This spring, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé fills her need for lightness by narrating 5 guys for me, a TVA reality show in which, each week, a new participant welcomes five suitors into her home, in the hope of finding love. We spoke with the actress, who also explains the very personal reasons why she recently agreed to become the spokesperson for the Alzheimer Societies, a role she hopes to hold for a long time.
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
Are you a big fan of reality TV?
Yes. I never snubbed that. I watched Survivor, love is blind, Big Brother… But I recognize myself more in something like 5 guys for me, Love is in the meadow Where If we loved each other. It’s cheesy, but it’s very sincere, what I’m going to say: the quest for love, I find that noble. I believe it. In life, I’m happy to be in a relationship. I’ve really been scorned in love, but I’ve never been cynical. The heart is resilient.
5 guys for me is the Quebec adaptation of a British format. On paper, what did you like about this show?
I like that women are allowed to choose. Because for the past few years, I have noticed that around me, at my friends who have dates, guys are ghosting a lot [du jour au lendemain, ils ignorent les messages et ne donnent aucun signe de vie]. With this show, we are trying to turn the tide, to give decision-making power back to women. I know it’s big, what I’m saying. I know I’m generalizing, but that’s what we want.
AN IMAGE FROM THE SHOW 5 GUYS FOR ME
How did this project land in your backyard?
This is an offer I received. At first, I was convinced that I was not the right person to do this.
Why ?
I would have thought they were looking for a straight-up comedian. But I had never watched the original series. I thought it had to be really funny. When they explained to me that it wasn’t the tone they were looking for, that reassured me. I was going to guide the viewer and bring up the awkward and funny situations, but without personal teasing. Roasts [bien cuits], it’s always funny. My boyfriend [l’humoriste Guillaume Pineault] in fact. With his lynx eye, he sees everything. It makes me laugh a lot. But in a context like that of 5 guys for me, in such a sincere approach, it has no place. When a candidate opens up and reveals that he is an orphan, it doesn’t make sense to come up afterwards and say, “Hey, your sweater is ugly, blablabla…” That would be in bad taste.
As in any good reality show, situations of discomfort abound in the show. In life, are you permeable to discomfort?
Extremely! That’s the reason why I don’t smoke pot. Right away, I feel the frets. I am super sensitive. And when I was smoking pot, if someone said a sentence that fell flat, I was in all my states! I was like, “Oh no! There is a fret! I have to do something! It’s my first class side.
The Quebec Federation of Alzheimer Societies has asked you to be its spokesperson. Why did you accept?
The reasons are super personal. My father has Alzheimer’s. I never really talked about it [publiquement]. He’s a precocious alzheimer. He was diagnosed at age 65. It’s been two and a half years. It shocked our whole family. It changed our lives. It changed my life. It’s the worst disease, I think. It’s a white mourning: you mourn a person while they are still there. It’s a very, very hard feeling.
It is also a difficult disease for those around you…
Yes, because once it reaches a certain stage, the person no longer knows that he is sick. But the stadium before, where she knows it, it’s disgusting. It’s trash. Because his life escapes him, his lucidity escapes him… My father was an investigator. His memory was his whole life. It was his greatest strength. The first time we sat down together and he told me he was starting to lose his memory… I saw all his distress. I saw that he hid. He no longer wanted to face the world. He was afraid of what he was going to say. He isolated himself. It is not easy.
What do you want to accomplish as a spokesperson?
It’s not a very popular cause. It doesn’t raise a lot of money. And me, I’ve had a good popularity rating for a few years. I want to use it to help raise money, to stimulate research, to find a cure, etc. But also to break the taboo that surrounds Alzheimer’s. It’s taboo because we don’t like to talk about old age. It scares us… But it’s part of our lives. It would be nice to talk about it more.
How is your father today?
It’s very, very advanced. Early Alzheimer’s is super dazzling. I think it went quickly. And we are very upset by each change of stage. As soon as you start to get used to it, he loses it again. He doesn’t know who I am anymore. I’m still trying to deal with all of this.
You started filmingIndefensible, the new daily series from TVA, which is expected in September. We know you for Anyway, Les Simone and Plan B, seasonal series. How is the daily shooting rhythm?
We forget it, but I’ve already done three seasons in 30 lives. I played Karine Pagé, a social worker who wore funny tuques…
So you knew what awaited you?
100 %. The daily rhythm is sporty, but I love it. We are a very positive, close-knit team. We love texts. I love my character. I can’t wait to get into people’s living rooms and be Marie-Anne Desjardins, the lawyer who returns to pleading after having experienced a trauma. I am very, very proud to do this.
Expectations are high for Indefensibleespecially as District 31 leaves the antenna in a few weeks. Do you feel this pressure while filming?
No. It must be said that I have a beautiful naivety in relation to all this. I did experimental theater knowing full well that no one was going to talk about it. I come from a place much more gavroche than that. I know that at the top of me, the ambitions are great, because it’s a big company. Doing a daily job is expensive. It’s a bad bet. But I have no control over it. All I can do is play my scenes well.
This attitude of letting go, have you always had it?
Yes. Even for my one woman show, I didn’t have a media premiere. I wanted to do something more intimate. I don’t want to be nominated for the Oliviers. I did not register. I’m not into it at all. Of course, like everyone else, I have an ego. I have already won a Gémeaux with Les Appendices and I was happy. But I think it’s a machine that really distracts us from the real reasons why we practice this profession. The ego game, buying boats and having producer shares, that’s not something that interests me. At least not for now. In my mind, I’m still 21. And I feel like I’m out of school. I haven’t understood anything yet. I do business like 10-15 years ago. I just want to play characters. It’s very exciting for me. And that’s enough.
VAT present 5 guys for me Monday to Thursday at 7 p.m. From April 11. The Quebec Federation of Alzheimer Societies is organizing a walk for Alzheimer’s on Sunday, May 29. More information at alzheimer.ca/federationquebecoise/fr