If young Quebecers will soon return to classrooms, television and film productions are also preparing to make their comeback after a busy summer in filming. As many productions call on acting accompanists to supervise their young actors, The duty wondered about the place they occupy on the sets.
“I like the acting and the actors. What excites me is looking at them under the microscope. For 25 years, actress Félixe Ross has also been coach play, especially with children and adolescents. For example, she has worked on productions that have received many awards, such as Mr. Lazhar by Philippe Falardeau and Gabriella by Louise Archambault. Several children she accompanied have even won prizes.
“My job is to help young people build a character, understand the text and the emotional issues,” she explains with the enthusiasm of day one. Since I am neither a teacher nor a teleprompter, but coach, I play for the actors, I give them the rhythm and the intentions, which they can then appropriate, unless they choose to go further. For Félixe Ross, it’s all about achieving the best result, quickly. Even if it means crying in front of young people, who are sometimes non-actors, to show them real and authentic emotions, as was the case in Éric Piccoli’s series I would like to be erased.
Play for fun
To obtain a credible game, it is first essential for Félixe Ross to understand, to decode the child, because “no two are the same”. And to continue: “Nothing is less natural than to play. We are in a setting, we have a hairstyle, make-up, there is special lighting, cameras… As coach, I have to pay particular attention to the words I use, to the way I speak, so that the young person delivers a realistic and true game, to be the best possible. »
According to her, it is not because the actor is a child or a person with a disability that the acting cannot be excellent. “I’m a hard worker, but I’m not looking for discipline at all. I make the children talk and move in a way that is always playful, even if we then play dramatic scenes,” says Félixe Ross. Being a fine psychologist, empathetic and sympathetic is, according to her, the key to an exceptional result on screen.
“Good performers make good coaches game,” says filmmaker Annie St-Pierre — who directed the short film The big slaps (2021), featuring children, with the support of coaches Ariane Castellanos and Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. “Thanks to their know-how, they help the child find the right tone. It goes without saying, in my opinion. »
When he’s filming, Martin Tremblay, also an actor and passionate acting guide, tries to tell young people what he would have liked to hear at the start of his career. “There is no magic formula,” he warns. I adapt to each young person, I accompany them with a very relational approach, because I want trust to be established. »
Like his colleague Félixe Ross, he believes that the authority figure of the coach game is not part of the discipline. “There are a lot of expectations on a set, so it’s essential to include the notion of pleasure in the work, to facilitate the process and to ensure that everyone is satisfied. Martin Tremblay also believes that his role as coach is not only to make a young actor better thanks to pronunciation and diction techniques, but also to accompany him in the construction of a character.
“All of this requires skill, because the camera sees everything. Each time I make sure to have personal references, given by the children themselves during our conversations, without going into intimacy,” he underlines. Good communication, patience, a positive attitude and an unfailing team spirit are therefore necessary to survive the days of filming that drag on.
An important link
“They are an extraordinary mine of information, says Félixe Ross about the parents of the young actors. I love collaborating with them: they know what moves and upsets their child. Parents are my allies, my working partners, and most of the time, I make them excellent collaborators. »
In order for filming to take place in the most optimal conditions, the coach asks them, however, not to play the text with the children, to only help them learn it, and to be present on the sets only to take their place as guardians. “Shooting is a ballet, a dance where everything is timed,” she says, and wasting time is to be avoided.
Félixe Ross describes himself, in a way, as the link between production, direction, actors, technicians and parents. “I make sure that the children’s play meets everyone’s expectations. Our time is counted on the sets. With the directors, the partnership must therefore be solid.
“Our work is complementary,” confirms Yann Tanguay, who co-directs the Télé-Québec youth series Like chicken heads. “When the child is well prepared to receive instructions, we save a lot of time in interpreting. As a director, all that remains is to bring our vision. »
While Annie St-Pierre was making the series 5e Rankthe presence of the coach gamer Anik Lefebvre made the experience fantastic. “On TV, things are linked, so the director is often less available. For this reason, I had asked for moments of preparation and rehearsal with the coach so that everything is ready on the set. She was there to reassure, because the emotional bond was already established,” she recalls.
Although the work of game guides is recognized by the industry, Félixe Ross regrets the fact that productions consider them less and less before filming. “It’s a disaster when the children just recite their text. It’s a shame we don’t take more time to do things right. »