In character, the Comédie-Française actor and resident plays a businessman extraordinaire in the series Tapie. A real character from the novel.
It’s the back-to-school event on Netflix. Tapie. The businessman with a thousand lives, who died in October 2021, is the subject of a seven-episode series, retracing his beginnings as a pop singer in 1966 to his 1997 downfall and imprisonment. For incarnation. Laurent Lafitte. The actor and resident of the Comédie-Française repeats the great deeds of the businessman and former minister (his televised debate against Jean-Marie Le Pen, Olympique Marseille’s victory in the Champions League when he was the owner of the club…) and reveals, at the same time, a more romantic game in love to the man who opposes Josephine Jap as his wife, Dominique. If the stylistic exercise of a biopic is often risky, Laurent Lafitte accepts the challenge, offering a vision of Bernard Tapie that never descends into caricature.
In the video: the trailer of the series Tapie
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Personal success
Madame Figaro. – What was your opinion about Bernard Tapi before the series? ?
Laurent Lafitte. – I always knew Bernard Tapie because he was everywhere in French public life. Because he represented the archetype of the upstart, I remember we didn’t find him very flamboyant at home, but my parents recognized in him the qualities of a showman, some flamboyance and a form of charm. I saw him as a character of endurance, tenacity, who navigated different environments and who gave the impression of succeeding in whatever he undertook, or at any rate whatever the cost.
What is Bernard Tapie’s name? ?
Bernard Tapie emerged in the 1980s, known as the “money years,” during which individual success seemed like the ultimate achievement. He personified success and money at a time when people wanted it, even if France has always had a difficult relationship with the successful.
Bernard Tapie personified success and money when people wanted it
Laurent Lafitte
Don’t be an imitation
What challenges does this role present?
It was a real pleasure as an actor. the question was how to embody a character whose ideas in everyone’s head are very accurate. How to create your own version and not an Anglo-Saxon biographical character, where the actor often disappears completely? I tried to “inject” everything I had kept about him in my mind since childhood without ever giving in to the temptation to consult the archives. The bet was risky, but I was not at all interested in mime or imitation work. After all, apart from a few actual scenes that were repeated to the decimal point, I didn’t delve into his interviews, TV appearances…
Are there bridges between Tapi and Lafitte?
His personality suggests a masculinity, even a virility, which is far from me. I imagine she was in a relationship of seduction and dominance. I think he was trying to dominate people by putting himself in the position of knowing better than everyone else. I’m sure when he was hosting he had to explain to the cameraman how to shoot. But I find myself in him by his will, by his insistence, and since we are both Parisians, a certain banter can bring us closer.
I appear in him in his will, in his persistence
Laurent Lafitte
Popular but not populist
Does he have a political heir today? ?
Sometimes parallels are drawn between him and Berlusconi, but I do not consider it appropriate. What is interesting about Tapi is that he spoke popular words, but not populist ones. He came from the people, knew how to appeal to them, remaining a true republican. Something that is hard to find today. It is also quite astonishing to think that despite his fate as an ultra-liberal, Tapin was a minister in a left-wing government under Mitterrand. His weakness, and this is what makes him interesting, is his desire for recognition and approval. All those who have succeeded in founding empires, such as François Pinot or Bernard Arnault, are very reserved personalities. Tapi was looking for light, she wanted to be a star, and since it didn’t work out in singing, she went into business. This facet of his personality lost him; when he died we realized he didn’t build anything after all, and that’s what makes him endearing to me.
Have you ever met Bernard Tapie? ?
No never. It would interest me, but it wouldn’t necessarily help me as an actor. What would amuse me, though, is to meet him today, after the series, to find out what he’s right, stupid, or funny. When the project was born, director Tristan Seguela, who knew him, wanted to warn him about this biographical idea. Thinking he was asking his opinion, Bernard Tapi then objected…
His personality suggests a masculinity, even a virility, that is far from me
Laurent Lafitte
Tapi’s family, particularly his wife Dominique, expressed their displeasure with this series…
Tapie it’s not an accusing series at all, but the reaction of the family seems normal to me. Telling someone’s life story is inevitably a little uncomfortable for those close to them. I also believe that Bernard Tapie’s son has a project about his father, and our series might just short-circuit things…
Bernard Tapie was known for excelling in many fields. Which worlds secretly appeal to you?
I love politics. My work allows me to step into lives other than my own and better understand the world I live in, but this remains fiction, while there is nothing more anchored in reality and action than politics. I love republican structures. I find it comforting to be a part of something that precedes us, that will outlive us, and try to put ourselves in service. This is why I love Comédie-Française so much. it has been there before us, it will be preserved, but we hope to enrich it during our stay.
The spirit of the troops
What a pleasure you are still alive after twelve years in the walls of the French ?
The army, because the level is very impressive. I enjoy playing with my colleagues. the more we know each other, the more simple and fluid the work is, the less afraid of being judged. I also like the fact that the Comédie-Française is owned by the actors and that the balance of power is somewhat balanced against the directors, who are often omnipotent, especially in public theatre. And finally, great lyrics enchant me. I’m starting rehearsals cyrano which I will be playing at the beginning of December, I am transported by this note;
I like the fact that the Comédie-Française is owned by the actors and that the balance of power is slightly balanced against the directors, who are often omnipotent.
Laurent Lafitte
Since the series is characterized by the main stages of Tapi’s life, what are the cycles that are important in your own journey? ?
First of all, I owe a lot to my parents who were role models for never stopping me from doing anything, then, like in all acting careers, the rest was a mixture of work, luck and meetings. My entry into French remains a decisive step. then, Small handkerchiefs by Guillaume Canet, was my first popular success. Then I was looked at by directors like Paul Verhoeven and Marion Vernou. And of course there were movies Mom or Dad…
Like Tapie, what do you think is a successful biopic? ?
Biography has become a genre in itself. The hard part is choosing the right fate to tell. Some characters have had unusual lives, but I think that doesn’t necessarily guarantee an interesting story on screen.
You, who are also a director, what kind of life would you like to film? ?
Thierry Le Louronne it pisses me off…
hot, By Tristan Segella and Olivier Demangel, 7 episodes with Laurent Lafitte, Josephine Japi… September 13 on Netflix.
Source: Le Figaro
