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I'd had a French education for three years, my father being in the army. From 9 to 12, I went to French school. I've been sort of part of the culture, part of the geography, since I was quite young - the imprint was there.

I learned French in Tunis, along with Arabic. I also learned French history. I knew the entire history of the kings of France. And I was fascinated by Versailles.

In addition to the research, I enjoyed learning French and assimilating the culture of another country.

When I got to college I simply decided that I could speak French, because I just could not spend any more time in French classes. I went ahead and took courses on French literature, some of them even taught in French.

When I arrived at Columbia, I gave up acting and became interested in all things French. French poetry, French history, French literature.

I never had to learn English, French and German because I was brought up as all three languages. I had a private French teacher before I even went to school. That helped a lot.

Columbia University, where I went to study in 1993, insisted its undergraduates learn a foreign language, so I discovered French.

I was a typical French student of the 1990s - I imagined that, after a short excursion, I would work the rest of my life at home.

When I was 12, we began hosting exchange students from Norway, Sweden, Japan and Spain. I soon realized there was a whole world out there. I was determined to spend my sophomore year in high school abroad. My school taught only Spanish, but I wanted to go to France, and I did.

Oh, I was brought up in the north of France, and I had a very enjoyable childhood with my family working as entrepreneur.