Laurent Gerra (A confession): "I love making people laugh. But I also like to play low roles"

Your character, Jean Duberry, is suspected of throwing his wife, Maud, into space during a walk. What kind of man is he?

Laurent Gerra: A complex, distorted, introverted, misunderstood entity. He looks like the character of Michel Serrault. Prison, Claude Miller (1981). Moreover, this TV movie is based on a novel by the same author, John Wainwright, who inspired the movie. We actually don’t know how we’re going to face it, it’s very vague. You’re friendly and at the same time saying to yourself, “If he did this, he’s the worst guy.” »

What appealed to you in this scenario?

This Chabrol universe is this intimate bourgeois drama full of unspoken silences, loaded with meaning. There is Simenon in this story. He had the talent to make a Cornelian drama, out of trivial news. I also liked this heavy atmosphere, which contrasts with the idyllic setting. The cicadas are singing when a drama is about to unfold. The Sainte-Victoire mountain seems to be observing the heroes. He’s really just another character from the TV movie.

Does Jean Duberry really love his wife?

I think so too. This story evokes this corrosive daily life that erodes human relationships. We talk less to each other, we do not dare to admit to each other. This is the drama of married life. Many couples will find an echo there. It is also a disillusioned statement about the meaning of existence. No one is happy in this TV movie: neither the wife (Catherine Frot) nor the researcher (Diane Rouxel). Not as much as his doctor (Antoine Duléry) and son-in-law (Théo Augier). We must salute the staging of Hélène Fillières, who managed to make a real motion picture for television.

Speaking of television, you seem to prefer dramatic roles. Interesting for someone whose main job is to make people laugh… Is this a choice?

I take what is offered to me. I have been working as a comedian on stage for thirty years. I love making people laugh. But I also like to play the roles of unpopular, disturbing, even disgusting scoundrels, people, like Abbé Vautrin in Les Combattantes (which aired on TF1 in October 2022). Jean Yanne, a comedian, shot dramas with Claude Chabrol. let the beast die (1969), with Caroline Cellier or Butcher (1970), with Stephane Audran. It makes people a little nervous at first, but then they get used to it. This winter I shot for France 2 with Éric Valette. dead at the summit, It’s a TV movie in which I play the character of Captain Meyer, which we discovered in the movie. black as snow (2021). This is totally disgusting and I find it refreshing. I have the rare luxury of doing what I want.

If you have one thing in common with your character, it’s gluttony: I’m thinking of that scene from an anthology, crawfish tasting…

He’s a winemaker like me. I consider myself an epicurean. Also, my next show, currently written and scheduled for 2024, will take place at a restaurant in Lyon, and it will be named. Laurent Gerra sits down to eat. A whole program!

A confession, Wednesday 22 March at 21:10 on France 2

HACENE CHOUCHAOUI INTERVIEW