Every day, a personality invites herself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Today, the actor, Jacques Gamblin. This Wednesday, May 17, 2023, he is showing the film “The Standing Man” by Florence Vignon with Zita Henrot.
Jacques Gamblin is an actor, playwright and writer. A lover of boards for more than 40 years, he occupies an important place in the hearts of the French. An audience who discovered him in 1995 at the cinema in the film soft pedal, by Gabriel Agion. Since then, he has come a long way, with films shot with the greatest directors and the profession, which has also hailed his interpretations. He received a Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2002 for pass by Bertrand Tavernier and two Molières in 2018 and 2022. This Wednesday, May 17, 2023, he is showing the film standing man by Florence Vignon with Zita Henrot.
franceinfo: In standing man, you embody a sales rep at the end of your professional career who has devoted his life to achieving his sales objectives while maintaining this human side that is dear to you. This role seems to be tailor-made…
Jacques Gamblin: I always think that a character is an encounter at a crossroads. We each walk on our edge and then we meet, we say to each other: “Good morning“, we sympathize. And then we take a third road which is that of both of us. And I really liked this character who is passionate about this work. What seduced me in the first place was his work. A representative in wallpaper, already, it’s improbable and I said to myself: that’s good, we’re going to enter a world.
I like going into a professional world on a film where we will learn things like on wallpaper!
Jacques Gamblinat franceinfo
Faced with this character that you embody, there is a young HRD who is responsible for pushing him out because you have to make room for young people. This film is dramatically real: we feel the weight of people who are not very far from retirement and who have trouble going all the way.
Yes, because the world has changed and he hasn’t. So he has one thing going for him is that he makes his numbers so we can’t fault him. But it’s an old fashioned way. He needs contact with the customer. He knows that you have to listen to people. And that, it is not with mail order that we listen to people. And then there is this character played by Zita Henrot, superbly, who is caught between a rock and a hard place. She is committed, absolutely needs this job and finds herself in a dead end having to push this guy out when he doesn’t want to. This guy is a bit obstinate, even temperamental because when you scratch him on the wrong side, he reacts strongly and for all that, after having found him weird and not very likeable, a very nice bond will be established between them. It’s a very human film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo3t9n9EWPU
At work, finally, we create a family. But what keeps you going is often the family you have outside of this professional family. You, your family was very solid. There is a word that did not exist for your parents, it was the word ‘tired’. I feel like they gave you the love of work.
This is the link that I made immediately with the choice to participate in this film. On my mother’s side, it’s been a family of merchants for generations and this film is about that. He talks about this wallpaper sales representative who goes to his shops to sell his rolls, the latest pattern, etc. And me, I knew that so well, as a kid, to see these commercial travelers who came and who seduced my mother to sell her, not wallpaper, but plates, cutlery or household appliances, etc.
My parents taught me courage, honesty, a job well done. They taught me a lot of values, that’s for sure. I owe them a lot.
Jacques Gamblinat franceinfo
You have always kept this secret garden, this part of modesty. Was it important for you, precisely, to protect yourself on this journey?
Yes, because overexposure scares me, actually. I like things a little rare, so I’m not someone who gives everything. It’s a job. I am the. I speak to listeners who listen to me. I do it once in a while because a movie or a show is coming up, but my life is mine and I protect it. Yes, I protect myself a lot. I don’t want to be trained like a mad horse that we no longer control, or else it’s in a very limited period of time. I need my little decor: salt water, green grass!
When you look closely, you have actually built your life a bit like a sportsman, but with long-distance running in mind.
It is also the origin. That is to say that when I started running around 11, doing cross country in the slush, in winter, and training in Normandy under the fleet and alone, it really shaped me also in relation to a career. To say no to things, yes to others, is not easy. One wonders what will happen if I say no here, accept the moment when there is nothing left and at the same time build a serenity elsewhere, another life, another bubble, other passions so as not to leave too many room for concern. And that, I think sport has given me a lot, a lot.
Are you calm today?
Ah yes, I want to say more than ever. Because when I turn around and I already see all this, it’s still a big surprise to have had this chance to do all this. And then after, now, I tell myself that everything is more what! I don’t need anything so when it happens it’s a joy. I’m not running after anything, for once, I continue to run after nothing.