“I didn’t feel capable of doing it”… Why Guillaume Labbé accepted the role in Les Yeux Grands Fermés on TF1

In Les Yeux Grands Fermés, which is broadcast this Monday, October 2 at 9:10 p.m. on TF1, Guillaume Labbé plays Stéphane, a father, who will be suspected by his own mother, played by Muriel Robin, of being incestuous towards her son.

In this TV film written by Emilie Clamart-Marsollat, the actor slips into the skin of an unsuitable character, far from the roles he was able to play in Plan Coeur and I promise you. For the occasion, Allociné met Guillaume Labbé to talk about Yeux Grands Fermés and what convinced him to participate in the project.

Allociné: What attracted you to the role of Stéphane in Les Yeux Grands Fermés?

Guillaume Labbé : What attracted me was what repelled me. When I read the script, I immediately told myself that I couldn’t do it, because it was impossible to understand this character, to love him. And that’s exactly what attracted me.

I read the author’s note of intent (Emilie Clamart-Marsollat, editor’s note), and that made me want to. The fact that Muriel Robin plays also made me want it. I told myself that the project was going to be well done.

The challenge was to understand, to feel and to ask myself how such a thing is possible. I don’t know if I succeeded, but it was a dive into something horrible and interesting at the same time.

What also attracted me was the idea that we could talk about this important subject and thus help even just one person, it’s something pretty crazy.

How did the casting go ? Didn’t you get scared when you saw the role?

I was offered the script, which I read, and which I closed immediately because I didn’t feel capable of doing it. Not because it was poorly written, or because I didn’t think it was good, or that I didn’t believe in it or that I didn’t want to play this character.

I thought the story was very good, but it was impossible. It’s definitely a scary role. I had to find consistency. To find coherence, I had to understand the character.

What I like to do when I play is to really put myself in the skin of the character. I always wonder what part of Guillaume this character is. The character is like a part of me.

And in the case of Les Yeux Grands Fermés, Stéphane had to be a part of me. It was a bit dizzying trying to figure out what part of me could have been hurt the way he was.

How did you prepare for the role? Have you met any associations?

I was helped a lot by the author. She knows her subject very well. I have also read a lot of reports and studies on the subject. There haven’t been many on incestuous fathers. I found a study that was done in Canada, where they went to prison to interview this kind of person. This is what helped me to see what type of guy, what psychological profile I was going to play, which one was potentially close to the character, which one I could embody and which one served the author’s purpose the most.

I didn’t want to make a narcissistic pervert who has no emotion. And at the same time I had to play someone who denies that he is guilty, and who manipulates people. There are different ways to manipulate.

Either you manipulate knowing what you are doing, in order not to get caught, or, as in Stéphane’s case, you have a sort of dissociation, and you really believe that what you are doing is not wrong . This is the direction we went.

How did filming go with Eden Lopez, who plays little Adrien? How do you go about shooting this kind of film with a child?

We talked a lot beforehand with his mother, who was present on the set, to find out what she had said to him. The two of us never talked about the subject. I knew that his mother had explained everything to him: what the film was about, the subject…

But with him, I never got into the subject. I didn’t want, when he played something, to play the fear of touching. This was helped by the director who gave Eden concrete actions.

For example, he said to him:there you are sad and you speak quietly because you don’t want to make noise“. He didn’t say “you don’t want to make any noise because you don’t want your father to come into the room“This way of working has helped a lot.

And then, when the cameras were off, we played together a lot on set. We played football, we laughed, we told jokes. We had a lot of fun, which made the days lighter. We had to explain it to him, but it’s the job of the coaches on set, that when the camera is cut, real life begins. It’s the same thing for adults.

How was the collaboration with Muriel Robin, and your mother/son relationship?

It went very well. I didn’t know her personally and I find her really very strong. I like her talent as an actress as well as her person herself. She is both sensitive and very strong at the same time.

