Guest in C to you this Tuesday, January 11, Gilles Lellouche spoke about his role as Obelix in Asterix and Obelix, the Middle Kingdom. Hesitant, the actor ended up agreeing to play this cult character thanks to his daughter.
In 25 years of career, Gilles Lellouche has had a range of very different roles. Five months after the release of North Bac, where he plays an agent of the Marseille anti-crime brigade, the actor is now showing in the film Farewell Mr. Hauffmann, whose plot takes place during the German occupation in 1942. A project that he immediately accepted. “There is something very, very strong that clicked very quickly in me, it was when Fred Cavayé said to me: ‘I had Daniel Auteuil read the project, who read it in two hours and said yes.’ I answered him : ‘I say yes right away then!’ (…) Daniel, he’s really an absolute model for me. I was overjoyed to be able to work with him. It was not refusal“, he told us.
Gilles Lellouche has “hesitated a lot“before accepting the role of Obelix …
Many months ago, Gilles Lellouche was chosen by his friend Guillaume Canet to play Obélix in Asterix and Obelix: the Middle Empire. A role for which the movie star had to gain about twenty pounds by forcing himself to a special diet. Guest on the set of C to you this Tuesday, January 11, the brother of Philippe Lellouche also revealed to have “hesitated a lot“before accepting this new challenge.”I hesitated a lot. Already because I hadn’t had this potential option in my head. Then, because the specter of Gérard Depardieu, who was the one and only interpreter of Obelix, it paralyzed me. Everyone told me about it and rightly so, it is irreplaceable. So I tried to do something else. “
… But was convinced by his 12-year-old daughter Ava
The actor finally agreed to lend his features to the cult character thanks to his daughter Ava, the fruit of his past love with actress Mélanie Doutey. “The person who opened my eyes was my daughter. One day, I was a little more anxious than another, I was very scared and I told myself that I was not going to do it. She said : ‘Wait, I didn’t get it right, aren’t you going to do Obelix? Dad, I don’t want to hear you talk about this, you’re going to do Obelix! ‘ She is 12 years old and it was she who made me want“, he said. To see Gilles Lellouche in Obelix, it will be necessary to wait until February 1, 2023, date of release ofAsterix and Obelix: the Middle Empire.