As incredible as it may seem, Rémy Girard has never won a Jutra or Iris for one of his roles on the big screen. For his 25e Sunday edition, on the airwaves of Noovo, the Gala Québec Cinéma is forgiven by awarding it the tribute prize. It was the least he could do for an actor of his caliber, one of the few to have had as much success in critically acclaimed art-house films as in popular comedies that were acclaimed at the box office.
Due to his versatility, Rémy Girard has long been one of the most sought-after members of the Artists’ Union. However, this recognition was to say the least late for the man who, until the beginning of the 1980s, was an illustrious unknown in the eyes of the general public, earning his living as best he could on the stage in Quebec. It is in the old capital, at the Trident, that he will perform a scene written by Denys Arcand for The 7 Quebec sins, a play put on by Raymond Cloutier in the midst of post-referendum depression. It was love at first sight professionally, which still lasts to this day.
“Denys came to see me afterwards and he told me that I had played his words exactly as he heard them in his head when he wrote them. He didn’t tell me at the time, but he already saw me in his films. When he offered me the lead role in The decline, the producers didn’t want to know anything at first, because I wasn’t known at all. In the end, Denys held his ground, and we have to admit that history proved him right,” says Rémy Girard, while showing great modesty.
I get attached to my characters, but I’ve never had trouble letting go of them. […] I always look to the future, the past doesn’t really interest me.
Rémy Girard probably doesn’t like to show off. Naming his notable roles is a difficult exercise for him. He’s not the type to dwell on his memories anyway. “I get attached to my characters, but I have never had trouble letting go of them. I love playing Pogo, for example, but I’m not inhabited by Pogo when I go home. I always look to the future, the past doesn’t really interest me,” he confides, devoid of any pretension.
Few regrets
It is undoubtedly because he approaches his characters with a certain detachment that he was able to play so many of them, and in often diametrically opposed registers. His resume impresses, in cinema and on television. Jesus of Montreal, La Florida, Les Boys, Scoop, La petite vie, Les Bougon, Incendies… The list is too long to name all the projects in which he participated. However, it is impossible to ignore Barbarian invasionss by Denys Arcand, the only Quebec feature film to have received the Oscar for best foreign language film.
His performance earned him a place in the rankings of New York Times of the 20 actors to watch for 2004. At the time, some were convinced that he was predestined for a career in the United States or France. But in the end, the opportunities never presented themselves.
“Honestly, I didn’t work very hard on it. It was not an ambition. In France, there was a moment after Barbarian invasions, where I thought it would rise. I even had a manager there. But in the end, not much happened. It was especially Marie-Josée Croze who benefited from it. Just too bad », summarizes Rémy Girard, looking indifferent.
Could things have been different if he had prioritized certain projects over others? Maybe, but Rémy Girard has no regrets. Almost nothing, since he still bites his fingers over having refused the leading role in THE seller by Sébastien Pilote, an award-winning film, which earned Gilbert Sicotte the Jutra for best actor in 2012. “I don’t know why I didn’t jump on this role. I would really like to get back together and work with Sébastien Pilote. It’s a regret for me, but certainly not for him, because Gilbert was extraordinary,” he says without resentment.
Rémy Girard has only good words for his colleagues. In an interview, the actor is incapable of the slightest malice. Even his films which were both demolished by critics and shunned by the public, like Hotdog Or Pierre’s happiness, he refuses to say the slightest bad thing about it. “When we shoot a comedy, we know in advance that it risks being panned by critics, and I live very well with that. But you never know if what you shoot will come out well on screen. It’s only in the editing that we see it. Pierre’s happinessI’m not saying that it’s my greatest film, but it at least allowed me to shoot with Pierre Richard, which was a fantastic experience,” he emphasizes good-naturedly.
Modesty, the secret of success
Besides Pierre Richard, Rémy Girard will have given the answer to other giants of cinema, such as Jean Rochefort (in Crazy lover by Robert Ménard) or even Marlon Brando (Free Money by Yves Simoneau). “I have never seen these actors have big heads,” he emphasizes, as advice to actors who are starting out in the profession.
In any case, he always tried not to become an ego monster. “Ask any director I’ve worked with, they’ll all say I’m not difficult. I’m not the type of actor who locks himself in his dressing room between takes. I like to stay on set. I love seeing the technicians position themselves for the next scene. I like to know what lighting the director will have chosen,” explains Rémy Girard, who is still far from retirement at 73, even if he has slowed down a little in recent years.
The actor also returned from France for the release there of Will, by Denys Arcand. He will also be in the distribution next year of André Forcier’s new film, Ababouiné. Other projects are to come. So much the better, because “the place in the world where I am happiest remains a film set,” he confesses.