“If he looks like me, people will loathe him a lot”, declares Marc-Alexandre (Patrice Godin) to his friend Benoit (Martin-David Peters). The latter is writing a book inspired by the life of Marc-Alex. Or rather, of his lives. Because “the man who loved too much”, from the title of the new series by Anne Boyer and Michel d’Astous, it’s him. An antihero of a different caliber than the Dexter, Walter White and other Hannibal Lecters, but an antihero nonetheless.
His “crime”: for years, he has led a double life. And when the series begins, a third is budding. However, on the side of the screen where the viewer is located, it is uncomfortable. Perhaps more than serial murders, drug trafficking and even cannibalism, because we are in the plausible. In the “it could happen behind the next door”.
Moreover, the origin of the series in eight episodes directed by Yves Christian Fournier (Tomorrow of men, Blue moon) is in a true story: “A few years ago, an acquaintance told me that at the funeral of a man, in Saguenay, two families came to the funeral home, one from Chicoutimi and the other from Roberval. It was then that the children of the man in question discovered the double life that their father had led for twenty years, “Michel d’Astous told Tuesday during a press event where the media have viewed the first two episodes of the series.
With his accomplice, Anne Boyer, he then wondered how this kind of life (s) was lived, “organizationally”, emotionally and … technically (in the practical use of cell phones, of the alliance that we put and removed, etc.). Marc-Alexandre’s dailies have thus taken shape. In Montreal, in a life more anchored in the past with Josée (Hélène Florent) and their two adult children. In Magog, in a more recent family life with Geneviève (Fanny Mallette), their own daughter and her two children. And then there is Nadia (Nadira Tazi), young, fiery, whose vocabulary does not include the word “sharing”.
Big family bang
We know that the collision between these bubbles is imminent. Marc-Alex has a car accident, and the three women rush to the hospital, ignoring each other. The series opens on this, returns to it and continues to the rhythm of flashbacks forming the body of the episodes. “Just watching that earlier, I had a cold sweat,” drops Patrice Godin, evoking the stress that his character is experiencing.
The actor who played the very psychopathic Yanick Dubeau in District 31 likes to take professional risks. “He is very courageous, as an actor. Some will think of the public image that a role can induce. He is not there at all. So much the better, because we thought of him very quickly, says Michel d’Astous. We needed someone capable of being credible in the three Marc-Alexs. Someone, too, who can play control while exuding a great humanity, and who has a power of seduction. “
To all this is added another aspect which seduced the main interested party: “I love stories of espionage and spies, those people who compartmentalize their lives, who have secrets and who know secrets”, affirms the interpreter of Marc-Alexandre, character rich in secrets and expert in “compartmentalisation”, precisely. The first episodes also only lift the veil on a few of the keys that will allow us to understand it. And to love it?
“I have often said that it would not be a character that people will like, admits Patrice Godin. And I expected to hate him more. But at the same time, throughout the whole story, I realized that he’s not a villain. “
I love spy stories and spies, those people who compartmentalize their lives, who have secrets and who know secrets
“In fact, he’s honest with everyone… well, in a way,” adds Anne Boyer, eliciting a few laughs. One thing is certain, The man who loved too much has strengths, revealed from the first episodes: the very cinematographic realization of Yves Christian Fournier, his way of working with the actors by asking them to play with restraint, so that the viewer leans towards the characters, approach them. Feel them. And then, the undeniable quality of a high-caliber distribution led by Hélène Florent, in quiet strength; Fanny Mallette, vibrant; Nadira Tazi, hot. And Patrice Godin, whose charisma will be put to use… three times rather than once.