Veterinarian and star host Antoine Meilleur (François Bellefeuille) is forced into exile on the Magdalen Islands after a canine massage turns sour during the fictional live show Morning Sun. The new series Bad weatherwhich will be available from Thursday on TOU.TV Extra, humorously depicts the world of television, but also deals with animal cruelty and the realities of residents of the archipelago located in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
“No dog was mistreated during filming,” immediately assures André Béraud, first director of drama programs and feature films at ICI TOU.TV. The producer of the series for A Média, Guillaume Lspérance, adds that the biting scene in question on the television set – and the veterinarian’s reaction – was the result of several discussions, but that it is above all intended to be comical. “The idea was really to play on the fact that when we touch on animals in the media, people have a great sensitivity to that. »
The scandal into which this veterinarian was then plunged after this episode was a real “nightmare”, points out comedian François Bellefeuille, who himself worked in this profession with animals. After this incident, the protagonist’s clients and colleagues, like his business partner Manon (Nathalie Breuer), will turn their backs on him, says the author Bad weather with Olivier Thivierge. “Nowadays, I have the impression that we are faced with the fact that we no longer have speeches with arguments. These are people who say: “I feel like that”. Nobody talks to each other, we just say how we feel,” he said on Tuesday, after a press viewing of episodes of his first TV drama.
Mr. Bellefeuille believes that the public will become attached to Antoine Meilleur despite his blunder, through the twelve 30-minute episodes. “He’s someone who is close to me and that’s why we’re going to love him,” he jokes. “I don’t have a huge amount of experience as an actor in a series and it was a big role to take on […] I found it was more safeand also more fun and more real to go there with someone who looks like me,” he explains.
The house on the Magdalen Islands where the veterinarian will settle with his partner Kim (Émilie Bibeau) and his son Félix (Tom Gohier) is really that of François Bellefeuille, he confirms. “During filming, I was the one shouting: “The doors!”, he says with a laugh. It’s scary to have forty people in your home.” His home, however, was his inspiration for this show, having spent a total of more than a year in this archipelago over the past six years. “I listen more when I’m there. »
The series was produced with “love and respect” for the Madelinots, adds Guillaume Lspérance. In the episodes, the two lobster fishermen (Michel Boudreau and Vincent Lafrance), who will form links with Mr. Meilleur, are also from the area. There is also no question of actors imitating the accent of the region. “We didn’t want to become a caricature by asking Quebecers from Montreal to play people from the Islands,” he explains.
Island veterinarian
In Bad weather, the reality of island veterinarians is first approached through the character of Armand Lapierre (Gaston Lepage). “He is disgusted and tired. He has no backup. Then there, he sees a chance, through Antoine Meilleur, to finally have a break. It makes him a little manipulative on the edges, but he manages to have Antoine for the summer,” says François Bellefeuille.
The latter emphasizes that practicing this profession in a place like the Magdalen Islands immediately leads these specialists to develop more empathy towards their clients than in the city, because their link is more direct.
This geographic isolation, however, can cause more stress for professionals. “Being an island vet, you have no way out. There are no other options. Animals cannot necessarily take the plane to see an emergency clinic in Quebec or Montreal. »
Dealing with animals
Shooting scenes with different animals — like cows and dogs — represents its share of challenges, relate Mr. Lspérance and Mr. Bellefeuille. The latter understood “that with animals, you should not ask them to do things that are too specific, like looking sick.”
It is also essential to learn to continue working despite the cold and strong winds that blow across the archipelago in spring, when the show was filmed. For the comedian, the sometimes harsh weather is simply part of the identity of the Islands. “We must not try to tame time. It’s time that will tame you. »
Mr. Bellefeuille confirms that a second season of the series is being written. Other themes that affect the Magdalen Islands will be discussed, such as the impacts of climate change, he reveals. “The house we are in is really in a place where erosion is very severe. So it’s a wonderful place to talk about it. »