Isabelle Demongeot was raped, like several other players, by her trainer. The sportswoman denounced him after more than 20 years of silence in a book published in 2007, Stolen service, published by Michel Lafon and succeeded in having him condemned in 2014. To play this role, the actress Julie de Bona read this book: “overwhelming, concerning” and met the sportswoman. “A shock meeting “ with “someone who is alive all the time. His pain is visible and always present”, explains Julie de Bona.
“I had to explain to him why I was doing this job, that I was going to try to transcribe his emotions as well as possible”, underlines the actress.
They talked together for hours and “we created an authentic relationship, we became friends and this woman still upsets me completely” she relates. Because Isabelle Demongeot, raped between 14 and 23 years old, “woke up 20 years and three months of silence later, we don’t know why” indicates Julie de Bona. “She is the pioneer, the one who unleashes this energy, which lifts mountains. She is going to be the driving force but cannot file a complaint due to the statute of limitations. Which is going to be her big drama, which she still wears. “
After the multiplication of revelations and scandals in sport, in the media, in the Church, Julie de Bona finds that this liberation of speech faces a complex situation: “At the beginning, this fight was necessary, happy, liberating, did good to everyone, she remembers. Then we realize today that it is not so simple, that it continues, that we still have to talk, that this fight is not over “, concludes Julie de Bona.