From District 31 to Happiness | Michel Charette stirred his cage

The opening scene of the series Happiness will mark a lot. It is not every day that we see a high school teacher blow his mark in the middle of class… only to then fall to the ground in a fetal position, convulsions included. Michel Charette remembers the filming of the extract very well. “It was fun, but then I was exhausted. Burnt, burnt, burnt. At lunchtime, I didn’t eat; I went to bed ! ”

Marc-André Lemieux
Press

In an interview, the actor says he worked a lot on the sequence before it was immortalized by Alain DesRochers (Good Cop, Bad Cop 2) behind the lens. Since this was one of the last scenes on the schedule last fall, the workaholic had plenty of time to memorize his lines and visualize the rise and fall of the overworked teacher.

But nothing had prepared him for the level of energy he was going to spend executing his explosive cry for help.

All in front of the director, cinematographer Julien Fontaine, author Daniel Gagnon (who co-writes the series with François Avard), his fellow actors, including his best friend, François Chénier, and the entire technical team.

“I had to do the scene from one end to the other five or six times,” recounts Michel Charette, closing his eyes, to find the sensations that inhabited him. “Afterwards, we went in small pieces, but since it’s a long climb, I always picked up a few lines before. Between takes, I went to see Daniel, Alain and François to ask them for advice. The goal was to understand why the guy just can’t take it anymore. ”

Expected at TVA this week, Happiness paints the portrait of François Plante (Michel Charette), a teacher who, after a nervous breakdown, decides to leave everything to go and settle in the countryside. All surrounded by a loving spouse (Sandrine Bisson), a lazy son (Sam-Éloi Girard), a passive-aggressive stepmother (Louise Bombardier), a conspiratorial stepfather (Guillaume Cyr ), a macho best friend (Patrice Dubois) and a silly real estate agent (Monika Pilon).

Since it is a creation of François Avard, the series includes many lines that are not only funny, but murderous. The creator of Grumpy There are many topical messages there, including on immigration, social media, political correctness, consumerism and education.

“Yes, it denounces business, but we flay everyone, assures Michel Charette. Clean television is okay, but it’s fun to shake the cage a bit every now and then. ”

Back to basics

Speaking of cage, Michel Charrette stirred his own by joining the cast of the series Happiness, thanks to which he found the genre that propelled him to the start of his career: comedy. The general public may have forgotten it, but the lucky winner of three Gemini awards had forged a solid reputation as a comedic actor before one certain radio-Canadian daily overshadowed all the rest.

“I learned my job with Louis Saia, The Boys and Hell Radio, recalls the actor of 51 years. At the theater, I played in Ladies Night. ”

It is by obtaining the role of social worker Éric Pothier in 30 lives that Michel Charette began his dramatic turn in 2011. Originally, her character was only to appear in a handful of episodes, but author Fabienne Larouche felt inspired when she saw her performance, which she describes as “sensitive and fair”. The result: Pothier became an integral part of the school-based soap opera, which spanned four years.

“Michel is a great actor,” says Fabienne Larouche. He is capable of playing anything. ”

After 30 lives, the actor followed up with two major projects: The countries above in 2015 and District 31 in 2016.

The police drama almost slipped through his fingers, since at the start, Luc Dionne did not want “to know anything” about the actors of 30 lives. According to Michel Charette, the author ofOmertà wanted to make a clean sweep to avoid any comparison between the two daily. But at the insistence of producers Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, Dionne finally gave in. This is how Michel Charette inherited the character of Bruno Gauvin, homicide detective sergeant who arrived at the station after a few weeks.

The rest is in the public domain: after a name change (Bruno Gauvin became Bruno Gagné), Michel Charette joined Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Vincent-Guillaume Otis and Gildor Roy in the credits of the emerging television phenomenon.

“In Quebec, we are full of players. There are 500 who want my job. So I have the right to be tired sometimes, but never to be tired, because I am privileged. When I have to get up at 4 a.m. to District, I’m happy because I’m going to play. My job is to play. I get paid to play. It’s still great when you think about it. ”

Michel Charette is also filled with gratitude towards Fabienne Larouche. “It allows me to earn a good living. I think we’re good for each other. We built a relationship of trust. District gave me a notoriety that I did not have before. The doors open more easily now. People listen to me. ”

The after-District 31

Michel Charette resumed filming of District 31 in December. Everything indicates that Bruno Gagné will find his colleagues after having treated his depression. His brief appearance in fashion Zoom, just before the holidays, heralded a comeback in great shape.

Kept in secrecy, the actor is stingy with comments on the future of the detective sergeant. Fortunately, he turns out to be much more talkative about hers. On the side of the theater, after having walked the boards of the Rideau Vert last spring in The real world? by Michel Tremblay, he is preparing to defend the play on tour. The troupe is expected in Europe in 2023 or 2024. In addition to writing a play for next summer with François Chénier, he is preparing a solo show.

On the TV side, pending confirmation of the return of the series Happiness (a possible second season), he designs at ComediHa! a series tentatively titled Marco Lachance. In short, Michel Charette sets the table for the afterDistrict 31. He has no idea when that period will come, but one thing is certain, he will be ready.

“I get more and more involved in projects. It feels good. I always want to remain an interpreter, but if I get the chance to widen my sandbox a bit by becoming an ideator of something, so much the better! It’s fun when your brain is used for something other than learning text! ”

TVA will broadcast Happiness Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. starting January 5. District 31 resumes the ICI Télé antenna this Monday at 7 p.m.