Simon Boulerice loves dancing. For anyone familiar with his work, this is obvious. After all, hasn’t he already written himself a solo show called Simon always liked to dance ? As we said, Simon Boulerice is fond of dancing… except tango. “It’s too much seduction, the tension is unbearable! exclaims the author, actor, poet and director. I prefer swing, it’s more relaxed! »
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
If one is surprised to suddenly hear Simon Boulerice discuss dance, it is not (only) because he speaks faster than his shadow and has just taken control of the interview. That’s because he explains why he’s already been swept away by the hurricane of dating apps, which usually require little effort to charm the other person engaged in the virtual exchange.
“Seduction has never been my strength. I’ve never been good at it. And that’s not something that really interests me. »
This period spent on Tinder, Grindr and company inspired Simon Boulerice to publish, in 2016, geolocate love, a novel by poems which, six years later, adopts the form of a series which will land this week on the Extra of ICI Tou.tv. Composed of 10 episodes of about ten minutes each, this autofiction for adults, directed by Nicolas Legendre-Duplessis, depicts the sexcapades – sometimes funny, sad, disappointing and difficult – of a protagonist with a pedigree identical to his. Despite everything, Simon Boulerice, who embodies the hero on the screen, refuses to speak of an autobiographical series.
There are elements that are true [dans Géolocaliser l’amour], but most are invented or borrowed. It is a sum of lived facts and observations.
Simon Boulérice
Has it ever been done ghost ? Has he ever been “turned around” five seconds after arriving at his “match”? Has he ever banged the janitor at an elementary school immediately after giving a lecture there? If he does not want to separate the true from the false, Simon Boulerice certainly has fun blurring the line between reality and fiction in geolocate love. It is also his real best friend, Jocelyn Lebeau, who portrays his best friend on the screen. The archival footage used in each of the episodes is all authentic, like its passage to Everybody talks about it in 2013.
“There’s a scene where Simon gives a guy fellatio when he’s asleep. I find it very funny as a situation! But I won’t say if it was me who experienced that! »
a rape
geolocate love combines comedy and drama. In the fourth episode, the series takes a disturbing turn by presenting a scene of rape, when Simon’s quest leads him to Marc-Antoine, a narcissist with little regard for others.
Simon Boulerice wanted to include this sequence in the television adaptation.
I thought it was important that we show a scene of homosexual rape. Because it’s rare that we see that. But it exists.
Simon Boulérice
The filming of the extract, meticulously choreographed, went well, says the talkative artist. Once the scene was set up, however, Radio-Canada executives deemed it too explicit. They demanded that it undergo some alterations, to cover the frontal nudity of actor Gabriel Lemire, who plays the aggressor.
“It was very raw, recognizes Simon. We can say that we added mystery in post-production. »
PHOTO ALEXIA LACHANCE, PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Marc-Antoine (Gabriel Lemire) and Simon (Simon Boulerice) in geolocate love
Like a sad song
Revisiting this darker period, full of disappointments in love of all kinds, did not displease the principal concerned. On the contrary. Listening to him speak, the experience was even pleasant.
“I liked it for the same reasons I like to listen to sad songs. Songs that make you cry, it drains. It’s not something that pulls me down. »
I have a lot of tenderness for what I was, for my crooked side. I felt alone, yet I was surrounded by friends. There was a form of confusion in me. I was so overwhelmed with love, I hoped so much for the fairy tale… When I think back to this period, I would like to hug myself and say: “It’s going to be fine, my little guy”. Kind of like a big brother.
Simon Boulérice
Simon Boulerice does not wish to condemn dating applications with geolocate love. After all, it was on one of them that he met his boyfriend of the last five years.
“It’s a summary: there are great people as there are unpleasant people. I met some very playful encounters there, even when it didn’t lead to anything. »
The desire to play
Although he has a DEC in performance from Collège Lionel-Groulx, Simon Boulerice is better known as an author to the general public. In recent years, however, his acting career has taken more place. He notably wrote himself a role in six degreesa role he expands from season to season.
Unlike Xavier Dolan, who basically wrote I killed my mother to afford the opportunity to play, the jack-of-all-trades does not consider geolocate love as a business card that could convince directors to retain his services as an actor.
“If I had been younger, maybe. But I just turned 40. I’m detached from it all. When I came out of theater school, I wanted to act so badly. But things weren’t happening. So I wrote a lot. I had a small theater company with Sarah Berthiaume. I was doing dramas. We won prizes. Then I started writing novels. It was going great. It allowed me to earn a living. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Simon Boulérice
The workaholic has also given himself a small role – that of a librarian – in Pet, his next series expected on Noovo next fall. Filming for a few days, the drama directed by Marie-Claude Blouin and Félix Tétreault will describe an illicit love between a 37-year-old French teacher, defended by Evelyne Brochu, and her 17-year-old student, camped by Lévi Doré.
The scenario obviously recalls the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, this teacher and mother, who had been sentenced to seven years in prison in the United States for having had a sexual relationship with Vili Fualaau, her then 12-year-old student.
“I wanted to depict an obviously reprehensible area, but more blurred, specifies the scriptwriter. I thought it was interesting to show a student cruising his teacher, going towards her. »
Break the image?
With geolocate love and PetSimon Boulerice obviously moves away from Simon Boulerice, who has written about twenty children’s novels and participated in the writing of the revival of Master key at Tele-Quebec. Aware of the cleavage, the main interested party does not seem to take offense.
It’s not an image I’m trying to shatter. Because it’s me, both of them. I am multiple, like everyone else. I have a colorful side, but I also have a more dramatic side.
Simon Boulérice
“When the trailer for geolocate love came out, the comments were mostly positive, but there was still one lady who wrote to me: “I prefer you when you smile.” It is certain that at Good evening ! or that at Télé-Québec with Marc Labrèche, I smile a lot. When the camera turns on, I turn on completely. But I am also able to switch off completely. Michel Tremblay once told my boyfriend: “It must not be easy living with Simon. My boyfriend replied that on the contrary, it’s even a little flat. And that’s true ! On a daily basis, when I write, I am really centered and silent. »
geolocate love lands on ICI Tout.tv Extra on Thursday. Simon Boulerice continues to participate in Good evening ! on HERE TV. He will also work on Sweety saltyback on May 23 at TVA.