Shaky English Helps Irene Jacob Land a Solid Role in ‘Beatrice’

French actress Irene Jacob wasn’t nervous about appearing in her first English-language film, “Trusting Beatrice,” which opens Friday.

In the romantic comedy, Jacob, who won 1991 best actress at Cannes for “The Double Life of Veronique,” plays an illegal French immigrant living in America with her adopted daughter who becomes involved with the hapless young man who burned down their house.

Jacob’s somewhat shaky English helped her land the role of Beatrice.

“Beatrice is a French character,” Jacob explains, adding writer-director Cindy Lou Jacobs didn’t want her to excel in English. “She really wanted a French accent,” says Jacob, who actually made “Beatrice” before “Veronique.”

“Cindy wanted Beatrice to be awkward--awkward in life.”

Jacob, whom critics have compared to a young Ingrid Bergman, used to speak English with a perfect American accent. She was 5 at the time.

“I went to America for one year,” she recalls. Her father’s work as physicist had brought the family to Chicago and then Long Island.

“I learned my alphabet first in America,” she says. “Unfortunately, when I came back to France, I forgot most of the language. I know I have a very strong accent, but (English) is something I feel close to. I know I feel especially comfortable when I speak English.”

Jacob, who made her professional stage debut in “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” at Strasbourg and has appeared in numerous films including Louis Malle’s “Au Revoir Les Enfants,” knew as a child she wanted to be an actress.

“I thought acting was maybe a way to understand, to express things that were not fantastic to understand in real life,” Jacob says. “Often, taking a part helps me understand things. It also is a profession that you don’t do alone. You depend on (other people).”