Pierre Niney as Yves Saint Laurent: "I lived with him, he accompanied me every day." (Cinema + Premier)

The joke will undoubtedly remain linked to the history of the film forever. Yves Saint Laurent. Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent’s lifelong companion and co-founder of the famous fashion house of the same name, one day goes to the set of the feature film directed by Jalil Lespert and cannot hold back his tears when he sees Pierre Niney’s incarnation. the love of your life, the physical resemblance is so striking. The businessman, more than an incarnation, will even talk about “reincarnation” about the actor’s performance during the promotion of the film. Sharing an undeniably precocious talent and a surprisingly close career with her character, her short career is an invaluable compliment and already a blessing. After two years at the Cours Florent and a few minor roles (especially in Lisa Azuelos’ LOL), she became a famous fashion designer in October 2010, at just 21 years old, becoming the youngest resident of the prestigious Comédie-Française. , at the same age, the artistic director of the house of Dior! Pierre Niney, however, did not simply rely on this resemblance, or his natural physical resemblance to Saint Laurent, to interpret it.

careful preparation

Having approximate knowledge of the details of the stylist’s life and not familiar with the world of fashion before the shooting, Pierre Niney plunged into the Saint Laurent universe for more than four months. ” I lived with him, he was with me every day, I read and saw everything I could about him to come to the set, knowing him better than anyone else. “At the same time, the actor works with several YSL coaches and collaborators to train him in drawing, sewing, style and, depending on the period, the vocabulary used in the Saint Laurent workshops. He then begins to smoke, to be able to reproduce the approach of the “Master” he follows a certain physical education and listens constantly to his distinctive voice on his MP3 player to succeed in imitating it.Finally, Pierre Niney, to perfect the resemblance, Dominique, one of the greatest French experts, whose impressive transformation we owe to Nicolas Sarkozy in Denis Podalydès’ film La Conquête Benefiting from Colladant’s outstanding make-up work Xavier Durringer. The icing on the cake is Pierre Niney, who has the exceptional authority to don the original Saint Laurent glasses. The transformation is complete. Result: When the team turns over the fashion designer’s building, the latter’s dog is always the player’s as if he were his master. comes to lie down next to you!

a paid job

Pierre Niney’s efforts were rewarded, as the film was a huge success, with over 1.6 million views in France. His performance, which was praised by the public and critics, earned him the Patrick-Dewaere Award for best actor of the year. But this talented do-it-all does not intend to stop there. After starring in her first thriller An Ideal Man in 2015 and directing the mini-series Casting(s) for Canal+ last year, she now dreams of going behind the scenes for her first feature film dedicated to laughter. The young genius did not stop surprising us.

Yves Saint Laurent at Ciné+ Premier on Saturday, June 3 at 22:30

Sebastian Mauge