Back to school TV | The new heroes

New characters are about to invade our small screen. The Press spoke with eight actors and actresses who will play these – for now obscure – heroes that we will get to know during the 2024-2025 television calendar.

Marco Lachance

Performer: Michel Charette
Series : Marco Lachance

Based on an original idea by Michel Charette and François Chénier, Marco Lachance tells the story of a father and employee in the complaints department of a household appliance store, who decides to pursue his childhood dream: a career in music. “He’s an eternal optimist,” describes the actor. “He’s not a firecracker, but he’s such a good guy.” With this series directed by Yannick Savard (Happiness), Michel Charette wanted to offer “comforting TV.” “I’m very, very proud of it. It’s feel-good, touching, funny and accessible. It shows real people, the middle class.” And that wig the actor wears on screen? “I wanted to change my look. He’s a former rocker. I needed a new look!”

Noovo, Wednesday at 8 p.m. (from September 11)

Louise

Performer: Chantal Fontaine
Series : The Raccoon Academy: Who pushed Melody?

In this thriller tinged with dark humor, Chantal Fontaine plays the director of L’Académie des ratons, the daycare where Mélodie, an educator, broke her arm after being pushed by a child (we don’t know which one) from the top of the stairs. “Louise runs the daycare with Gérald, her brother (Jacques L’Heureux). She is a haughty and authoritarian woman. Throughout this investigation, she knows her share of bad weather.” Directed by Pascal L’Heureux (Bye bye, A criminal case), the Harry Potter-themed series may recall Clue, the board game – and 1985 detective comedy – in which you try to solve a murder. “It’s very, very well written. And it’s different from anything we’re seeing right now,” the actress emphasizes.

Télé-Québec, winter 2025

Vanessa Larose

Performer: Léa Roy
Series : Witches

After playing in The Academy And Forever more one dayLéa Roy joins the cast of the soap opera Witchesin which she plays a young woman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. “It’s different from anything I’ve done before,” says the actress. “And it’s a big challenge. Mental health is still very taboo. Particularly schizophrenia, because it’s not well-known. It can be scary.” “Vanessa has been through some pretty difficult times. She goes to see Joanne Bussière [Céline Bonnier] because she left the religious sect in which she grew up with her father.” Léa Roy says she learned a lot from working with Céline Bonnier, whom she describes as a professional through and through.

TVA, Tuesday at 8 p.m. (starting September 10)

Danny Cormier

Performer: André Ducharme
Series : Dog weather

During the off-season of Everyone is talking about itAndré Ducharme played in Dog weatherFrançois Bellefeuille’s comedy in a veterinary setting. “I am the mayor of the Magdalen Islands,” emphasizes André Ducharme. In his mind, the Islands belong to him. He is truly an old-school mayor [vieille école]. He has the look of a used car salesman from 1980, a bit cheesy, with lots of rings on his fingers. He’s a guy who takes up a lot of space, who leads a big lead and who likes to intimidate people.” “From my height of five feet one, playing someone who, in his head, is eight feet tall, it’s great fun!” adds the comedian.

ICI Télé, Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. (from September 10)

Stephanie Guerin

Performer: Isabel Richer
Series : Dumas

According to producer Fabienne Larouche, the series Dumas by Luc Dionne will show Isabel Richer “as we’ve never seen her before.” The actress plays the ex-wife of the title character, the big boss of a private investigation firm defended by Gildor Roy. “Their divorce is extremely complicated,” comments Isabel Richer. “At first glance, it’s hard to see how they could have formed a couple. Because they are much too rock and roll. They must have loved each other to the ceiling, because everything exploded when they stopped.” “Stéphanie is a strong-willed woman, a lioness, an excessive woman. It shakes her to be fragile. She loves her children all crooked. Their family relationships are completely dysfunctional.”

ICI Télé, Monday at 8 p.m. (from September 9)

Louis-Philippe Savard

Performer: Vincent-Guillaume Otis
Series : The weapons

Written by Pierre-Marc Drouin (In Memoriam, Reasonable doubt), produced by Jean-Philippe Duval (Unit 9) and produced by Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau (Aetios), this new annual series takes us into the little-known world of the Armed Forces. “I play a star officer in the Forces who becomes a commander,” explains Vincent-Guillaume Otis. “He’s an honest character. He represents a more modern vision of the army. More open. Less torturous.” This military thriller, also starring Ève Landry and François Papineau, marks Vincent-Guillaume Otis’ return to the small screen, two years after District 31. “It was a break that did me good,” the actor comments. “I had lost my bearings. I refused TV projects, but acted in the theater. I missed that.”

TVA, Monday at 8 p.m. (starting September 9)

Aria

Performer: Coco LeMay
Series : Circus

In this children’s series aimed at children aged 6 to 9, Coco LeMay plays Aria, a 12-year-old girl who lives in a small village where she doesn’t have many friends. “People reject her because she’s different,” explains the actress. “She’s super colorful and energetic. She’s intense, and it’s a little dizzying.” Aria’s life changes completely when her village welcomes a traveling circus. “She realizes that there are people like her. She starts to blossom. She finds a new family.” “It’s a message of hope to young people who feel like they’re different from everyone else,” adds the actress.

ICI Télé, Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (from September 15) and ICI Tou.tv (from September 3)

Rock

Performer: Jean-Pierre Bergeron
Series : The Last Communion

This comedy tells the atypical journey of three religious men who start over by leaving their congregation. Alongside Guy Jodoin and Fayolle Jean, Jean-Pierre Bergeron plays the highest-ranking member of the trio. “He doesn’t take himself for just anyone. He’s a strict person, but during the series, we discover his deep humanity.” Written by Myriam Farsaoui and Eli Jean Tahchi (who also directs), the series offers “human humor,” says the actor. “It’s a series that highlights elderly main characters. There aren’t many like that. Age is another layer of diversity. Older people want to be represented on screen.”

Tele-Quebec, December