Suzanne Clément on a daily basis at Radio-Canada

Here’s a good scoop fresh out of the oven: it’s Suzanne Clément who has landed the lead role in the new daily drama series that will replace District 31 this autumn.

It’s an excellent take for Radio-Canada, because Suzanne Clément rarely plays on Quebec TV. His last presence here dates back to the soap opera Unit 9where she played sassy inmate Shandy Galarneau, a role she left in the spring of 2013 when her one-year contract expired.

According to my information, this novelty, whose title has not yet been found, will take place in the hospital environment and will bear the signature of the author Marie-Andrée Labbé (Without an appointment, Too much). Let the fans be reassured, Marie-Andrée Labbé has completed the writing of the second season of the comedy Without an appointment before throwing himself, solo, into the scriptwriting marathon of a daily show. A task that requires thunderous energy, combined with iron discipline.

In this medical series, which will include 120 half-hours per year, as District 31Suzanne Clément will play emergency physician Emmanuelle Lacombe, attached to a major Montreal hospital.

The sets for this health establishment will be built in MEL’s studios in Saint-Hubert, the same place where the detective sergeants of 31 interrogate their suspects. Danièle Méthot, collaborator of Fabienne Larouche since Virginiawill remain the director-coordinator.

In theory, Suzanne Clément will cross swords with Sébastien Delorme of TVA, who inherited the leading role in the daily series Indefensibleby author Nadine Bismuth (A family bond), scheduled for the September schedule.

Other interesting information: Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau from Aetios will co-produce this daily soap opera with Guillaume Lespérance from the company A Média (Guys, Discussions with my parents, Everybody talks about it). An alliance that few observers saw coming in the middle of the tv.

“This is the first time that Fabienne Larouche and I are going to collaborate. I discovered at Aetios people who are like me. I have a lot of admiration for hard-working people who have the knife between their teeth,” Guillaume Lespérance indicated in a telephone interview.

It was not possible to speak with Suzanne Clément on Monday. In the last 10 years, the 52-year-old actress has mainly participated in French TV series, including Versailles, The forest, Vampires and skidsall on Netflix except Versailleshosted by Crave.

The rare presence of Suzanne Clément in the credits of a Quebec series caused an uproar behind the scenes, I am told. It is that the actress was also to join the cast of the new miniseries Pet that Simon Boulerice wrote for the Noovo channel, owned by Bell Media. Suzanne Clément would have played the mother of Sandrick (Lévi Doré), a 17-year-old student who has an illicit relationship with his 37-year-old French teacher, Chanelle Chouinard (Évelyne Brochu), known as Chouchou.

The recruitment of Suzanne Clément in Pet was to be made public on Thursday, March 17 during a virtual press conference. This announcement never happened.

Because the day before the unveiling, Radio-Canada and Aetios learned that Noovo and Bell Media were preparing to pull the rug out from under them by trumpeting – as a preview – the great return of Suzanne Clément in a Quebec fiction. Panic in the tower, you imagine.

In Pet, Suzanne Clément would have obtained ten days of filming. In the new medical series, Suzanne Clément will have a hundred, ten times more. The actress, who had to commit to several seasons at Radio-Canada, had to make a choice.

Why ? Because the headliners of daily series sign a tacit exclusivity clause. These stars are paid very well for their services and are expected to dedicate themselves to only one project. For six years, Vincent-Guillaume Otis, aka Detective Sergeant Patrick Bissonnette, has only appeared in District 31. And if Michel Charette could cross in Happiness to VAT is that a) District 31 was coming to an end and b) the same producer was making the schedules.

According to Suzanne Clément’s agent, Maxime Vanasse, “there was no war between Bell and Radio-Canada, and Suzanne Clément simply had to choose between two interesting projects,” he said.

According to my spies, the people at Bell Media would not have appreciated losing Suzanne Clément in these competitive circumstances. The producer of PetVicky Bounadère, from Pass Go (Lou and Sophie, the academy), preferred not to comment on the withdrawal at the last minute of Suzanne Clément. According to sources familiar with the matter, the box Pass Go did indeed have a contract duly negotiated with the actress.

Bell Media confirms that yes, Suzanne Clément was approached for a role in the series Petwithout however specifying why the actress withdrew a few hours before the press conference of the project of Simon Boulerice.