We have an appointment with Pierre Niney in a hyper-trendy hotel near the Louvre, for an aperitif at tea time: 4:15 p.m. It was not he who chose the place, but his press officer, insists he. We are installed in a sort of empty room, with two armchairs and a few bottles of water. L’happy hour promise to be crazy. If the context is a little cold, it must be recognized that an aperitif without blowing hand dryers and din of percolator, it is convenient.
Since we set out to do things wisely, let’s start at the beginning. Since college, Pierre Niney has known what he wants to do: hit the boards. In high school, the Parisian chooses the L sector, heavy theater option, for a moment “founder”, he believes. There he discovers the power of the game, with this French teacher who “hated” – surely because he had “started making jokes, it must have passed for insolence” – and who, after seeing him on stage, changes his mind. “She looked at me completely differently after seeing me in a role that I really liked, unlike her classes that I didn’t like at all…”
Often he whispers: “Thank you to the public school”, he salutes his encouraging teachers, the incredible chances he had. Like his first job in Russia, after leaving the baccalaureate. Spotted by a speaker from the Lycée Monet in Paris, he was hired as an assistant director, a function which was transformed into a secondary character, then in the lead role to replace the actor, who had an epileptic fit in rehearsal. “Pretty unlikely, as an experiment. » He rolls out his CV, the Cours Florent, the National Conservatory, the Comédie-Française, and his ” chance “ to do this job.
Incognito, green
Pierre Niney overflows with gratitude. But since we are not at the Césars ceremony – best actor in 2015, in Yves Saint Laurent –, we try a bistro bifurcation. What does he look like in front of a pint, at the local bar, with a friend? First, he is equipped: combo cap and surgical mask to remain incognito. “Before, I would have been considered a madman, now we just think that I have a cold and that I am nice to preserve others”, he jokes. On the other hand, having a drink at the bar is something he does very little: for six years, the 33-year-old actor left Paris for life in the countryside with family.
Good. Almost no alcohol. Pierre Niney tries another approach to this sober aperitif. “Do you mind if I order food? If it is, it will put us in the mood ! » In full promotion of Masquerade (by Nicolas Bedos), released on 1er November, he hasn’t swallowed anything all day. Cucumber-avocado salad on one side, plate of fries on the other. “An immediate detox and retox thing”jokes the young man, caught between his fried food and his green vegetables.
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