On the occasion of the first free-to-air broadcast of the film called De son vivant on Sunday February 11, 2024, from 9:05 p.m. on France 2, Télé Star reveals how Benoît Magimel lost 60 kilos to slip into the skin of his character.
Released in cinemas in 2021, the film called In his lifetime, directed by Emmanuelle Bercot, will be broadcast for the first time unencrypted on French television on Sunday February 11, 2024, from 9:05 p.m. on France 2. Worn by Benoit Magimel and Catherine Deneuvethis feature film features the character of Benjamin, embodied on screen by Benoit Magimel. This man, aged 39, is told that he has an incurable illness, and that he has little time left to live. Crystal, his mother, performed by Catherine Deneuvesuffers terribly in the face of this unacceptable announcement for her.
In fact, the film In his lifetime was born from a double desire of Emmanuelle Bercot: create a melodrama and write for Catherine Deneuve and Benoît Magimel. The director then thought of a story centered on a mother who loses her dying son. Then, a most unexpected meeting allowed the project to come to fruition. “Dr. Sara, who plays the oncologist in the film, attended a New York screening of Heads Up. He waited in line afterwards to talk to me and tell me that what he had seen in the film and what I had said in the debate that followed made him think I might be interested in the work he did in the ‘cancer trenches’, that’s the term he used“explained the filmmaker.
During his lifetime: Benoît Magimel forced to follow three diets
“He invited me to meet again to talk about it. The man, it is obvious when we have seen the film, is extremely friendly, bright, warm, I was therefore quite taken by his proposal. But above all I immediately made the connection with my idea of melodrama, and as I believe in signs… I was only able to return to New York, where he works, a year later because I was finishing another film ; but this idea never left me“, also added Emmanuelle Bercot. For the record, Benoît Magimel lost around sixty kilos in three times, due to the two filming stoppages linked to Catherine Deneuve’s health problems and Covid. “It was anxiety. I’m in my forties, so it’s more difficult to lose weight. I had to do 3 diets and from morning to night you only live in that“, he indicated. The actor compared his preparation to that of a top athlete, with “crazy pressure”, and the fear of “not to be taken seriously“.
© Laurent CHAMPOUSSIN – © Les Films du Kiosque / Studiocanal / France 2 Cinéma / Scope Pictures
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For the needs of his role, Benoît Magimel lost around sixty kilos in three times
“He invited me to meet again to talk about it. The man, it’s obvious when we saw the film, is extremely friendly, bright, warm, so I was quite taken by his proposal. But above all I immediately made the connection with my idea of melodrama, and as I believe in signs… I was only able to return to New York, where he works, a year later because I was finishing another film ; but this idea has never left me”, also added Emmanuelle Bercot. For the record, Benoît Magimel lost around sixty kilos in three times, due to the two filming stoppages linked to Catherine Deneuve’s health problems and Covid. “It was anxiety. I’m in my forties, so it’s more difficult to lose weight. I had to do 3 diets and from morning to night, you just live in that, ” he indicated. The actor compared his preparation to that of a top athlete, with “crazy pressure”, and the fear of “not being taken seriously”.