In the quietly heartrending French drama I’ve Loved You So Long, Kristin Scott Thomas stars as recent parolee Juliette, who after 15 years in prison on a murder charge gets out to go live with her younger sister (Elsa Zylberstein), and a brother-in-law and nieces she’s never met. The slow revelation of the full reason behind Juliette’s incarceration gives writer-director Philippe Claudel’s spare, slow waltz of a film some extra emotional heft, but it’s first and foremost an Oscar-level showcase for Thomas, as a woman who learns to purge herself of the swallowed self-loathing that has soured her soul. Taking a brief respite from her Broadway debut in The Seagull, I spoke with Thomas recently about Claudel’s directorial note-passing, her work balancing English- and French-language films, and the stomach-turning ramifications of on-screen chain-smoking. For the full Q&A, from New York Magazine‘s Vulture, click here.