Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis Reuters

French singer-actress Vanessa Paradis was all business during a recent interview with French Elle magazine while promoting her latest film, "Cornouaille." But when asked about her much-publicized split from longtime love Johnny Depp, Paradis immediately put the kibosh on what she obviously perceived as a personal intrusion.

"I don't want to talk about him," she told the magazine. "Who said that artists should sell their soul, expose everything about themselves? ... It's my duty to promote this movie, and my albums, but can you imagine what it feels like to see people making a business out of your pain.

"What's happened to us is our concern."

Paradis, 39, may not want to discuss the demise of her 14-year relationship in public, but it seems she has no problem dropping hints.

"Nothing is ever for sure, but when something in love doesn't work from the beginning, it's never going to work. Don't push it," she told the New York Post just two days before the announcement of her split from Depp, 49.

The actress doesn't have any advice for a successful relationship. "I don't have the recipe for happiness, but I think the engine is simply having the desire," she said. "It's not feeling obliged or forced or repeating yourself."

"I hate, for example, whenever you hear someone say: 'You have work at being a couple,'" she continued. "No, you have to want to be there."

"And for me, I want to be right where I am right now.'"

As of now, Paradis' sole concern are her two children with Depp, Lily-Rose, 14, and Jack, 10. "My daughter loves singing above all else. Jack, he's a guitarist," she gushed. "I can tell you that if they decide to launch themselves into this kind of career it will be a good thing for music."

She added, "For my part, although I do not regret what I did, I'd prefer that my daughter takes the time to learn, and, especially, to live her childhood thoroughly."

The gap-toothed beauty is still friendly towards Depp, just last month the former couple was spotted together on a family vacation in the South of France.

"They are having a family holiday to show the kids they are still a strong family even if those two are split or not," a source told the Sun. "But the fact he presented her with such a touching gift, it's almost as if they could make another go of things. Johnny wants to be with his family, he's a very-family oriented man, his kids mean everything to him."