Bruno Solo (new murders in Saint-Malo): "It is not very common in our profession to be able to act again after ten years."

History buff must be glad to see the pirate city again…

Bruno Solo : Certainly ! Especially since Saint-Malo perfectly adheres to the spirit of the Murders, full of history, fairy tales and local legends. Director Lionel Bailliu was inspired this time by mastiffs, the guard dogs that were released at night around the walled city to prevent looting in the 17th and 18th centuries. This gives it a dark and mysterious atmosphere, close to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles, accentuated by this granite wall that surrounds the city, which is both fascinating and disturbing.

Are you happy to have found your character, the gendarmerie officer Éric Vautier?

Yes, even if I was cast on the 20th anniversary of Caméra Café (M6), it’s not very common in our profession to be able to act ten years later. It was interesting that this man, who was fired from the gendarmerie and found himself facing his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease, was back in his seat with his injuries. Taking advantage of such a step back allows us to see how to develop our characters. We can also be inspired by our own life, when we have the honesty to look after ourselves, when we are ten years younger: look how we reacted, thought, acted…

You are re-establishing the couple you formed with Louise Monot, aka Gwen Garrec…

Her character has also experienced life changes. After arresting his own brother in the previous investigation, he involuntarily chose to leave the gendarmerie and started real estate business. She now lives separately from Ronan. Aurelien Wiik (Replaced by Baptiste Caillaud, editor’s note) was unable to return to this role as he fell from his roof the day before filming and broke his wrist.

Have you met Louise again since the first episode?

We are very good friends. He would often come to eat at home. He knows my wife, my children… It’s funny, because we’re shooting a series for France Télévisions: I’ll give you all thisi (based on the novel by Dolores Redondo).

At the beginning of the interview, we talked about your passion for history. Will there be a 7th season of The War of Thrones, a documentary you are hosting (France 5)?

On June 12, we start shooting with the French Revolution. But as we have done since the first season of this documentary series devoted to the Hundred Years’ War, it is always in terms of the construction of Europe.

Didn’t you have to write a second book after the success of Visitors to History (edditions du Rocher)?

I am indeed about to send my editor the final version of the first three chapters. I begin with Cleopatra, Suetonius (Roman author of Life of the Twelve Caesars), and Hildegard of Bingen (German Benedictine priestess of the 12th century). This time, I’m not bringing historical figures to my house for an imaginary dinner. I am the one who will wander through their universe like a traveler in history.

New murders in Saint-Malo at 21:10 on Saturday 29 April at France 3

INTERVIEW FREDERIC LOHÉZIC