Seldom has the premiere of a film in Paris generated such excitement. Starring alongside Johnny Depp as an American gangster’s moll, Marion Cotillard was hailed last week as the first French actress in years to break into the Hollywood big time.

In the United States, however, the hoopla surrounding Public Enemies, a film about John Dillinger, the Depression-era bank robber, has been soured by resentment at Cotillard for once questioning whether terrorists had really attacked New York on September 11, 2001.

Cotillard has tried hard to conquer American hearts since her gaffe and reviews of the film, directed by Michael Mann, have generally relished her role as Billie Frechette, who also drives a getaway car.

Depp, who plays Dillinger, certainly appreciated her performance: “Marion is a great actress and lots of fun,” he said.

A dissenting view was taken by Time magazine, however, which called her performance “tepid”. Another critic said the relationship between Depp and Cotillard, who won an Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf, the tormented singer, in La Vie en Rose, had as much tension as “a slack banjo string”.

In response to Cotillard’s publicity for the film the New York Post said that she was “singing a different tune” from when she had suggested, long before winning her Oscar, that the 9/11 attacks in New York were the work of the government. Cotillard says her remarks were taken out of context.

A French interviewer recently noted that she had never expressed regret for her comments and she replied: “I am simply someone who asks herself a lot of questions. And in the world in which we live, I find that quite healthy.”

For the French, however, there is no doubt that Cotillard had triumphed in America. “Hollywood is at your feet,” one radio interviewer proclaimed during an interview on Friday.

Whatever the case the French seemed more fixated upon the chemistry between Cotillard, who is in a relationship with Guillaume Canet, the French actor, and Depp, who is married to Vanessa Paradis, the French singer with whom he lives for much of the year in the south of France. It was noted that publicity shots of the two actors together were hard to come by amid speculation that this was because neither wanted to make their lover jealous.

Cotillard has lavished praise on Depp’s acting skills. That is not all. “Johnny is really kind,” she said. “I was nervous but he was very protective towards me and, if you want to know, he kisses very, very, very well.”

This is not the first time that Cotillard has raved about a co-star. She raised eyebrows earlier this year with comments about Penelope Cruz, the Spanish actress, who appears with her in Nine, a musical.

“She is the most intelligent, beautiful person,” said Cotillard. “And with that body. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. So much so that I would have liked to be a man.”

The buzz about Cotillard and Depp intensified when he let slip that he had sometimes spoken French with her on set when they did not want to be overheard by the crew; and when Cotillard claimed that Dillinger had boasted of being “spoilt by nature” when it came to his virility.

Asked about that in one interview, Depp quipped: “I’ve done research as well. We are the same size. Exactly the same.” When the interviewer noted that Cotillard had expressed nervousness about the love scenes with Depp, the actor laughed: “Because of that?”

Cotillard, who has sworn off private jets to reduce her carbon footprint, had to work hard on her accent as she does not speak English fluently. She insisted on speaking English even with French friends on the phone from Paris.

Fortunately, the character she plays in Public Enemies was half French, making it reasonable for her to have a French accent even if she did not in real life.

Some French actors tend to look down their noses at Hollywood but Cotillard, perhaps to make up for her 9/11 gaffe, seems to be engaged in an all-out campaign to woo the US.

It appears to have paid off. She will soon appear in Inception, a science fiction thriller, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.

There is no need to feel sorry for her boyfriend: he was recently rated by Cosmopolitan as one of France’s sexiest men.

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