Time after time: playing gay in Francois Ozon's powerful new film Time to Leave was a nonissue for sexy French star Melvil Poupaud. The challenge was wasting away on-screen while facing thoughts about life and death.

For Melvil Poupaud, working on films isn't just a chance to act--it's an opportunity to observe great filmmakers at work. His new film, Time to Leave, which opens July 14, pairs him with one of France's hottest young directors, Francois Ozon (8 Women, Swimming Pool).

"People in France don't think of Ozon as a gay filmmaker," said Poupaud, 33, during a recent visit to the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, where he accepted a career achievement award being given to Ozon. "And they didn't think of this movie as a gay film."

While Poupaud's character's homosexuality is tangential to the plot he plays a photographer trying to resolve his familial and life issues after finding out that he is terminally ill he nonetheless sleeps with men and women in the film over the course of the story. "In France they weren't afraid of the subject matter," says Poupaud. "It was very natural."

The subject material is obviously very dense and very serious, dealing with human mortality. How do you prepare for something like that?

I've always thought about mortality; it's a subject I always have in mind. I'm going to die, and I take that as an opportunity to have thoughts about life, to try to find the meaning in life. But I had to think about this every day during shooting, even during the preparation, to understand the character and the way he deals with his death. But after that movie I think I can make a balance between things. There's no reason to be anguished about everyday stupid things in life, because you're going to die anyway. Just enjoy your little bit of the present and the people around you.

Tell me about the diet you had to go on so your character would waste away. Were you able to take your physical discomfort at not eating and put it into the character?

It was very helpful to me. It kept me in this special concentration, this special mood. I couldn't have lunch with the rest of the crew; I had my special dish. At night I couldn't drink and go out of my mind, so I had to concentrate and focus on my art. By the end on the beach, it wasn't even acting anymore; it was just being there, tired, surrounded by all these people enjoying the sunshine and the ice cream.

You mentioned that in France this isn't thought of as a gay film. After Brokeback Mountain opened here, there was a lot of, "Oh, these brave straight actors playing gay roles."

First, I think Ozon is very special because in every movie there is some queer aspect, something that you wouldn't find in a straight movie--although everyone goes to see his movies. So he knows how to be provocative in his movies without people necessarily noticing right away. I like that about his films.

Would a French journalist ever ask you what it was like to kiss another man in this film? Would they care?

Yeah--mostly the women ask how I felt about that. But I felt so comfortable with Ozon because I was so trusting with him. We talked about it before the shoot, and I was ready to do anything. And the German actor who was in the scene was feeling much more uneasy than I was because he didn't speak very good French and it was his first movie. That put me in the position of saying, "Oh, it's going to be all right. Don't worry, it's my first time too."

I think in France it's very easy now. I've been to Hong Kong, and in the South China Morning Post there was a big picture of me and the German boyfriend I have in the movie, both naked, and people called and threatened to cancel their subscriptions. It was quite a scandal there. In France even Brokeback Mountain was not a big deal; people thought it was a great movie, very touching, and even women went to see it and identified with the love story. But it wasn't a social problem. Maybe we've gotten over these things.