Jean-Paul Rouve is an actor and director. It’s in the comedy troupe The Robin Hoods that the public discovered him, sketches and a troupe that allowed him to reveal himself, to be spotted. His acting did all the rest, the talent too, of course! In 2002, her role in the film Mr. Batignolles by Gérard Jugnot enabled him to win the César for best male hope. In 2005, his incarnation of a double of Michel Polnareff in the comedy, Podium, by Yann Moix, made an impression. Then there was, our happy days by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (2006), Memories (2014) and Lola and her brothers (2018) of himself, or even Les Tuche 1,2, 3, 4 by Olivier Baroux with this character by Jeff Tuche that sticks to his skin, because he represents human values that are dear to him.
From September 22, 2022, from Wednesday to Saturday at 7:00 p.m., he will be on the stage of the Antoine theater with the musical show I don’t look or how to tell the life of a man, his inner self through French song and the piano of Alain Lanty, who therefore plays Michel Delpech, Alain Souchon, Balavoine, Barbara, Joe Dassin, France Gall.
franceinfo: I don’t look is a show that defines you?
Jean-Paul Rouve: I feel like yes. I am passionate about French song. And one day, I said to myself: who are the poets of today? Unfortunately, poetry as we know it is no longer center stage. They are the songwriters and sometimes there are songs, we know them by heart, but we no longer listen to the text, we hear them without listening to them. And I’m not a singer, I don’t have that claim, but I wanted to play them, interpret them so that the public can rediscover them. By going as well in classics which are obviously Brel, Brassens, Barbara, but you should know that there are also very great authors in the so-called “popular” song, at Michel Delpech, at Sardou.
In ‘J’ai pas l’air’, I wanted to mix all these styles of French song and all these eras.
Jean-Paul Rouvéat franceinfo
With the new generation like Orelsan or the famous Having dinner of Benabar. Does that mean that as a child, the soundtrack of the house also made you want to do this job somewhere?
Of course, it was looping. So, I was in Dunkirk and I remember that with my father, in the car, we listened to the radio on the way to the holidays and there were the hits playing. And then at the time, we didn’t have the music available. If we wanted to hear a song, we had to put the radio on and when it was a hit, it came back and that’s how we learned the songs.
Did this music, the words, the culture of words that arrived through these songs, make you want to go on stage more?
That’s the only reason I got on stage. I didn’t want to go on stage. I said to myself: I don’t want to do theatre… And they asked me: “Would you like to do one on stage? “I answered: no, that especially not. I am incapable of doing that. That’s exactly what I do. So when I say something, you should never listen to me!
What does theater represent for you?
I started there. In fact, I did not think of making cinema. We don’t think about that when we do this job. Me, I went to the Cours Florent and we worked on the texts, the great authors, Molière and then afterwards, I found myself on stage with the Robins des Bois…
That you create by the way! You needed to take charge of your life every time.
Why ? It’s because we don’t come looking for you, it’s simple.
There are so many comedians that you create your own tool because no one picks you up. We decided to put on a play with the Robins des Bois because we wanted to do this job and that’s what made it work.
Jean-Paul Rouvéat franceinfo
Afterwards, I didn’t really want to go back to the theatre. I do this job too because it changes all the time. When we shoot, it’s never the same, whereas when we’re at the theater, we have an appointment every day. And there, I started rehearsals, I liked it, but I didn’t feel at home. I felt invited like when you are in a rental house. And since we came back from vacation and we started rehearsing there again, I made an offer to buy on the rental and I’m buying. I’m starting to become an owner and that’s where you feel good, when you’re at home.
I feel like this show is going to reveal something special about you that you needed.
I don’t know if I need it. So yes, it says something because these are songs that I love so they reflect a part of me. If I look at your playlists on your phone, it reflects a part of you. Me, I don’t really like people going to my phone to look at my playlist because, in fact, it reflects the intimate.
Did all this journey, all these roles and the fact of going on stage today allow you to find yourself, to do yourself good, to gain self-confidence?
Yeah yeah that’s it. Afterwards, we never trust. You always have to tell yourself that you’re starting from zero anyway. Even if we have “experience”, the first day on a stage, it’s still a first day. It still takes time, even if confidence arrives, and fortunately. In fact, what interests me now is endangerment and encounters. It’s a mixture of both. That’s what enriched me.
If we had to define you through a song that definitely sticks to your skin, which one would it be?
There’s a song that’s great, listen to the lyrics of The bagad of Lann-Bihoué. It’s a song by Alain Souchon who says: “You didn’t see it like that in your life. No briefcase when you were little. Your body locked up in a moron costume. You didn’t imagine, I know. Me too I dreamed dreams too bad. You saw her big but it’s a very small life..“. And I listened to these words when I was a teenager and said to myself: precisely, I do not want this life. You have to realize your dreams, it is better to be wrong than not to try.
So what did you dream of as a child?
To do this job.
Happy with the man you have become?
Yes, yes, anyway. Yes, if I may say so.