hired by CAA.
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