An absolute record for the public service channel, which is making networks like TF1 envious…! It seems that the private channel is even working on pilots for 22-minute mini-series. Mystery!!!
“Plus Belle la Vie” is a French television soap opera produced by Hubert Besson, Michèle Podroznik, and François Charlent and created by Magaly Richard-Serrano, Bénédicte Achard, Georges Desmouceaux, and Olivier Szulzynger. Certainly, it took time for this ambitious project to gain a good audience, but the bet has paid off. This kind of excitement could perhaps be explained by the fact that it is the first time this type of series exists in France: telling the life of a neighborhood through characters without glitz.
There are more and more characters: the latest addition is Florian Estève (played by Franck Bordes), a newly appointed investigating judge at the Aix-en-Provence court. His 12-year-old daughter, Élodie, will join him in the Mistral neighborhood a few episodes later. Two teenagers are still in the running to portray this girl disturbed by her parents’ separation on screen. A first for “Plus Belle la Vie”!
On the occasion of the 47th Monte Carlo Television Festival, Nice-Premium met Mirta’s rebellious daughter, Luna, aka Anne Decis, and a strong-willed woman, Blanche, aka Cécilia Hornus: Two beautiful, friendly, and simple actresses.
Nice – Premium: “Plus Belle la Vie,” the Marseille soap opera on France 3 that’s a hit. Yet when you watch it for the first time, you may not necessarily get hooked. It is true that it can depend on the episode aired that day, but if you commit to this appointment 4 or 5 times, you quickly become addicted. How do you fall into this fiction?
Anne Decis: It’s word of mouth, someone in the family or friends talks about it, and then it spreads to the family. It’s quite common.
N-P: Certainly, but how can we explain this excitement?
Anne Decis: The recipe for this soap opera is its cross-generational appeal. All generations, from 16 to 80 years old, identify with it. People see themselves in the characters, which is one of the reasons why they stick with the series, and at the same time, there are completely romantic and crazy stories going on. Sometimes we’re on the verge of plausibility, by the way. “Plus Belle la Vie” is like a book. You get attached to the constantly evolving characters, and the viewer always wants to know what will happen next.
N-P: Stories that hook but also scripts constantly correlating with current events.
Cécilia Hornus: Not so much from a political viewpoint because it’s delicate, but there are still characters from the left, from the right. We tackle subjects like unemployment, teenage pregnancy, illness, problems of undocumented immigrants, divorce, homosexuality, couple problems, parent/child confrontations, the quest for love…
Anne Decis: We address all societal issues, even those that are not or are rarely addressed in fiction. It talks about everyone’s lives.
N-P: There’s also the effect of dates.
Cécilia Hornus: Yes, we celebrate Christmas on the day of Christmas, May 1st, Easter… People really see themselves mirrored. There is a real empathy towards the characters thanks to this too.
N-P: What do you think about the fact that the series is filmed in Marseille?
Cécilia Hornus: It’s important for this fiction to be shot in Marseille. Because it’s a port city with a lot of cultural diversity, a lot of differences, a lot of people from all backgrounds. We also address this in the soap opera. Marseille is an open city. Even though it’s not a Marseille soap opera, it’s a soap opera set in Marseille, which makes a lot of people dream. In the north, people love it. 30% of the scenes are shot outdoors, and this gives a positive aspect to the series.
N-P: How is Luna’s character going to evolve in the upcoming episodes?
Anne Decis: She has experienced a lot over the past few months, with many upheavals in her personal and sentimental life. For now, I’m in a resting phase. In the first two years, Luna’s character has evolved a lot. She went from being a rather irresponsible, selfish, and very rock ‘n’ roll girl to a stable woman by meeting love with Guillaume Léserman. She has managed to put aside her acting ambitions, fit in, and work with her friend Charlotte in the workshop.
