Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Between Louise Turcot’s youth and wisdom, there is a long career, hundreds of characters in all registers, and a simple but all-consuming passion.
But today, the actress wants roles closer to her life experience. She no longer wants to be forced to get younger to practice her profession. Nor to hide her wrinkles and dye her hair in order to embody ever younger women. “On television, the grandmother is 50 years old and has botox,” she confided in 2019, when her book was published. Letter to a young actress.
From now on, Louise Turcot wants to defend the roles of women who look like her, female profiles that we don’t see enough of in fiction on our screens. “It’s rare that actresses of my age are asked [77 ans] to interpret an old woman who is not suffering or suffering from cancer [ou d’une autre maladie]or even dying, ”says the grandmother of eight grandchildren.
Of course, in society, there are sick, vulnerable elderly people – the pandemic is making us cruelly aware of this! But there are also strong women of 80, 85, who are independent, very autonomous.
Louise Turcot
“The elderly are not all sick in Quebec; although we all inevitably go there, one day or another,” she adds.
Hence her happiness when Bellefeuille Production offered her the role of an 80-year-old woman, named Victorine, in Our Lady of Monctona feature film by Denise Bouchard, based on a screenplay by Acadian author Mélanie Léger.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
Laurie Gagné and Louise Turcot during the filming of Our Lady of MonctonNew Brunswick
An intergenerational friendship
The film tells the story of Anna (Laurie Gagné), who finds herself on the street and takes refuge clandestinely in the basement of Victorine’s house. When her husband (Gilles Renaud) dies, Victorine will have to overcome her grief and come to terms with her loneliness. Anna then decides to help this woman in her personal quest. “He’s a wonderful character! A woman bursting with energy. A fighter who always remains positive despite the hardships,” explains Turcot.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
At the filming location Our Lady of Monctondirected by Denise Bouchard
For the actress, this story of friendship between two women of different generations is a “real gift”: “The first day of filming, I watched Gilles [Renaud] telling him how wonderful I thought it was to find the atmosphere of a movie set. I wasn’t nervous at all. I must say that I was well prepared and that the field in Moncton is great. I have rarely seen such a close-knit team. Interpreters and technicians are [presque] all Acadians. They know each other and have worked together before. They come from all over New Brunswick. I discover the beauty of their different accents, their great pride. »
To put an end to stage fright
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
Louise Turcot with her husband Gilles Renaud
Louise Turcot played her last theatrical role in 2018, in The death of a traveling salesman, alongside Marc Messier, at the Rideau Vert. She was to go back on the boards in 2020 at Quat’Sous, with her husband Gilles Renaud, but the pandemic decided otherwise. “It had been on my mind for some time, but after the cancellation of the show at Quat’Sous, I decided to stop doing theatre. »
Why ?
Quite simply because I no longer enjoy going on stage. I’m way too stressed. It’s a huge job, to play in the theater. I’ve always had stage fright.
Louise Turcot
“When I played Blanche Dubois [dans Un tramway nommé Désir, en 1994], I was terrified in my dressing room, but I managed to control myself before arriving on the stage, she adds. Then, over time, I felt less and less well at the theatre. But it’s not dramatic. I am not at all nostalgic for my good years in the theater. I went elsewhere. That’s all. »
Between youth and old age, there are also wise words.
The output of Our Lady of Moncton is slated to hit theaters in late 2022 or early 2023.