“I started too early to ask myself what job I wanted to do”

The least we can say is that Elsa Lunghini does not run after interviews – an extremely rare occurrence! She was in no hurry to meet The world. First of all for health reasons, in March and April. In May, she set her conditions: for her first face-to-face interview, it will be at the Hôtel des Remparts in Aigues-Mortes (Gard). All in stone vaults of the country, this former barracks serves as an annex, ideally located near the castle of Saint-Laurent, where it turns Here it all begins, the successful daily of TF1 and “spin-off” (variation) of the soap opera Tomorrow belongs to us.

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Behavior that we could take for arrogance – it struck us. “I learned to take a step back with notoriety”, she corrects in a soft but firm voice, in front of a “Saveur de Versailles” tea. It is 4 pm, a little early for the aperitif. “I have always been on the reserve. A mistrust that dates from childhood, I think. ” A childhood interrupted at 13 by the phenomenal success of Do not go. The song written for the film The woman of my life, by Régis Wargnier, was first refused by Jane Birkin, who played the main role, before being offered to little Elsa, already used to the sets. Daughter of Christiane Jobert, painter, sculptor and sister of actress Marlène Jobert, and of Georges Lunghini, composer, singer and actor, she began at age 7 in Jail, by Claude Miller, alongside Romy Schneider, Lino Ventura and Michel Serrault.

Refusal to be a “slave”

The disc, sold 1.3 million copies, propels Elsa, in 1986, “youngest singer” at the top of the Top 50. She will remain in the ranking eight weeks. This incredible success, this “Whirlwind”, also makes her discover jealousy, wickedness, even if her father warned her. It is about him that she wants to speak: Georges Lunghini. Of Italian origin, he, like her, started early in the cinema, at 14, before becoming assistant to photographer Jean-Daniel Lorieux, then singer, author, composer – for Sylvie Vartan, Marlène Jobert, Marc Lavoine and his daughter. , of course. “Very early on, I saw my father working hard and trying to make a place for himself…” During the holidays with his parents, she sees him singing on the terrace of a restaurant. “My father couldn’t stand watching him do the quest, but I loved it. People loved him too. He was doing covers of Elvis standards… ” She will see him do the sleeve for ten years. “I was brought up like this. I have never lacked for anything. “

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