Pierre Niney. “When I was watching the rush of Fiasco, I felt so horrible.”

Artists often regret being locked in boxes. However, it is difficult to categorize Pierre Nin because he blurs the lines, project from project. Comfortable in a comedic register (20 years apart, OSS 117, The solution book or The flame on television), the actor also shines in more serious or intimate films such as Franz, By Francois Ozon, or Yves Saint Laurent By Jalil Lespert. Since his debut at the Comédie-Française, he has been day and night, the irresistible clown and the elegant tragedian. The 35-year-old actor is expected in theaters on June 28 as the vengeful Count of Monte Cristo in a spectacular adaptation that offers him a role with unprecedented depth.

But, for now, he shows all his talent through humor. In Fiasco, the Netflix series he created, wrote and produced with his lifelong friend Igor Gottesman, he plays a young director who is overwhelmed, unfit and clumsy, whose first shoot turns into a nightmare; his childhood friend dreams of becoming an actor and doesn’t give up (Francois Civil, Master Ball), his hat is a diva (Vincent Cassel), his makeup artist stinks, and a crow makes him sing. With this fast-paced comedy presented at the Cannes Film Festival, Pierre Nini confirms that he is one of the new stars of French-made comedy.

Madame Figaro. – How would you define DNA? Fiasco ?
Pierre Niney. – Fiasco, this is our baby, Igor Gotesman and me. On role(s), the short format we wrote for Canal+, Igor mentioned the idea of ​​extending the experience with “big sister”, about the life of a series of shoots. The quirks, the egos, the intimate and financial issues, the sometimes violent relationship seemed to us to be very fertile ground for comedy. Then we decided to click cursors with awkward situations and different topics covered. All sensitive issues, disability or sexism, for example, lend themselves to humor as long as the target of attack remains discrimination and not discrimination. But the idea of ​​giving lessons is far from us. We don’t do politics, we do entertainment, and we prefer shrill laughter to moralizing laughter.

It was always intended that you would star.
From the beginning. Also written for measure. This character is my clown. i love playing a gorgeous, clumsy, awkward loser who has no social time but wants to seem cool. This is no longer a big effort considering my age, but I even gained a few kilos to emphasize the clumsy side of this character who loves a bowl cut and a jacket… Everything was done to make me feel bad, and when I watched the rushes, I actually felt pretty terrible. (Is laughing):

How grounded is the series in the reality of the profession?
We force the issue, otherwise I will change my way. But an actor with a strong personality who monopolizes power on set, a loss of funding that turns into a disaster or a director who wants to please his actress are things we have seen, heard or experienced.

We reenacted the sword fights with my friends

Pierre Niney

Were you afraid of slipping into this in-between space that people in the middle are so criticized for?
It’s a bunch of movie people talking about movies, but anyone who’s been uncomfortable with a boss, anyone who’s fallen in love with a co-worker, anyone who’s struggling to find their place in their family can project themselves. Cinema is a micro-society where the problems of power, trust and solidarity are present in many other spheres. Series: Ten percentwhich was a lightning bolt on the French landscape, was also proof that the profession could be of interest to the general public.

We often imagine competition in filmmaking. It doesn’t seem to be between you and Francois Civil.
When Igor introduced me to François, it was love at first sight. Starting five, that we had filmed together, our trio was looking for a new comedic subject similar to that. Francois and I love each other, we admire each other and we are lucky that we do not resemble each other in our game or physically. I think our desires as actors are not quite the same either. Without any comparison, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon have managed to have successful careers in Hollywood and remain friends. So why not us? We fantasize a lot about artistic competition, but I don’t believe there is more competition in cinema than in EDF or Orange.

Soon you will be the Count of Monte Cristo in the cinema. What does this Dumas character remind you of?
Edmond Dantes is our Hamlet. A real gift for an actor. Count of Monte Cristo It is one of the seminal literary works about revenge and offered me the possibility of transformation, of playing with masks, of multiple identities… When I saw the film, I also realized that the character offered me a costume, a bodily dimension, a voice, an economy of movement, and therefore a gravitas that were unprecedented. were in my filmography. Edmond Dantes is so obsessed with revenge that he derives almost sadistic pleasure from it. Finding this darkness was a challenge. it goes against my nature.

Is there a childish delight in dealing with an epic mural?
Completely. As a child after seeing Humpback, With Daniel Auteuil I was like crazy. My friends and I re-enacted the sword fights, looked for Nevers’ shoes… I remember it as vividly as I did when I discovered Cyrano a few years later. When I reread Count of Monte CristoI also saw the meeting of these two legends. an epic mural of great psychological and philosophical depth worn by a hero who symbolizes both that which is most beautiful and that which is darkest.

Fiasco, By Igor Gottesman and Pierre Niney, on Netflix from April 30.
Count of Monte Cristo, By Alexandre de La Patelliere and Mathieu Delaporte, released on June 28.