On the occasion of the Canneseries festival, Frédéric Diefenthal, the interpreter of Antoine Myriel in Here it all begins, confided in our microphone on the relationship of his character with Souleymane and on the next sea voyage that they will are about to do.
Allociné: You have been playing Antoine Myriel for more than two years, first in Tomorrow belongs to us then in Here everything begins. What has changed for you and do you still take as much pleasure in embodying this character?
Frederic Diefenthal : Yes, I always take so much pleasure. Antoine evolves. It’s how lucky we are on a daily series. The characters evolve with the maturity that you take through a role and that which you take as an individual who embodies a role. We evolve over the months and years. That’s what makes the job interesting and ultimately keeps you from getting tired of it.
Tomorrow belongs to us and Here it all begins are two very different but also very complementary series. That’s why it’s interesting to see them one behind the other and on the same channel.
I think Here it all begins is a more choral series. It really is a unit and a great group. It is something global. In Tomorrow belongs to us, we are more about what we call slices of life. There are families who do not know each other. In Here it all starts, everyone knows each other. Everyone has a relationship. Each character always has at some point an interactivity with the other. It’s funny because you never know what sauce you’re going to be working with, what character you’re going to have a romantic relationship with, a breakup. We are constantly surprised.
Dembo Camilo joined the cast of the series a few months ago. Were you happy to find your fictional son?
Yes I was happy that he came back. I still found it a little sad to see him in his host family in Sète [rires]. He was very well surrounded there. There are only sublime partners whom I really like on Tomorrow belongs to us.
But I still found it lacking. The reports of this blended family were still quite original and singular. I was starting to miss it. And that took Antoine out of the context in which he is continually in contact with his students. He was less confronted with this in Tomorrow belongs to us. There, he is in direct contact with his students constantly. And he missed having that contrast with his own child.
It was also very surprising to see Antoine harder with Souleymane than with his students. He is ultimately more attentive to them than to his son.
It was interesting to play and very well written. What we manage to do very well for others, we sometimes do more awkwardly with those close to us. Souleymane’s arrival at the institute allowed for introspection on Myriel’s side. To understand that at some point he may also be kidding. He is not ultimately clairvoyant at the start with his son. It gave an evolution to Antoine but also to their family.
We see relationships between a father and his son, a mother-in-law and his son-in-law, but also in this couple. Rose (Vanessa Demouy) who tries to make Antoine understand that he should be careful and that he should be more nuanced in his remarks and his relationship with his son. Because he is quite cash with Souleymane while he is nuanced with his students. The arrival of Souleymane allowed a real good development for Antoine. And with the end of the “Rocketed” ark, there is a new relationship that is established with his son who goes from a young man to a man.
Souleymane is going through a rather difficult heartbreak. How will Antoine go about supporting his son?
We will see them leave soon. We won’t see them on screen but Antoine and Souleymane will be away for a while. It is also a way of taking stock. Antoine will take off.
Antoine is also a sponge. As soon as there is a problem somewhere, the principal’s office is the complaints office. Antoine absorbs a lot. At one point, he has an overdose of all that and he can’t do his job well. He needs to find his boat [rires]. Antoine needs to regularly set sail and take stock. This time, he’s not doing it alone. He does it with Souleymane.