The finale of season 1 of “Prométhée”, broadcast this evening on TF1, revealed the origins of the heroine and the reason for her existence. Odile Vuillemin, the interpreter of “mad genius” Marie Clairmont, reacts for us to the revelations of this last episode.
Nothing will ever be the same for the heroes of Prometheus after the events of the first season finale, broadcast this Thursday March 30 on TF1.
Taken away from the hospital by Marie Clairmont (Odile Vuillemin) after her murderous face to face with Clerval (Xavier Robic), Prometheus (Fantine Harduin) ends up discovering the secret laboratory of the ex-scientist turned psychologist. And by learning the truth about its origins and the hidden purpose of its “existence”.
Indeed, if Marie Clairmont, who was once a great specialist in genetics, assembled Prometheus from several lifeless bodies of adolescent girls, such as Frankenstein’s creature, it was for a very specific purpose: to obtain a repairing genome capable of to regenerate a sick body.
The secret objective of the character played by Odile Vuillemin is therefore to cure the leukemia of her son William (Anthony Goffi) from the “superhuman” blood of Prometheus. A bet fulfilled since, in the last minutes of the season 1 finale, Marie manages to save William’s life. Before fleeing with the help of Charles (Thomas Jouannet), who realizes that his friend has broken the law, and all ethical boundaries, out of love for his son.
“Mary is not portrayed as a big villain, there is nothing Manichean in what is said”answers Odile Vuillemin when asked if she manages to understand the gesture of Marie, who created Prometheus from scratch in the hope of overcoming her son’s leukemia.
“I necessarily understand Marie, because I think you always have to defend your characters if you want to play them correctly”continues the ex-star of Profiling. “There is a depth of humanity in what she did. Sometimes, out of love, you can do completely crazy things. And it’s nothing more or less than that. Even if we go into the fantastic, it’s a mother who wants to save her child. By putting myself in her point of view, I can’t really blame Marie. Even if this mad genius side causes us to confuse all the tracks of ethics. We even knocks them out (laughs)”.
A “joyful” role of Dr Frankenstein for Odile Vuillemin
“It was completely enjoyable”admits Odile Vuillemin, who seems to have taken great pleasure in playing Marie Clairmont, a sort of Doctor Frankenstein hidden behind glasses and a super strict shrink look.
“Already, the story was great. And then I loved Marie’s lab, it’s exceptional. When Marie presented her lab to Prometheus, I felt like I was in Star Trek, it was so good (laughs). There was a great victorious genius side, and the decor, with these blue, red lights, took us very far, in a science fiction thing”.
“What I find great is that the fantastic allows me to push the limits of reality even further. And to go further into the character”continues Odile Vuillemin at our microphone. “And at the same time it’s very anchored in reality, which gives a rather fantastic shift. Like in this scene where the character of Thomas Jouannet says to him “But do you realize what you did?! You’re completely sick” and she replies “Bah what, I saved my son”, with a disarming naturalness. It’s really the crazy genius who is just focused on his mission”.
T. Langro / UGC / TF1 Marie (Odile Vuillemin) facing Prometheus (Fantine Harduin).
If for the moment the future of Prometheus is in suspense, Odile Vuillemin strongly hopes that a season 2 will see the light of day (“We cross fingers” she says about a possible sequel). The actress having completely wanted to find the character of Marie Clairmont, which is one of the roles she has preferred to interpret since the beginning of her career.
“I loved this character. I still love him”she tells us. “Marie is super well written. There is a sweet mix of emotion and coldness, restraint. It was great to play this character. We went on this metallic side, because she managed to hide everything she hid. Hence this hyper-rigid, hyper-metallic side that doesn’t let anything sweat. And at the same time, she’s completely undone because of what’s happening to her son.”.
“We placed small pebbles from the start of the series, which could be clues to Marie’s real motivations. I’m thinking of the very characteristic glasses she wears, which I wanted in the style of laboratory glasses. Or the orthosis, which could very well hide scars on her forearm, like marks of past experiences on herself”.
“You can imagine a lot of things. When I broke my hand, the producer didn’t dare tell me he was happy (laughs). But when I added the idea of ”bone fragility” to the script to explain Marie’s orthosis, he was thrilled. Because his ultimate reference was the film Unbreakable“.
So, in your opinion, has Marie Clairmont revealed all her mysteries? Or is she hiding other secrets that could upset the heroes of Prometheus in a possible season 2? The future will tell.