N-P: Luna is very cool
Anne Decis: Yes, I’m very attached to that side of her but also to her “free” side. I think that’s what people love about this character. That is to say, she’s someone who, even if she doesn’t do it, you feel she can tell you off very quickly. She’s frank. People love her because we’re not really like that. It’s always nice to see someone who is free in their choices and positions. In some time, my character will experience a small revolution, but I won’t tell you, I’ll leave you to your assumptions. Actually, we don’t know what will happen to our character in six months. We let ourselves be surprised by the imagination of the writers.
N-P: How would Luna describe Anne?
Anne Decis: There’s something of us in the characters because when you play a character daily, you inevitably put some of yourself into it. Even when you play a role, in general. The thing I could share with my character is a certain dynamism. I’m not someone very sluggish in life. Also, the passion for theater. However, sometimes she acts on certain things, where I would be incapable of it and where I am very critical: regarding her motherhood, her son, she has views that I don’t have. I could not abandon my child to live my dream or include them in it, but it’s not possible to detach like she has with her son. It’s a very enjoyable character to play. I’m having a blast. This character isn’t into good sentiment; she’s full of paradoxes, she’s not soft, she can be blunt, and I like that.
N-P: During these last episodes, Blanche has experienced very difficult moments: she was held captive by her daughter’s boyfriend. A revenge he wanted to exact on his father’s murderer, Franck, who is none other than Blanche’s love. Today, the teacher’s nightmare is over, finally…almost… How will Blanche’s character evolve in the upcoming episodes? Will she stay with Franck?
Cécilia Hornus: For now, yes, from what I know. In the scripts, we’re three weeks ahead and in the story about two months. We don’t have all the details. Blanche’s character is much more balanced in the series compared to Luna. Married since the age of 19, two children, a teacher, balancing family, husband, and work, very dynamic. There have still been many catastrophic events in her life. Right now, it’s a sort of second chance; she rediscovers love. Certainly a bit complicated, because Franck’s story is pretty dark, but Blanche is truly a woman of love. She has a know-it-all side, wanting to get involved in everything, and we’re discovering her romantic side, which I find exciting to play, especially for my generation. At 40 years old, the age of big questions, halfway through life, Blanche is in a renaissance.
N-P: Does she resemble you?
Cécilia Hornus: She has aspects that resemble me. She’s bolder than I am. She manages to really align her internal and external. For example, in the story with Franck, she manages to say: “This is what I want, even if you, my daughter, don’t agree.” She’s politically engaged; she ran for elections, she wrote erotic novels, which is not easy because it’s an image that’s a bit off from what she is. I relate to her family values, her listening to others, her dynamism. I’m someone very energetic in life, like Blanche.
N-P: Aside from your roles in Plus Belle la Vie, do you have the opportunity to work elsewhere?
Anne Decis: Yes, but we can’t do two things at once. This series is fascinating, we fully commit body and soul, so we can’t take on parallel projects except for a very short time, otherwise, we become too exhausted. However, we have the latitude to shoot, do theater, take vacations, and this is the case for many actors who develop things on the side. I have shot a film for M6, I’m resuming theatrical projects in October. Alexandre Fabre, who plays Frémont, does theater. Sylvie Flepp, who plays my mother, is doing a play in Paris that she will resume in the fall. Rebecca Hampton works a lot with M6, as does Dounia Couesens.
Cécilia Hornus: It’s complicated to set up, but the production helps us. I have shot a humanitarian piece that will air at the start of the school year.
N-P: Lastly, the Côte d’Azur in a few words.
Anne Decis: SEA and SUN
Cécilia Hornus: Sea and sun, but also the exaltation of femininity
Anne Decis: Oh, “the exaltation of femininity”!! (Smile)
Cécilia Hornus: Yes, the southern girls are not at all the same as those in Paris or Brittany. There’s an assumed side. It’s a woman sometimes over the top, sometimes “too much,” and I find that very endearing.
Website: plus-belle-la-vie.france3.fr/
Every day on France 3 at 8:20 PM from Monday to Friday.
