In 2023, final year theater students studied the acting of Dominique Blanc. The actress publishes construction sites, i, in which he looks back on his career and his key roles for the first time. A chance to play our Autopromo interview game.
Now enrolled in a specialized undergraduate theater program that offers to study his acting skills, Dominique Blanc posts: construction sites, iwhere he looks back for the first time on his journey and the three main roles he played in the theater; The Marriage of Figaro Beaumarchais directed by Jean-Pierre Vincent, Phaedrus Racine director Patrice Chereau and six roles Angels in America By Tony Kushner, directed by Arnaud Despleches. A chance to chat with one of today’s greatest actresses.
Madame Figaro: How did you react when you found out that you are now an undergraduate?
Dominique Blanc: When I was informed that the theater department of the graduate classes offered to study what is the work of an actor, and that the choice was made based on my trajectory and some of my roles, I thought at first that it was a joke. I was in denial for a while. Then I realized that going to classes is a great opportunity to talk about theater, plays, directors, acting, today I am most interested in the transfer. And I want to tell young people, especially girls, who want to do this business, that it is difficult, but you have to endure, have courage and hope. Personally, I faced hostility from my parents, I missed big schools three times, and since I had no family in my profession, it took me a long time to settle down.
Tell us about this book and this title. construction sites, i ?
The term construction sites refers to my studies in architecture. As I write in the book, the role is architecture with its foundations. Playing is building for me. finding the right space, the most difficult soil to put down roots… This work is only possible with a few people. Each time it is a new personal and collective project. During my architecture studies, I dreamed of visiting buildings and studying them. Instead I found myself in a villainous premise, a particularly masculine and sexist environment. Only 10% of young women were… In this regard, it must be emphasized that the Comédie-Française, of which I am a member, has always applied parity, with equal pay for actors and actresses.
And what about the “I”?
I think there is a tribute to Ani Erno, a great author who became a friend; I felt great joy when he received the Nobel Prize. It is a figure that inspired me a lot because I see a similarity between his text Writing like a knife and the game I’d like to have without special effects or unnecessary narcissism. The “I” of the title stands for both “I” and “the game,” and my “I” is defined by my “game” on the roles. The characters I interpreted allowed me to discover things about myself that I didn’t know. Each time it was about delivering your parts without lying or inflating your ego…
Why did you choose these three roles in particular?
First of all, we needed theater roles, because it is in this context that my acting is studied. we could not choose, for example, my interpretation of Madame de Maintenon in the TV movie King’s Alley Nina Companesi, who introduced me to the general public. There should have been images of performances as well, because young people today have to go through that… The three roles correspond to the life of a woman and an artist. Susan in The Marriage of Figaro de Beaumarchais is a young woman in love who finds herself confronted with sexual abuse and the droit de seigneur, and who fights back with courage and wit. We should have called this room Susan’s wedding… It was also an occasion to talk about Jean-Pierre Vincent, who left us too soon.
Phaedrus By Racine, edited by Patrice Chereau, is it the role of maturity and recognition on his part?
Yes, with a character haunted by death and suicide… And, of course, we can mention Patrice Chereau, with whom I had a very fruitful relationship artistically, without belonging to his close circle in cinema or theater. I made sure that there was a distance between each collaboration, it was a “dangerous bond”… The six roles.Angels in America by Tony Kushner, directed by Arnaud Desplechin at the Comédie-Française, has some vision, we see it today with all the questions about the genre, with “iel”, and it also gave the opportunity to raise awareness about AIDS, which is experiencing a strong renaissance. young people tend to think it’s some kind of flu that’s not that hard to live with, when it’s clearly not, and stop protecting themselves… Then if I say that Tony Kushner also writes screenplays; For Spielberg, I’m sure I’ll have success with the students.
Construction sites, I, by Dominique Blanc. Editions Actes Sud. 176 pages. 19.80 euros.
Source: Le Figaro
