“Child, it’s not that I felt different, it’s that I felt completely out of place”

François Berléand is one of the most appreciated and recognized actors in French cinema. His look and his voice so emblematic have already marked the spirits. Initially, there was a crush with the boards then the public discovers it late in the cinema, in 1997, with the film The seventh heaven by Benoît Jacquot, which earned him a César, that of the best actor in a supporting role. His career is busy, between theatre, TV and cinema, with always this strong passion for the game. This Wednesday, June 21, 2023, he is showing the film Magnificat by Virginie Sauveur alongside Karin Viard. The film was made based on the novel women in black by Anne-Isabelle Lacassagne, released in 2017.

franceinfo: In Magnificat, you play the role of a bishop and you learn that one of your priests just died was not a man but a woman. Obviously, this will create a huge uproar within the Church. We will have to carry out an extremely secret investigation. Is this film an outstretched hand to open the debate and perhaps change mentalities?

Francois Berleand: In any case, I hope that this will be able to awaken some consciences. The question I ask myself is really why has it never evolved over the centuries? Why does the Catholic Church still reject women in relation to the priesthood? We learn in the film that the priest represents Jesus, and therefore there can be no other incarnation than man.

But why couldn’t women transmit the message of God since they transmit life? There is Mary too and she is as important as Jesus. If there hadn’t been Mary, there wouldn’t have been Jesus.

Francois Berleand

at franceinfo

There is a lot of family in this film. What role did your family play in your development, also in the choice of this acting profession.

Oddly enough, on the maternal side, they were more musicians. I did a bit of piano and at one point as I had a little bit of talent, but not a lot, I learned relatively late, I have a teacher who suddenly decided that I could enter the conservatory. He wanted to take me two to three hours a day. I was very happy to be offered this except that I had a little voice that said to me: “No, you’re not going to do that, there are friends, there’s all that… And then maybe it’s not for you“.

And afterwards, in the business school where I was, there was a theater group and this group arrived and then I continued on that. I went on stage and there, the little voice said to me: “That’s what you’re gonna do“. And I realized long after that the little voice was certainly that of the paternal grandfather, a Jew who died in Auschwitz who had staged plays. I learned that my babushka, my grandfather -mother was an actress, lawyer and actress. And then, suddenly, I said to myself: I am taking up the torch, as my father told me: “You take up the torch“And that’s where I learned all that.

Does this job satisfy you?

With this job, I explored human nature.

Francois Berleand

at franceinfo

Yes. It’s true that acting in the cinema or in the theater makes you explore nature. I’ve played bad guys, weaklings, cowards, knowers or whatever and it’s great to have that ability to play all of that. And above all, I realize that the public identifies so much with the character as when I had done The chorists in 2004. After in the street, I was told: “He’s the evil director of Les Choristes“. I had that all day long so it’s very, very funny.

Being accepted as you are is also at the center of this film with your sexuality, the way you look at the world, with your ability to accept yourself. To be respected as one is is never easy. Did you feel different when you were a kid or not?

Ah yes, it was terrible. It wasn’t that I felt different, it was that I felt completely out of place. But this terrible word from my father, which was obviously humorous, you are the son of the invisible man. At the time, I didn’t understand it and that’s why I got lost in an incredible world because I thought I was invisible. It obviously caused me a lot of problems in my youth. Well, you must have a slightly sick mind!

Today, you seem to be well in your sneakers.

Yes, that’s the end of life now! I thought to myself that I had to do with it!

That is to say that you think of death?

I was just thinking about that. From 20 to 50, I could wake up in the middle of the night and cry out loud because of the terrible anguish of eternity.

Finally, is the little boy you were happy with the man you have become over time?

Yes, I am quite imperfect, like all men! I have many faults, but I have some qualities of benevolence and love of neighbor. Being an atheist makes me have too much respect for life. I couldn’t kill in the name of God. In his name, so it’s ridiculous to say that because everyone says it, we killed so many people and we continue. Here we have to ask ourselves the real questions.