“I couldn’t escape the urge to do theatre”

André Dussollier is one of the most essential actors in French cinema. He was Caesarized three times for his roles in films: A heart in Winter (1992), The Officers’ Room (2001) or even We know the song (1997). He also received a Molière, in 2015, for the piece Novecento. His accuracy in his interpretations and his voice are what characterizes him and what, moreover, earned him recognition from critics and the public.

It has a double topicality. He is at the Bouffes Parisiens theater until March 25, 2023 with the play and creation Upside down that he designed, directed and performs. He invites great authors to share his love of words. And then, this Wednesday, March 8, 2023, he is starring in the film In full fire by Quentin Reynaud alongside Alex Lutz. The story of a father and a grandfather who no longer speak to each other, but who will have to face together a devastating fire in the heart of the Landes forest.

franceinfo: In full fire is between the disaster film and the psychological thriller. It recounts a natural disaster which, unfortunately, is reminiscent of the fires that occurred in previous summers around the world. It also tells of a conflicted relationship between father and son, also experienced by many. Is that what made you want to say yes?

Andre Dussollier: Yes, it is rare that I am offered subjects like that, well inscribed in reality. And there, there was indeed a double subject, that is to say that there was this forest fire which is spectacular in itself and which is worrying for those who are prisoners of the flames, and we saw in reality which has almost surpassed fiction since we shot this film before the big fires in the South-West of France, and then this relationship that there is between the father and the son, who are obliged to flee the flames like everyone else. We feel that there is a very heavy secret between them. Something difficult to solve. Obviously, the last things that we hide, that we retain, will be said. It also reveals what they may not have faced in the past. So there is this double confrontation. We are in a kind of closed session because we are locked in this car in the middle of the flames and there are a lot of ellipses, a lot of silences and these silences generate a kind of suspense. Me, I love silences because we can play without revealing everything, because words are going to be necessary at some point to say things to each other, but silences tell a little bit about what we are hiding, what ‘we don’t say, the answers we avoid giving, etc…

In ‘En plein feu’, there is really a tension which grows progressively by this way of looking at each other and which means that, really, we cannot avoid confront.

Andre Dussollier

at franceinfo

You’ve been playing since you were ten. Your father absolutely wanted you to study, which you did by obtaining two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree, but we still feel that it was a gut call that made you want to go further.

Yes, because when I was ten years old, when I discovered theater thanks to a French teacher, well, it was a new world that opened up to me. I felt like we could finally live intensely, maybe speaking the words of others, but letting out the emotions we were holding back in real life. So, all of a sudden, it was a multiplicity of situations, of worlds through which one could free oneself completely. Me, when I experienced that, it was like a multiplied childhood and so I was happy to do theatre. I have always done it alongside my studies, but in fact, I knew very well that I would not be a teacher. My passion meant that after a while, I said to myself: come on, I’m trying the adventure! There you go, I couldn’t escape this urge.

You were quickly admitted to the conservatory. These are the words that made you want to go on stage?

You are right to insist on the word: words. I read a novel that really impressed me, called Shots by Jean Meckert and which tells a love story between a man, a worker and a woman who has read a little more than him. They love each other madly, but little by little, the love story is falling apart and he no longer has the words to express himself and he ends up kicking. And I find, really, that we are in a society where, indeed, it is exactly the same scheme, that is to say that if people do not have the words to express their feelings, their ideas , well it ends in violent clashes. I had seen this already very young, where there were differences between those who had access to language and those who did not. And I find that this gap is getting bigger and bigger. This is also why, perhaps, that I want to make this show or these texts heard because all of a sudden, we have the impression that it brings us a little closer to the power of words.

In the room Upside down, the texts effectively reveal these great authors. You designed them, staged them. You interpret these texts, these extracts from literature, poems too, monologues that have always accompanied you. Did they also allow you to reveal yourself to yourself?

Yes, because obviously, by choosing texts, we tell ourselves a little bit. We talk about his tastes, his choices, his desires, his pleasures. And I realize that these are pleasures that are very shared.

Me, I like comedy so I don’t hesitate to put a lot of texts in ‘Upside Down’ which are funny. I love making people laugh or hearing people laugh. It’s a joy, it’s like in life.

Andre Dussollier

at franceinfo

Life is also the juxtaposition of funny moments and serious moments. You go from one to the other because you have to bounce back each time to avoid the tragedy that life imposes on you. Suddenly, this alternation like that, between comedy and seriousness, I like to propose it and live it.

We feel, in any case, that the theater is more than the cinema, it is yet another dimension.

This is the place of the actor. The theater is the very simple place where you can create a universe by playing.