Audience : When did the idea for this piece come to you?
Benjamin Castaldi: It was four years ago. I was talking about my grandparents with a friend and my desire to make a play or a film around them. A classic cinema biopic seemed complicated to us, because many young people don’t know who Montand and Signoret were, but Marilyn Monroe does! And the adventure of Montand and Marilyn has something very contemporary. This is where this idea for a play about this moment in their lives came from, which was a founding event for the couple of Yves and Simone, both destructive and constructive, as paradoxical as that may seem.
Some critics weren’t kind to the piece, did that hurt you?
As soon as we step out of our comfort zone, we expose ourselves. I know there were a certain number, but I went beyond that because we worked so hard and I’m very proud of what we did!
What kind of grandparents were Montand and Signoret?
My grandmother was not the cake-baking type! She was anything but a housewife and the last time she had to cross a frying pan must have been in 1945! On the other hand, I have very strong memories when she was writing her autobiography. As she worked all day, I was a little bored. But when she was finished, we would meet on the terrace and blow soap bubbles. It was a quite poetic and moving moment. With Montand, I have a thousand memories. He took me on set, to the Bahamas, to the United States. I was very close to him.
“No, I’m not a megalomaniac”
The play is about love, betrayal and forgiveness. Are you the type to forgive in love, like your grandmother for your grandfather?
I think the forgiveness my grandmother gave was a facade of forgiveness. It was easier to forgive than to no longer love her, but I’m sure it was very complicated for her. Have I ever cheated? Yes. To be mislead ? I think the older you get, the easier it is to forgive. But what is really terrible is to project yourself and imagine your wife or husband with someone else. That’s what hurts like hell!
So, you prefer not to know if someone deceives you?
It’s better that I don’t know! I know myself: if I learned that, it would be very difficult for me to move on!
You have been married four times. Do you still believe in love and loyalty?
I believed in it every time, but even more so for ten years because I am lucky enough to be with Aurore. She is an amazing woman who knows exactly how to make every day like the first. She never lets everyday life take over our lives. It’s a rare quality.
Is that what explains the longevity of your story?
Yes, there is no weariness. If I go on vacation for three days, when I return, the reunion is always incredible: it is exceptional. She is an extraordinary altruist in love! I admire his will, his strength to move forward and to question himself every day.
And you, what are your main qualities in love? And your faults?
I’m a big nice guy! My biggest fault, on the other hand, is that I sometimes have difficulty saying things. When I’m caught red-handed, I have a hard time admitting that I did something stupid… It’s often unimportant, but I have a totally infantile side about it. For example, I go to buy something and I tell him that it cost 50 balls when it actually cost 500 balls…
You have never hidden your financial problems. Where are you today?
It’ll get better eventually, but I don’t really want to talk about it anymore. I was wrong to say how much I earned per month. I was proud of my achievement, but in reality it was a big mistake. If I had to change something in my career, it would be this! I was given an image that is not mine. People said I was a megalomaniac, but I’m not. I’ve never been a hardcore gamer either. People took me for a high roller, but that’s not true, and I’ve never been a show-off!
“My children have experienced greatness and decadence”
Did your children suffer from this image and your misadventures?
They experienced greatness and decadence. Even if this word is strong, they saw their house seized. I don’t know if they blamed me, but for them it was very hard.
Are you proud of them?
Yes, I am very proud of my four sons, even if the youngest is only 3 years old.
A return to TV, do you want it?
For the moment, it’s not my priority. I am preparing a thriller around reality TV with Angela Lorente, and a novel about the Montant-Monroe-Signoret episode in which I take my grandmother’s point of view. We are also trying to adapt the play to tour internationally. I’m open to anything, even if I would love a TV game or big bonuses!
Comments collected by Comments collected by Marie-Pierre Galinon
March 28, 1970
Birth of the son of Jean-Pierre Castaldi and Catherine Allégret, grandson of Yves Allégret and Simone Signoret. Yves Montand is his adoptive grandfather.
April 2001
After his television debut with Michel Drucker, he joined M6 to host the first French reality TV show, Loft Story.
August 27, 2016
Three months after his third divorce, Benjamin married Aurore Aleman. Both are parents of little Gabriel, born March 23, 2020.
2023
Since mid-September, Bungalow 21, written by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt on his idea, filled the Théâtre de la Madeleine in Paris.