Q&A: Benjamin Millepied on directing a reimagined ‘Carmen’

By JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer

Benjamin Millepied’s “Carmen” has little to do with the familiar story from the 1875 Bizet opera about a mysterious woman who is ultimately killed by a jealous lover. Millepied, one of the dance world’s best-known choreographers, explains that he has not adapted nor updated “Carmen,” his directorial debut, so much as made a whole new work. His Carmen (Melissa Barrera) is a young Mexican woman who makes it across the U.S. border with the help of a Marine (Paul Mescal) who’s emotionally damaged from war. Millepied sat down with The Associated Press to discuss what he tried to accomplish in his first feature.