What if… The roles they didn’t get | The one who said no to Shandy

In this new series, actors talk about a role they didn’t get and imagine how this commitment would have changed their career and their lives

Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc auditioned for several roles in Unit 9. Except for Shandy. Ironically, it was the one she was offered (and which she refused) when her original interpreter, Suzanne Clément, left the series.

The actress still has vivid memories of the auditions for Danielle Trottier’s drama in 2012. A production by Fabienne Larouche, presented in prime time on Radio-Canada, which plunges the viewer into the heart of a women’s prison? This unique proposition excited many actresses.

“That was the big deal. Because they were all women’s roles, they were all very strong roles. It created a precedent. The entire city of Montreal wanted to audition for Unit 9 ! »

The actress returned empty-handed from the first round of auditionsUnit 9. But the following year, director Jean-Philippe Duval contacted her to replace Suzanne Clément, who was abandoning the role of the outrageous and shameless Shandy Galarneau.

Integrate, without having to audition, the five-star cast of an immensely popular series (the first season attracted 1,825,000 viewers)? This would certainly have delighted several actresses. But since Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc had portrayed a certain Dolorès in The Bougons: that’s also life! a few years earlier, she didn’t want to return to familiar territory.

“It’s not because I was afraid of being typecast [enfermée dans certains types de rôles]. During The BougonsI was also sure Annie and her men, 450, golf course… I had played in Dawn in the cinema… I just felt that I had already given in terms of very sexual, very assertive, very rebellious women. For me, there was something of Dolores in Shandy. In his looks, in his gestures, in his vocabulary… I had the impression of having swum in those waters, of having wallowed in them until I was thirsty. »

Privileged position

The prospect of taking over from another actress, Suzanne Clément, who had put her stamp on each facet of the character, also worried Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc. But still. In such an unpredictable sector of activity, refusing a role (and consequently, a salary) in Unit 9a television phenomenon, is not a decision one takes lightly.

“I am very aware of the privilege that I had – and that I still have – of being able to choose, of being able to put my desire forward, of being able to do what I want to do,” replies the actress. But really, even if I had been hungry, even if I had been unemployed, it’s not fun to have the impression of doing again what you’ve already done, but with less freedom, given that it was a character that already existed. »

Ultimately, Catherine-Anne Toupin inherited the role of Shandy, a role that she defended with panache until 2018, until author Danielle Trottier orchestrated her suicide in Lietteville.

Healthy competition

Like any actress, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc has suffered her share of rejections since her beginnings, at the turn of the millennium. Coming from the theater option at CEGEP Lionel-Groulx, the actress says she often auditioned “against” Julie Le Breton and Hélène Florent, friends.

“It’s certain that there is a little competition, because there are always three or four of us from the same casting auditioning for essentially the same things, but it’s always like: “If I don’t have it, I wish it was you.” When my friend gets the role, I’m happy for her. »

“I never felt an unhealthy competition between us. Sincerely. »

The episode La Bolduc

To better cope with professional disappointments, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc often returns to the principle that she cannot attach herself to something she does not yet have. This is what she thought in 2016, when the institutions chose to financially support the feature film project on Mary Travers, aka La Bolduc, with Debbie Lynch-White, to the detriment of her own, to which the filmmaker Lyne was attached. Charlebois.

“I was not relieved, because I am a woman of challenges. And I would have really loved it with the whole team. We made song models with Martin Léon. We had done some looks… But when I knew that in the end, it was Debbie who was going to do it, I thought: “Ah yes, it works in the end!” And then, I saw it as very, very, very big, to play a real singer who jigsaws, with a voice, a particular style…”

A kick adrenaline

In recent years, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc has enhanced her CV with a new title: that of host, through shows like Private screening, No hard feelings, Tower And Restaurant. Télé-Québec recently recruited her to pilot its new culinary magazine, which will air next season.

Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc also continues to audition, a stage that she has learned to master. Yes, it’s stressful. Yes, her “little hand can shake” when she gives her cue. But it is also “a kick adrenaline tripping”.

To ensure she enjoys the process, the actress often repeats the following phrase: Since the audition could be her only chance to play this role (unless she wins), she should definitely take advantage of it.

“I give everything I have, but not in a fit of despair. I strive to fully live the moment, to savor every second. And for real, it helps me forget the pressure that comes with auditioning: that of being the best, of shining, of shining, of making a difference, of being everyone’s crush, etc. . It gives a slightly more artisanal, less “big business” feel. »

“I’m going to meet people. I’m going to try something. I’m going to play. That’s what I tell myself until I finally believe it! »

Most of the time this technique works. But when she experiences failures, everything goes wrong, admits the actress. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Hug! Couldn’t I have been a dentist or an insurance agent instead?” »