Friday 20 May Arte offers Juliet in her bath, a new TV movie carried by André Dussollier, who regrets not receiving offers to play in series when he really wants to. The actor, always impeccable, mischievously slips into the skin of a billionaire whose only daughter is kidnapped. To see her again unscathed, the kidnappers force her to record compromising videos for him. A role that brought André Dussollier out of his hinges with undisguised enthusiasm. Meet.
André Dussollier had never played this kind of character before
Entertainment TV. Who is Ronald Kandiotis, your character in Juliet in her bath?
Andre Dussollier. He is a man about whom we have negative preconceptions because he is a billionaire. When his daughter is kidnapped, the kidnappers, who do not want his money, force him to record videos in which he must reveal how he built his fortune. And the fortune of a billionaire, we are always ready to think that it took a lot of compromises and dirty tricks. The viewer will be kept in suspense until the end with successive twists.
What interested you in him?
What seduced me is that he does not attract sympathy and often gets angry. I had never played a character who releases himself in anger, in violence.
And did you like it?
[Il rit.] Yes, because it’s not my nature to explode like this. It happens to me sometimes but it turns against me every time. There, it was very good: it was for butter, so I could free myself completely.
The actor has still not received any offers to play in series
In 2020, after playing in Crisis unit (available on Salto) you regretted not receiving offers to play in series. Has this changed?
No. I’ve done quite a bit of television in the past, I even got a 7 d’or for a series [Music Hall, en 1985, ndlr] then I did less. It was not a will but I received more film and theater proposals and naturally went towards them.
It seems like a regret…
Yes because I only ask that to play in series. Is it because the decision-makers change, because people tell themselves that I don’t want to… I can’t understand, it escapes me completely, but I would like it to change. We cannot command desire but we can make things known. Maybe I’m wrong not to. I like that the desire is shared. We’ll see, Juliet in her bath maybe make babies…
If he does not play in series, André Dussollier records podcasts…
Do you watch series?
Less now because it takes time but I really liked the three versions ofIn therapy [la série originale est israélienne et a été adaptée aux États-Unis puis en France, ndlr]. I watch too Candice Renoir. I find that Cécile Bois plays wonderfully. I watched a replay that aired at midnight and stayed hooked until the end.
It seems that you are going to record a podcast…
Yes, I didn’t know that existed. It’s the story of Batman and I play the shrink, who is the bad guy in the story.