In an episode of the hit comedy show Dix pour cent (Call My Agent!, 2018), Isabelle Huppert plays an exaggerated version of herself that humorously iconifies her public image as an indefatigably ambitious and prolific actress. The episode follows Huppert as she tries to shoot two films at the same time, forcing her agents to transport her covertly back and forth from one set to another in the hopes that they don't get caught (and therefore sued) for violating the terms of her contracts. The stressful scenario escalates when the overstretched Huppert throws a radio interview, a script rewrite, a Chanel fashion show, and an experimental film into her already unforgiving schedule. This wacky premise adheres to a well-trodden comedic principle that continuously escalates an increasingly stressful predicament. While it is not difficult to foresee how such zaniness will lead to hilarious hijinks, the episode's more unexpected appeal lies in the dedicated precision with which it assesses Huppert's specific career and persona. In other words, much like the devoted agents the show follows, Huppert's episode of Dix pour cent continuously displays a dedicated and meticulous attention towards the central subject of its regard.

As the episode's events unfold, we witness Huppert move between an American film production, a French costume drama directed by Cédric Kahn (also playing himself), and later, an experimental short by a South Korean filmmaker. This diverse gamut of projects captures not only the eclectic range but also the international scope of Huppert's career – especially in recent years – the latter of which has seen her star in an increasing number of Asian and American productions. Early in the episode, Huppert mentions having several films in Cannes in the same year, alluding to her career's close association with the festival, where she has won the Best Actress award twice and also served as jury president for the main competition in 2009. (Her affiliation with international festivals and awards far exceeds Cannes, of course, but it would be too unwieldy, either in the episode or in this introduction, to list those different venues and accolades comprehensively.) During the radio interview with journalist Laure Adler, Huppert bypasses customary anecdotal banalities to discuss instead the nature of duration and nothingness – a gentle caricature of her reputation as an actress with an ‘overtly intellectual temperament’, to echo critic Richard Brody's succinct summation.