In general, Marie-Soleil Dion speaks quickly. But this morning, its flow reached an unmatched speed. A flood of words per minute that would even make Louis-José Houde jealous. The second coffee she tasted had something to do with it, as was the prospect of going on vacation soon. But more than anything, we feel the actress galvanized by the abundance of projects that have occupied her non-stop for six months.
Since September, she has been putting on the recordings of a new magazine entitled It’s human, which will land on Télé-Québec in January. We are talking about a 30-minute daily in which Marie-Soleil Dion, supported by Manal Drissi, Meeker Guerrier and 13 experts and scientists, will try to understand human behavior.
An example of questions that she will address during this first season? Why don’t we like cleaning and what can we do to appreciate it more?
“I really learned a lot of things! exclaims Marie-Soleil Dion in an interview with Press. I refer to the show all the time. Is my son in his bath? I’m like, “I know why your fingers are shriveling, because we talked about it the other day!” Bea [Béatrice, fille de Louis-Olivier Mauffette, son conjoint] tells me that she is sure she will pass her math exam, I’m like, “Watch out, it could be the Dunning-Kruger effect, where we overestimate our skills in something we don’t know much about, and that ‘you underestimate yourself in something you have mastered. ” ”
I have really become that shrewd girl who wants to show all the notions she has acquired!
Marie-Soleil Dion
Those who have known Marie-Soleil Dion for a long time will not be surprised to learn that she is enjoying herself at the helm of It’s human.
“I have always been first in class, admits the main interested. I liked school. Yes, I had good grades, but above all, it interested me. Both my parents are in education. Before each school year, I went with them to wash the desks, prepare the classes… I liked the smell of the hallways, clean tables, textbooks… ”
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Marie-Soleil Dion during the recording of It’s human
Marie-Soleil Dion auditioned for It’s human. Although she did not have a lot of experience in animation, apart from It will be fine (with Fabien Cloutier), We play doctor and Lip Sync Battle: face to face (with Joël Legendre), the actress stood out.
“We wanted a unifying, sparkling and curious personality, and Marie-Soleil is all of those things,” explains producer Julie Lavallée at Trio Orange. In addition, she has a lot of repartee. It really is a perfect match. ”
A new hat
On this last day of recording, Marie-Soleil Dion may describe herself as “a cell phone with 2% battery”, nothing appears. It must be said that another project keeps it bubbling at the end of the year: the release of Gazebo on the ICI Tou.tv Extra.
For this series of 10 10-minute episodes, the actress also put on her author’s hat. With Louis-Olivier Mauffette, she signs the texts – and stars – of a vitamin comedy which tells the tribulations of a couple of Montreal actors, Marie and Loulou, who moves to the suburbs with Mathilde (Mathilde Boucher), a adolescent born from a former union of Loulou, and Paul, their baby.
This is us, but exponent 1000.
Marie-Soleil Dion.
This precision reassures us, since in Gazebo, Loulou is curiously obsessed with Patrice Godin, panics at the idea of losing his hair and adopts an alpaca to fulfill his dream of becoming self-sufficient in Boucherville. As for Marie, she goes out of her way to star in Xavier Dolan’s next film, but ends up in the remake of Bibi and Geneviève. “I’m tired of being the comedian on duty!” », She launches in a scene.
Avec un CV qui comprend des titres comme Like-moi, Caméra café, Ça décolle ! et Tranches de vie, Marie-Soleil Dion est effectivement devenue une spécialiste des séries humoristiques depuis sa sortie du Conservatoire d’art dramatique du Québec, en 2007. Mais contrairement à Marie, elle n’en fait pas une maladie.
« C’est un running gag avec mon chum : j’ai fait le Conservatoire, j’ai joué Iphigénie, je pensais faire des drames, et finalement, je fais Atomes crochus ! », rigole-t-elle.
Renouer avec l’écriture
Marie-Soleil Dion souhaitait se lancer dans l’écriture depuis quelque temps. Elle a conçu une série avec Tammy Verge, mais leur projet semble avoir du plomb dans l’aile. Gazebo a émergé au cours d’un souper « sushis-Benny » (les autres mangeaient des sushis ; elle s’est fait livrer du poulet) avec Valérie Beaulieu, productrice et présidente de Trinome & filles.
J’ai toujours eu ça en moi. C’est quelque chose que je faisais au Conservatoire : j’écrivais du théâtre avec mon ami Steve Gagnon. On avait des projets, mais la vie est arrivée.
Marie-Soleil Dion
« En sortant de l’école, je pensais que j’allais faire des shows au Périscope à Québec, mais j’ai été chanceuse, et j’ai pogné Vrak la vie. Ça a tout changé. Ça m’a catapultée dans le métier. J’ai déménagé à Montréal, j’ai fait Dieu merci, et tout s’est enchaîné super rapidement. Le temps de m’asseoir et d’écrire, je ne l’ai pas eu. J’aime ma job, j’aime ma vie, je travaille beaucoup, je suis privilégiée, mais des fois, j’étais comme : la créatrice, la fille du Conservatoire qui voulait créer des choses, qui voulait écrire, elle est rendue où ? »
De Contre-offre à ÉquiLibre
Entre deux pubs de RBC à Montréal ou Toronto, La semaine des 4 Julie et L’échappée, Marie-Soleil Dion a également tourné dans Contre-offre en 2021, cette comédie dans laquelle elle campe l’agente immobilière Christine Lévesque. Déjà offerte sur Crave, la deuxième saison sera relayée par Noovo dès janvier.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE
L’été dernier lors du tournage de Contre-offre
L’actrice poursuit également ses activités comme porte-parole d’ÉquiLibre, un organisme qui prône une image corporelle positive.
« Pour les femmes, c’est difficile de vieillir à l’écran, observe l’actrice de 37 ans. C’est pour ça que c’est inspirant de voir des femmes comme Kate Winslet [dans Mare of Easttown] who go: “Fuck it. I will show myself as I am. Without retouching. ” We talk a lot about cultural diversity on TV, but we also have to talk about bodily diversity. ”
There have to be different models. The boy with a weight problem, it would be fun if he saw himself other than in the role of the little fat who must lose weight or in the role of rejection.
Marie-Soleil Dion
The subject obviously fascinates the actress. You can hear her at the rate at which she utters her sentences.
“When I was young, I had a Today’s girls per month, and I still managed to hit myself on the head. Today, young people see 600 images per day on their phones. Most retouched. It is inhuman, the social pressure which one puts on them to correspond to such or such standard of beauty. ”
On this flight, Marie-Soleil must go. The records of It’s human must begin. The actress-author-host greets us and leaves to join the film crew. Not to mention his coffee.
Télé-Québec presents It’s human Monday to Thursday at 6.30 p.m. from January 3. Noovo is broadcasting the second season of Counter offer from Tuesday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m. Gazebo landed in the Véro.tv section of ICI Tou.tv Extra on Friday.