Since the worldwide attention she received for Amelie four years ago, Audrey Tautou has successfully played against her impish image in Laetitia Colombani's He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002), and made her English language debut for Stephen Frears in Dirty Pretty Things(2002).

A Very Long Engagement reunites the 26 year old with Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who made his name in collaboration with Marc Caro with Delicatessen in 1991 and The City Of Lost Children four years later, before debunking to Hollywood for the ill-fated Alien: Resurrection. In A Very Long Engagement, Tautou plays Mathilde, a young woman who refuses to believe that her fiancée Manech is one of the millions killed during World War I, so sets off to find out the truth for herself.

How do you feel about the inevitable comparisons people are making with Amelie ?

I understand it, I think it's fair. The actress playing Mathilde looks the same as the one in Amelie, and the director of A Very Long Engagement shot it in almost the same way! But I have no confusion about it. I never compare Mathilde to Amelie, although I knew that comparisons would be made. The fact that there are thousands of people who think about me because of that role is okay, because I know there are some out there who don't think that way. And it's nice to be recognised for something. Even if it's only one thing, that's better than nothing.

Your character in A Very Long Engagement, Mathilde, is a feisty soul - is she someone you could easily identify with?

Mathilde is a very complex woman with an incredible determination, but I never try to compare myself to the character. I use myself to play a character, but I don't know what I use of myself, or if it's something conscious.

What research did you do for the role?

I didn't research much about World War I itself, or about that period because I felt that the story of Mathilde could be set at any time. For me she's a very contemporary woman. I was more focussed on the novel and the script and being between these two worlds, the world of Manech and of Mathilde's suffering. I was more concerned about that than the war itself. Also I wanted my character to discover what happens in the story. In a way I wanted her to have the same knowledge of the war that I had.

What about preparing to portray a woman who has suffered from polio?

We met with some doctors who explained the consequences of her illness, and we decided which part of the muscles would be affected. And we met a friend of Jean-Pierre who had had polio. She explained to me how to walk, how to climb stairs and how to turn left and right. We decided that I would wear a leg brace which would have been used at that time to maintain the strength in the leg. That was helpful for me because it ensured my limping was at least consistent.

Jean-Pierre, what special quality do you feel that Audrey has?

With Audrey work is very easy. In real life we're not so close - everything I know about her I read in interviews. But we are very similar. It's not necessarily to speak a lot on the set. We work together and it's simple. And for me she is the perfect actress because now we know she is able to do everything: drama and light comedy like in Amelie - that's pretty rare. On the other hand she's very technical which is very useful. She has a great sense of timing, she knows the camera, she's very special. She's the perfect actress. I asked her if she knew the meaning of the word 'trilogy', just in case!

Do you both have a shorthand on set?

Tautou: We just need to look at each other and we can understand.

Jeunet: Sometimes you make a mistake. But I listened to her because I remembered on Amelie I made one or two mistakes, and she told me so. I didn't believe her but in the editing room I understood that she was right. Now I listen to her.

Tautou: Sometimes it's the opposite too!