There’s a mixture of many things about her that appeals to me. When we met, it was very simple and natural. It’s also one of the elements that made me accept this role. I knew that Muriel Robin was not going to make a TV movie about incest that would play on people’s fears to attract audiences.

I knew it would be engaging fiction. And once again, in the author’s note of intent, we understood that there was a real desire to talk about a subject that she has been involved with for a very long time.

TF1

The TV movie suggests incest more than it shows it. Why this choice ? Is this due to the time and broadcast channel?

There is a double reason for this. The first is that there always had to be doubt. We had to be from the mother’s point of view. It was a choice not to follow me, the father, not to know what I do with my days.

People don’t follow me, for example, when I leave the room, because the viewer would have information. And we shouldn’t have this information. And afterwards, I think it would have been too violent to show.

Maybe it would be necessary to show it in other fiction, but I think it’s unshowable. And maybe that’s precisely the problem. It’s a question we always ask ourselves. In Irreversible, when they show the rape, we always wonder if it’s something necessary. With incest, I ask myself the question

We understand throughout the TV film that your character is both an executioner and a victim. Why was it important that this character wasn’t just a bad guy?

He has a past, a story. It was interesting because it emphasized the fact that it is important to open your eyes and dare to talk about it. That’s the big problem in this kind of business. People don’t talk about it. It is often educators or people in contact with families who manage to detect incest.

We therefore had to show that, if we don’t talk about it, there is a good chance that the violence will be repeated and that it will destroy other lives. What I like about this film is that there is an openness. We feel that a future is possible.

But personally, even if my character hadn’t been a victim, I would have looked for something to make him human. I would have found a weakness. And the reality is that 100% of perpetrators had a difficult childhood. This is what we discovered with studies on serial killers. You’re not born with a monster inside. For me, people who have been mistreated mistreat others.

Was there a scene that particularly struck you during filming?

The most difficult scene to play and the one where I say “good night” to him. It is very short but we get to the heart of the matter. This is the first time we were in a tactile relationship. It’s a tenderness that will overflow to the point of psychologically killing someone. It was a difficult scene to shoot because you project yourself into something that is horrible.

In another register, there were also scenes of pure pleasure because there were strong emotions. I think, for example, of the scene at the end when my mother gives me my blanket and suddenly my character realizes that he was a victim.

He finally accepts that his father, who was seen as a god to everyone, mistreated him. Suddenly, everything comes back to him. As an actor, and as a man, this scene is great to perform.

TF1

In a completely different register, you will very soon be featured in Escort Boys, a series for Prime Video. Can you tell us a little about the project?

It is a series adapted from an Israeli fiction. Ruben Alves will direct. I play a man who left his native Camargue to become an actor in Paris, who returns to me following the death of his father.

The latter had become a beekeeper, but he made no money. I’m coming back because there’s my little sister who lives there and who’s going to be placed if we don’t manage to get money. I quickly realize that, financially, it’s crap. And I discover that one of the men who worked with my father was making passes, and that my little sister and my father knew about it.

My character will question his morals with this discovery. But since I need money, I’m going to temporarily agree to become an escort with my three best friends.

It’s a series that will tackle male sexuality a lot, which, outside of comedies, is very little discussed. Men don’t talk much to each other about sexuality, and we will therefore see that there are many different ways of approaching the subject. The series is funny and sexy. I can’t wait for it to come out.

Is it rewarding to play completely different characters in each of your projects?

It’s awesome. So far, I’ve been really lucky, because I’m always offered roles that are very different from each other. I often say to myself “It’s not possible, why am I being offered this role? I am not this character.”

And then I work on the role and I understand. At first, it’s dizzying because I don’t have confidence in myself. Then we see how we can play the character. It’s cool to do different roles.

Do you have other projects?

I will be in an Arte series called Machine which is directed by Fred Grivois. This is a very special project, which I hope will happen in the spring. I look forward to seeing the results. And I have other projects coming up, but I can’t talk about them yet.