French superstar Vanessa Paradis isn't tall (she's 5'3"), but she commands attention in "Cafe de flore," the wonderful new film from Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee.

Told as two interconnected stories set decades apart, Paradis, 38, plays the indomitable single mother of a child with Down syndrome.

The mother has a real fire in her belly to have her son educated and treated like any other child, Paradis told me as we sat down to chat at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre.

"I understood this character as soon as I read the script. She had to be tough. She had to be both a mother and a father. She had to fight for this kid," said Paradis.

That feeling is one that Paradis knows well.

She and long-time partner, Johnny Depp, share two children together: a 12-year-old daughter named Lily-Rose and a nine-year-old son named John Christopher "Jack" Depp III.

"Johnny and I love our kids. They're the world to us," said the actress, singer and model.

"But when you become a mother things change a lot. It's not about you anymore. That's a humbling lesson. I'm grateful that it found me and changed my life."