Romain Duris. “When Le Peril Jeune came along, I agreed to be a pizza delivery boy, and to be honest, that suited me too.”

Rare are the offerings of French cinema as daring Animal kingdomThomas Caley, Principal Fighters, tells the story of a near future where thousands of people turn into animals. Among these mutants who terrorize the authorities is a woman, a man’s wife and the mother of his teenage son, who, searching for him, discovers a world in metamorphosis that is less terrifying than fascinating. The film, with its insane artistic scope, also and above all has great dramatic power, between a gentle plea for respect for animals, an invitation to the curiosity of others, and a touching story of filial love. Romain Duris is exceptional as the protective father.

Madame Figaro. – Did the originality and boldness of the film attract you from the beginning?
Romain Duris. – Reading it, I didn’t understand the visual ambitions of the film… I just really wanted to work with Thomas Cayley, whom I loved. The fighters, and the themes he developed in this script resonated with me. With this story of the epidemic, I was obviously thinking about what we went through with the coronavirus, how people and teenagers experienced it. But the connection with life in the film also attracted me. I am from Paris, and so are my parents, but since childhood I have had a very strong, organic connection with nature.

Which one is the most alive among you?
Instinct, especially in my approach to the game, and a way of moving perhaps, I’m sometimes told it’s close to a dancer. Without a doubt, it is the legacy of my mother, who was a dancer. My older sister would dress me up and make me dance, and I would follow my older brother to the club. I’ve never taken a dance class, but I love it. It should be part of our DNA.

Being a father has also nurtured me. nurturing another individual means learning to listen and accept difference

Romain Duris

The film revolves around father-son relationship. Did you use your own family experience to figure this out?
I had the opportunity for the first time to have a very rich relationship with Paul Kircher, who was a wonderful colleague, a friend with whom I felt very free. No one asked us, but we went to the green together outside the shooting. This allowed us to get to know each other better. Being a father has also nurtured me. nurturing another individual means learning to listen and accept difference. Your child doesn’t always experience things the way you do and requires you to be more open. At the beginning of the film, my character tries to control everything, but, little by little, when the son is freed, he has to adapt, accept the child’s personality. This is a pretty universal pattern.

And which boy were you?
In giving up power. I developed in opposition. That’s how I found my freedom, but it wasn’t mean or cruel, so it didn’t bother my parents too much. I just wasn’t going down the road that seemed reasonable. I preferred the side roads.

It’s reassuring to know that I can create without a guide, that something can come from just my imagination.

Romain Duris

Cinema was one of them.
Yes of course. He came by accident following a wild casting call Young menace. Then I wanted to paint. It didn’t seem so unattainable to me, my mother was a colorist and my father was an architect.

Are you always drawing? New exhibition coming soon?
No, it’s dramatic, I don’t draw much at the moment. It’s a matter of layout, it will come back… Since I decided to switch to painting, colors and large formats, that also slowed down the production considerably. But I really need the picture. It’s reassuring to know that I can create without a guide, that something can come from just my imagination.

I always want more, I’m always chasing the next project, I have a hard time stopping.

Romain Duris

Young menace was filmed thirty years ago. How do you rate your progress?
I had the opportunity to meet great people who taught me that profession. But, to be honest, I rarely look back on the past. I prefer to look directly. No doubt it has something to do with my greedy temperament. I always want more, I’m always chasing the next project, I have a hard time stopping.

Did you already plan this first shoot?
I had confidence in life. It was my nature. When I was little I was called “The Joy of Living” because I never stopped smiling and laughing. It’s a real intimate secret that I’m revealing to you… When Young menace arrived, I had arranged to be a pizza delivery boy and to be honest, that suited me too. I lived the moment, I took what came. Also, because I looked hot, people had already stopped me on the street to offer commercials or videos, but I was never absorbed. So when I worked with Cedric (Klapisch, Editor’s Note)I did not expect anything special. I was shy, I was very afraid to open up, to do this work, and I told myself that after this shooting, everything could stop. I still say to myself after every movie.

Experience remains an incomparable asset in this profession. the further I go, the more certain things seem familiar to me.

Romain Duris

Does aging in this profession worry you?
The opposite. When I was younger, I was afraid that my roles weren’t fleshed out enough, they weren’t nurtured enough. I didn’t see how I could express deep feelings at the age of 20 when I knew nothing about life. Youth scared me. Over time, I realized that there are other forms of embodiment, but experience remains an incomparable asset in this profession; the further I go, the more some things seem familiar to me, inhabited. However, along with time, we must rediscover the grace, the innocence, the magic of the first times.

Scandals, Leonardo DiCaprio. prohibited for persons over 25

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST!

“ Animal kingdom ,” by Thomas Keighley, with Romain Duris, Paul Kircher… in theaters on October 4, 2023.