In March 2023, Jean Dujardin was the guest of Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine on the set of C to you. Came to promote the film On the black paths, where the Oscar-winning actor opposite Joséphine Japy, Jonathan Zaccaï, Anny Duperey, Izïa Higelin and Sylvain Tesson, Jean Dujardin returned to the numerous criticisms he received each time he dared to publicly assume his chauvinism. Loving France, his Béarnaise roots that he has always claimed, and the beautiful regions that he has never stopped seeing and revisiting in twenty-five years of career, the actor regrets that the fact “to love France” be immediately interpreted as a political phraselinked to far-right parties.
“Twitter is going to get involved, that is to say that as soon as you say that you love France, it’s complicated; as soon as you say that I’m a peasant, it’s complicated. The fact is that I had family in Médoc and Béarn. I come from there, I have a nose like Henry IV, I suppose it’s related. The fact is that I cannot do otherwise. I don’t know how to say it anymore without getting angry. To think that I have seen these regions. I have lived in this country for 50 years, I have been traveling and seeing these regions for 25 years. I have crossed 1300 kilometers, and every time I say: I love France, or it is taken over by a political party, or it is suspicious, or you have to have a football jersey to say it. As soon as you have a football jersey and you say: I love France, there is no problem. The flags are raised. As soon as you leave the stadium, there are no more flags, only suspects, so you just have to shut your mouth“ explained the actor.
His opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup caused controversy
A few months after having indicated on the set of C to you that he hesitated to say publicly “that he loved France”Jean Dujardin took on the role of master of ceremonies for the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup, but the proposal made by the actor, who wanted to give pride of place to the French regions, was very strongly criticized. The one who thought he had proposed a successful ceremony “fell backwards” by discovering the political responses made, and the numerous criticisms issued, accusing him of his excessive chauvinism: “I never thought that my participation in the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup would trigger such a flood of political and media comments (…) We wanted to celebrate our country, our know-how and the history of rugby (…) An opening ceremony is always the presentation to the rest of the world of the country where the celebrated event takes place. We are indeed also the country of the beret, of gastronomy, of culture, of education, no offense to some… The second degree that I always liked to use was not understood.”