In line Zoro, the actor entertains as a masked vigilante. We are waiting for him in the remake as well The shrinking man.
“The clothes are quite impressive. I saw it in people’s eyes. There was something frightening about the mask, the cloak and the shoes.” Jean Dujardin takes on the legendary role, replacing Guy Williams, Antonio Banderas and Alain Delon as Zorro. For Paramount+ and France TV, the Oscar-winning actor reinvents himself as a masked vigilante in a humorous version where Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles.
Don Emmanuel’s (Eric Elmosnino) greed forces him to find his mask and his sword, which have been abandoned for twenty years. Along with Audrey Dana, Gregory Gadebois and Andre Dusolier, the actor made his childhood dream come true. But he didn’t stop there as he just finished filming The shrinking manBy Jan Koonen, a remake of the event that marks the reunion of Jean Dujardin and the director. 99 francs.
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Madame Figaro. – How did Zoro come into your life?
Jean Dujardin. – It is very natural at the age of 7-8, at the age when little boys want to tell stories. I have very specific memories of my grandparents arriving in Christmas gear and I could guess Zorro hiding behind the wrapping paper. I had to order every year, I had a nice collection. My three older brothers had moved on to other jobs, so I was alone helping people in my garden.
What attracted you to the idea of doing it?
It’s always the writing that defines me. I am very careful not to let myself be guided by my childhood desires, because playing Zorro just for disguise would be a bad excuse. I found Benjamin Sharbit’s script clever in the first, second and third degree. There were games for my double role (of Zoro and Diego de la Vega) and also for the character of Gabriela, played by Audrey Dana. There were reflections Zoro of the 1950s, but also of modernity. Add to that the casting, the good settings, and all this made me confident to deal with the legend. We had to honor him while having fun.
Do we feel some pressure when dealing with a mythical character like Zoro?
Oddly enough, I only felt this pressure at the end of the shoot when the cast was cast. But wearing this mask, this cloak, and these boots was a delightful treat. With Zoro, the costumes are stronger than anything else, you don’t need to force the game, you just have to be crazy when you need it, have the occasional weakness and have fun with it all. It’s a situation comedy where everyone lies: the wife, the husband, the lover (knowing that the last two are the same person). There is something much more boulevard about it. And the horsemen of Almeria’s scenery provided a real childhood delight and will remain etched in my memory.
It was a pleasure to wear this mask, this cloak, and these shoes
Jean Dujardin
Did you enjoy turning the myth upside down?
Yeah, because we kind of had to do it actually. If it weren’t for the departure, we would have gone after three episodes. It was important not to damage the character and the franchise, but to have fun with it, so that later his letters of nobility could be restored. Therefore, we imagined that success goes to Zoro’s head. We liked that it happened to the bravest of men, the eternal hero.
Sergeant says about Zoro “It’s hard to live up to the fantasy by any means.” This is what you have experienced in your life.
Success is a hard drug and it is normal to want to go through it again and again, but it remains a miracle due to the chain of circumstances, the envy of the public, the people around us… Today, what is this? It’s important to me to know a job well done.
Like Diego with his cape, what gives you the confidence to offer your best??
My experience. Today, I have to give my opinion to the director on the set, even if it means making a mistake. It’s nice to have keys when you’re an actor, because you’ve thought about your character, you feel it, and cinema collects our feelings, our gestures, it’s ultimately a very personal thing.
We got to honor Zoro while having fun
Jean Dujardin
You also finished shooting the remake The shrinking man By Jan Koonen…
Yes, it’s a new adaptation of Richard Matheson’s book, sixty years after Jack Arnold. Playing minor characters is not an obsession A person who gets the job done By Laurent Tirard But it amuses me to remember that as a child at school I used to imagine myself shrinking and fitting into my pencil so I wouldn’t be asked. My other, more morbid analysis would be to say that we’re all destined to disappear, so we might as well do it in the movie ahead of time. This story remains a very universal and existentialist work, it talks about our shrinking, the disappearance of our bodies. It is an allegory of life.
It is also the first time that you are making a film with so many special effects…
I loved this experience, playing on a blue background encouraged me to play with my mind rather than my eyes. We even play fear better, for example, because it comes from within us. This is also why I do this work, it allows me to maintain this connection with my childhood imagination.
Zoro, series created by Benjamin Charby and No Debre, starring Jean Dujardin, Audrey Danan, Grégory Gadebois, Salvatore Ficarra, André Dussolier… September 6 on Paramount+ and later in the year on France TV.
Source: Le Figaro
