Belle and Sébastien: how did Nicolas Vanier choose the young hero of his film?

Released in cinemas in 2013, the filmBelle and Sebastianrealized by filmmaker Nicolas Vanierwill be rebroadcast on Sunday, February 13, 2022, from 9:05 p.m. on W9. This feature film is directly adapted from the eponymous 1965 television series, created byCecile Aubry, since it takes up the frame. The original series and the film also have another point in common, since the two fictions each had the right to two sequels. Thus, Nicolas Vanier’s film will be followed by Belle and Sébastien: The Adventure Continues, released in cinemas in 2014, and by Beautiful and Sebastian 3: The Final Chapterreleased in theaters 3 years later.

On his side, Cécile Aubry’s series had two sequels, baptized Sebastian among the men in 1968, and Sébastien and the Mary-Morgan in 1970, all broadcast at the time on the first channel of theORTF. Played by Mehdi El Glaoui in the original seriesthe character of Sebastian is interpreted here by the young Félix Bossuet. The latter was chosen after a rather special casting. In total, director Nicolas Vanier received more than 2,400 applications for this role. A total of 12 finalists were selected after a lengthy skimming process. Subsequently, the filmmaker took the successful candidates to his home in the Vercors where the children were able to meet his own sled dogs. This is how Nicolas Vanier chose Felix Bossuet.

Belle and Sébastien: “a costly and risky bet” for production

For the record, Mehdi El Glaoui also plays a role in the feature film by Nicolas Vanier. The latter has given some fright to the producers of Belle and Sebastian because he wanted to film in natural settings, and without using meteorological artifices. This is why the filming took place in real time over the three seasons present in the feature film (summer, autumn and winter). “It was an expensive and risky bet“, explained Nicolas Vanier on this subject. The filmmaker also added that shooting a film over a long period of time with a child and a dog in the lead are a producer’s worst fears.

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