While the pastry championship is the scene of tragic events in Here it all begins, the love story of Swan and Salomé could well suffer… Cyril Durel, Swan’s interpreter, tells us more about this who awaits his character.
Allociné: You are one of the last actors to have integrated Here everything begins. How did you come to this project?
Cyril Durel : By the classic circuit. I had already passed tests with the casting team which also takes care of Tomorrow belongs to us. In fact, I have friends who saw an advertisement for the role of Swan and sent it to me. I didn’t really think I would match it at first but I self-taped anyway. And it happened like that.
We imagine that there can be some apprehension when integrating such a large family as Here it all begins. How was your arrival on the series?
Honestly, I went there without too much expectation. I was surprised in the positive. What’s really interesting about this series is that there’s a bit of a Hogwarts side to it. There are lots of young people, there are also older actors who play teachers. Frankly, it threw me a little into the Harry Potter atmosphere. I was happy. I felt like I was part of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw [rires]. It was super nice. And then everyone was very nice. The technical team and the production make sure that we feel super comfortable in order to be able to bring out the best.
What attracted you to the role of Swan?
He has some kind of insurance. We will learn more about his past. He’s someone who grew up in Japan and I found that already very interesting. From a personal point of view, I had the opportunity to travel a little bit. Not in Japan unfortunately, but I know that being in contact with several cultures also enriches the personality. The fact that he is a photographer is a detail, but I was very interested in photography with the character of Swan. I bought myself a Polaroid. With the kitchen of course, these are aspects that I found interesting.
Have you had any cooking training for the role?
Yes. There are referents on the set. As soon as there are gestures or specific things to do, we are supported, well coached. People who are very square about it surround us. And there, as it was about pastry, it was very technical. Each time, we knew exactly what to do. I was very keen on that and I wanted to be in a bit of trouble. It made me want to get even more interested in cooking. I also intend to take Japanese cooking classes in the future.
Swan and Salomé (Aurélie Pons) got very close and started a love story. What can you tell us about this?
It’s a thunderbolt. There is a fairly instant kind of connection between Swan and Salomé. The fact that it’s during the baking championship, it also adds a little spice to things because they are in competing teams. Between Swan and Salomé, it’s really a passionate story.
Is Swan totally sincere with her, or is he acting on behalf of Chief Cardone (Alexandra Vandernoot) in the hope of destabilizing Teyssier’s (Benjamin Baroche) team?
All I can tell you is that Swan is a very honest person and very true to himself. That is to say, he follows his ambitions and his personal desires. Finally, Swan is quite independent. I think that’s what makes him a bit mysterious because a priori, he’s not on anyone’s heels.
Teyssier takes a very dim view of the rapprochement between Swan and Salomé. Will he try to separate them?
What Swan can see so far is that Teyssier doesn’t seem to like him very much. He is very suspicious. Swan perceives this but doesn’t care. He is an adult, he is master of his personal life. So he doesn’t really care much about it. Maybe he also tends to think that others are somewhat of the same mind as him. As a result, he does not necessarily think about the stakes for Salomé.
Despite everything, Swan’s behavior is sometimes mysterious and necessarily raises questions. Did he have something to hide?
I think we all have secrets to hide but no. Swan has an observant side. He feels a bit like an alien. As he arrives in the midst of people who already know each other, he keeps his distance a little. He is aware that they don’t know who he is. I can understand that he has a mysterious aspect that raises questions, but he’s just very focused on cooking because it’s also incidentally something very important to him.
We know that Swan and Salomé are going to find Alban’s body on the beach. Can you tell us more about this macabre discovery and what awaits your characters next?
It’s something that just shakes up this whole championship a bit. Swan being part of the competition like everyone else, this concerns him directly. It will definitely worry him. Because of his relationship with Salomé, he will obviously take an interest in it and seek to understand by participating in the investigation. He will therefore be directly involved.
Alban’s death finally upsets this personal plan represented by the pastry championship. That’s the goal that got him here. To move forward on the rest of this championship, he will need answers.
The pastry championship is the scene of quite tragic events. We imagine that everyone will inevitably end up accusing themselves. Will Swan be on the list of potential suspects?
Sure. There is a little Agatha Christie side. I think that everyone present at the championship is bound to be accused sooner or later. It’s a championship, it’s restricted and only the people present at the competition know about it. Afterwards, it can come from an outside person but yes Swan will go on the list of suspects.
Will Swan be able to count on Salomé’s support in this ordeal?
The relationship between Swan and Salomé will inevitably be disrupted and it will taint their story a little bit. Will she doubt? Salomé is bound to ask questions. In the end, she doesn’t know Swan. They have the feeling of knowing each other and understanding each other perfectly, but there is bound to be a moment when even her friends will ask her if she really knows him.
Could Swan stay on the show after this summer intrigue and could we see him join the masters next year?
Swan has already trained with Cardone in Lille so I don’t know what his current level of education is. In any case, there is no question for the moment that he is part of the master’s degree at the institute. But there is never anything excluded.
What is your assessment of this experience on Here it all begins?
I’m a bit of a sensitive. I’m very nostalgic when I watch the episodes on TV. There was almost a summer camp spirit. I got close very quickly to lots of people with whom I got on well. It’s a very intense experience. The setting of the Camargue makes it very different as well. It immersed me for more than a month in something I didn’t know at all. I got interested in a lot of things that I didn’t know. That’s why I do this job. To meet people and live different experiences. I have precious memories of it.
Do you have other projects besides Here it all begins?
I will soon be in the Bardot series where I play the role of Antoine Charrier. I am also making an appearance in Katell Quillévéré’s next film, Le temps d’aimer, in the role of an American soldier.
Besides that, I work a lot with independent authors. I co-founded a studio called Les Artifex which is a kind of laboratory, a training room for actors and directors. All the times when I’m not filming and during which the rest of the team is not filming, we come to train. With this team, we also produce short films and here we are preparing a feature film.