Laeticia Hallyday chooses Raphaël Quenard to play Johnny in the cinema

It was while watching Quentin Dupieux’s film “Yannick” that Laeticia Hallyday decided to embark on this adventure with the new star of French cinema. The film is scheduled for release at the end of 2027.

Laeticia Hallyday announced to Paris Match in an article dated June 24, the release of an official biopic of Johnny Hallyday, directed by Cédric Jimenez and with Raphaël Quenard in the role of the singer, for December 2027.

The César for best male revelation in 2024, Raphaël Quenard, therefore seduced Laeticia Hallyday who chose him to play the artist, who died in 2017. “I was bowled over by his acting, his looks, his way of occupying space, of speaking, his spontaneity, his almost animal charisma… I said to myself that if an actor could embody Johnny in the cinema, it was him”, she confided to Paris Match (paid link).

It is while viewing Yannick, the feature film by Quentin Dupieux, that the widow of “Taulier” decided to embark on this adventure with the multifaceted actor. The new star of French cinema promises to devote himself entirely to this role.

Guardian of Johnny’s memory, Laeticia Hallyday received many offers that she ended up declining. “Something wasn’t right, the exchanges were complicated. I felt like I was betraying Johnny by embarking on projects that seemed to me to lack a bit of madness, of rock’n’roll”, she told the weekly. Everything happened very quickly.

The team is assembled: Hugo Sélignac in production, Cédric Jimenez in direction and Raphaël Quenard in interpretation. “Telling rock through Johnny is an extraordinary, exceptional project, that of a lifetime (…) To fully pay homage to him, we will have to allow ourselves, like him, to free ourselves from conventions”, observes the director of North Bac and of November.

“Raphaël will start by immersing himself on his own, week after week, month after month, eating, drinking and thinking Johnny to get closer to him. He mustn’t play, he must be Johnny when he arrives,” notes Cédric Jimenez.

Another film about Johnny Hallyday is in preparation. Directed by Jalil Lespert, Laeticia’s ex-partner for three years, and starring Mathias Schoenaerts, the release of Phoenix is scheduled for 2025. The official biopic, meanwhile, is expected for December 8, 2027.