French legend Delon 'supports' far-right

French film star Alain Delon has come out in support of France’s far-right political party the National Front (FN). In an interview published on Wednesday in the Swiss daily Le Matin, the actor, whose career has seen him appear in some 100 films, described the National Front’s growth as “uplifting”.

Delon went to on to say that he “approves” the party’s progress, which he attributed to a general sense of gloom due to a lack of political action.

“The National Front, like the MCG [Geneva Citizens’ Movement] in Geneva, is very important…I encourage it and I perfectly understand it,” he said.

Both parties -- the FN and MCG -- must manage solid electorates if they are to move from words to actions, he said.

“For years, the Le Pen father and daughter team [Jean-Marie, former head of the National Front, and Marine, its current leader] have been fighting, but they’ve been fighting a lonely battle,” he said. “Now, for the first time, they are no longer alone. They have the French people…And that it’s reaching Geneva, that’s incredibly important. They’re fed up there too.”

According to a poll conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) for weekly French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, published on Wednesday, the National Front tops the list of parties that the French intend to vote for in next year’s European Parliament Elections.

In September, the National Front gained the official support of French comedian Jean Roucas, who was pictured alongside Marine Le Pen at an annual party conference earlier this year.

Once called “the male Brigitte Bardot,” Alain Delon is a legend of French cinema. He has starred in films such as Faibles Femmes, Purple Noon (based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr Ripley), Borsalino, and Monsieur Klein, the latter earning him a César award, the French equivalent of an Oscar.

His Gallic charm and reputation as a grand séducteur catapulted him to sex-symbol stardom in the 1960s and 1970s.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)