The love of the theater sometimes arrives by an unsuspected way. For Irdens Exantus, a Quebec actor of Haitian origin, this passion was born within the walls of a Protestant church in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville district, where he grew up.
The actor who plays the main role in the play fourteen à La Licorne says: “I grew up in church and there is something very theatrical in the preaching of the pastor. The Haitian community also has a very theatrical side! »
In this church where Irdens Exantus also played music – saxophone and piano – a dream germinated: that of doing like his inspirations of the time Denzel Washinton, Will Smith or Didier Lucien, he who shone then in the series In a galaxy near you.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Didier Lucien on the film set In a galaxy near you 2in 2007
Seeing a young racialized actor who physically looked like me, who was funny and whom people liked, had a big impact. I admire actors who remain very close to their Afro-descendants and who remain honest.
Irdens Exantus about Didier Lucien
Life will give him a big boost to achieve his goal: despite his lack of training, the director Philippe Falardeau chooses him to play Souverain Pascal in the film Guibord is going to war. His performance will earn him the award for best supporting actor at the 2016 Quebec Cinema Gala.” Starboard confirmed that art was more than a hobby for me. This role changed my life,” said the 28-year-old actor.
Didier Lucien gave him a hand for his entrance auditions at the National School. He is also the one who directs the play. fourteen. “Irdens is the most gifted young actor I have ever coached. He is hardworking and he always gives you more than you ask for. When I started working on the piece fourteen, Irdens was still at school, but I knew he was the one I wanted. »
In fourteen, Irdens Exantus plays Colin, a novelist hired to write a detective TV series with three colleagues. However, the atmosphere within the group cracks when reality, not always as smooth as on television, interferes in their creative process.
“When I finished reading the play, I said to myself: this is so topical. Author Jason Sherman really talks about our society by addressing issues such as diversity, the place of women, racial profiling, our relationship to power, the notion of integrity. It’s done with finesse. There is a lot of humor, but we also see the big ugly reality as it is today. We have access to what people say in their living room, but that they don’t necessarily dare to say in the public space. It’s an important show. »
The project strikes very personal chords in the young man. “It awakens small wounds in me, in my reality as a young racialized Quebecer. But it also affects my militant side which wants to change things without knowing what is the best way. Should we wait and slowly climb the ladder or break down doors while speaking louder? How far do you have to go into a system to hope to change it? »
The actor believes that beyond the question of diversity on the boards and on TV, it is time to make room for the stories of the various communities of Quebec. “It’s important to be able to tell your own story. I can see myself writing one day, to make others want to tell their story in turn, until we have a great playwright or a great director of Haitian origin! »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Irdens Exantus in the series larrywith Benoît Gouin
Many in two years
Until he takes up the pen, Irdens Exantus is taking advantage of the fine projects available to him. He cites the example of the series Fragments, presented on ICI Tou.tv, in which he plays Édouard Bibeau, a young visual artist who is looking for himself. “It’s a shoot that made me grow like no one else. I know it will remain in my life. »
He also has a lead role in the series. larry (also at ICI Tou.tv) and will be in the distribution of High demolition, adaptation of the novel by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard expected in the spring at Séries Plus. In the theater, he will be part of Romewhich brings together Shakespeare’s five Roman plays in a single performance.
In short, his curriculum vitœ is impressive for a young person who left school barely two years ago, in the midst of a pandemic. To say that, during this pandemic, he had a moment of doubt: “I worked in a youth center as an intervention officer. Helping gave meaning to my life. I wondered if I should reorient myself, but I realized that I would get sick without arts in my life! »
fourteen is presented from January 17 to February 25 at La Licorne.