Caesarized in 1995 for the film The Favorite Son by Nicole Garcia and for The taste of Others by Agnès Jaoui in 2001, Gérard Lanvin started at the café-théâtre alongside Coluche and Martin Lamotte. He established himself in manly roles, but also in comedy roles. The actor is also a singer since in May 2021, he released with his son Manu Lanvin, the album Down here. A concert is scheduled for May 27, 2022 at the Olympia. It is on view, this Wednesday, May 18, 2022, of the film I love what you do by Philippe Guillard with Artus.
franceinfo: You play your own role and I have the impression that this film is the definition of who you are in real life.
Gerard Lanvin: Yes. Anyway, it’s the life of an actor who goes on an American shoot, does a French part. These are the lives we usually have. It happens that there, we present this profession to the public. We explain to him how an actor takes the train and the implications of notoriety.
The effects of notoriety are good, that there is a lot of friendship on the part of people, but there is also sometimes invasion.
Gerard Lanvinat franceinfo
You will meet a character called Momo. He’s the jack of all trades, he knows how to do everything: repair the pool, cook, organize things, but above all, he’s a big fan of you. Have you ever found yourself in such a dramatic situation?
No, no, never. Me, at the beginning, I leave markets so contact with people is very simple because in my career as an actor, in my professional life, they saw that I did not use this notoriety to exist in another way. , that is to say, having the most beautiful table in the restaurant etc… I don’t live like that. They understood that I was in the simplicity of the thing.
You left the house very early. It hasn’t been easy. Your parents did not agree at all that you stop your studies. You found yourself having to survive, doing odd jobs to live, eat, build. How did it work to start from there?
Yes, except that the time allowed me to. The 1980s largely allowed us to move towards more ideal solutions than those proposed to us, that is to say the classic outlines of a possible career to begin, after the rungs to be climbed, all these hierarchies a little specific to certain jobs. I refused them.
My emotion was to be free, even if it means doing unrepresentative jobs.
Gerard Lanvinat franceinfo
The theater has always fascinated you. Very early on, you went to see Coluche, Miou-Miou for years. It’s really something that touches you, is that the starting point?
The café-théâtre yes. Me, I was at the Puces de Saint-Ouen, I met Martin Lamotte, I had a stand of American second-hand clothes, he was a big customer of that. I joined the story because Martin asked me if I knew anyone who had a truck. He had taken a joinery in the Marais, rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, it’s called Point-Virgule today. I said : ‘I have a truck, what is it for?’ To get rid of rubble. And we built this place for a year and a half with Roland Giraud, Martin Lamotte, Anemone. It still exists identically. If people go to see a show at Point-Virgule, they can enter a place that has never moved, it has remained the same.
Is that a pride?
Yes, because I walked past it not long ago. I still have nostalgia for the neighborhood. I love and the Marais. I don’t live here anymore, but when I come to Paris, I go for a walk in front of the Point-Virgule.
We wonder how you managed to keep it simple.
Me, I like to be alone. At home, I live in the countryside, I have a calm, happy life. For me, the best finesse is simplicity. From there, going to social events where people, out of interest, meet people who are there out of obligation, I don’t know how to do that. So I don’t force myself, it’s always been my nature.
A word on the stage that you share with your son, Manu, for the album Down here. The Olympia arrives on May 27. Has it also become one of the facets of your life?
It’s extraordinary. There, we come back from Switzerland, we did two concerts. I got deflowered in front of the public and all of a sudden, I’m in front of this Olympia and I say to myself: I’ve done this with Coluche so many times. Now it’s my turn. It’s weird. But as much as I was nervous, now I know it works because these are your words and you say them to people who want to hear them. And besides, it’s bringing a terrible force behind you which is an exceptional group. It’s an incredible adventure that we all experienced with this first confinement, instead of getting bored, my son and I were in Paris, we worked on an album.
We have the feeling that this link is very strong and, moreover, is getting stronger and stronger.
Yes, he is very strong. I have two sons and the youngest is in Brazil, he is a DJ and he will come to the Olympia with us. We’re gonna be like Joe Cocker in the days of Mad Dogs and Englishmenthat is to say, there will be the family, my granddaughter, everyone will be on stage, except the dogs.