If we had told him, Benoît Magimel would probably never have believed him. This Friday, February 25, the 47-year-old actor went on stage at the Olympia in Paris to collect his prize: the César for best actor for his role in In his lifetime, by Emmanuelle Bercot with Catherine Deneuve. Invited to react on the set of C to you three days after his coronation, Benoît Magimel could not help but draw the parallel between what interpreting such a role – he plays a man condemned by illness – has changed in him and one of the highlights of these last months: the death of Gaspard Ulliel at the age of 37. Since shooting for Emmanuelle Bercot, Benoît Magimel has seen life differently: “When you lose someone like you lost, for example, Gaspard Ulliel… What sadness, what tragedy! But life goes on. What have we left? The actors certainly have films. But have I lived intensely? Did I live for me? Have I lived enough?“
These questions, Benoît Magimel asks himself every day that passes: “If we have the possibility, it is a training to see the glass half full rather than half empty. Every day you have to do a job. When one has the possibility of living as much as possible, one must live. It takes time to know that life is precious to some people, sometimes we are not aware of that“. He himself has been there: “For a long time, I felt immortal, I felt like nothing could happen to me. When we are confronted with the disease, we simply realize that at this moment, every day has its importance.“.
If Benoît Magimel was fortunately not confronted with the disease directly, his life was not a long calm river. He has also been arrested several times while driving under the influence of narcotics, highlighting his addiction to drugs which he has since been trying to treat: “I take substitution therapy and regularly visit Narcotics Anonymous. I also see a doctor who specializes in this area every two months. And I also do therapy, at the same time. […] I consume alone, and with great shame.[…] Sometimes there are relapses but I try to hold on” he confessed. A fight he no longer faces alone but alongside his wife Margot Pelletier now.