Manon Azem plays the role of Nora, the hotheaded partner of Thomas, the character played by Arnaud Ducret, in the new TF1 detective series “Mercato”. With us, the actress looks back on this experience rich in emotion…
Thursday March 21, TF1 continues the broadcast of its new detective series Mercato. This nice but not devoid of faults fiction features Arnaud Ducret and Manon Azem (who boarded a moving plane on set!) in the main roles of Thomas and Nora, a Parisian police officer and a Marseille cop forced to collaborate in Marseille…
For AlloCiné, the latter looks back on this experience and already discusses her desires regarding the future of her character, in the event of a season 2.
AlloCiné: How did the filming of “Mercato” take place in Marseille?
Manon Azem: I had bad memories of this city, which dated from the time when I had filmed a series that I didn’t like at all! And there, I discovered Marseille. For the first time, I found myself all alone for four months, I got a little house… I loved it! And then, there is a warmth that emanates from the people. It’s very honest, they tell you if they like you, they tell you if they don’t like you… I like this frankness.
I was just afraid of not being up to the task of playing a Marseille girl, in the sense that I don’t have a Marseille accent… I immediately said: ‘Ok, I have to do a Marseille accent.‘And the producers told me quite rightly: ‘No, that’s a pain in the ass. If you lose your accent at any point, you will discredit the character forever.’ (laughs) So, we played up the fact that she doesn’t have an accent instead.
Nora is experiencing difficulties from a family point of view… Will her relationships with her sister and her father improve?
Obviously, everything will intertwine! (laughs) What’s interesting is not discovering Nora right away. This girl is a bit mysterious, she has injuries… And as the season progresses, we will discover them. She will have to let go of her past.
There is a lot of action in “Mercato”, have you followed any physical preparation?
I selfishly asked the production to initially have a coach. And in fact, they sent me a stuntman who taught me the basics of his job! It was so good because he showed me how to hold a real gun, load a gun, put on handcuffs, move around with a gun, do an arm lock…. So I was comfortable and autonomous in being able to manage my scenes. But we also had fight scenes for which I had choreography to learn, more than training.
Could your character and that of Arnaud Ducret end up together?
I’m fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen! We saw it so much in that context… Everyone was talking to me about it and I wasn’t excited about this possibility. I think what’s interesting is that we don’t fall into that cliché.
What I really like about this series is that we don’t fall into these clichés because we divert them, we go around them, we highlight them differently. In my opinion, it would be a little disappointing in 2024 to have two heroes fall in love. Maybe it will happen to them one day… Drunk? Ok, okay… And again (laughs)
In the event of season 2 of “Mercato”, in which direction would you like to take Nora?
Above all, I would like us to push the comedy even more. I can’t wait to push this burlesque, this humor, this second degree, to go next to where we are going… That really interests me! As for Nora, I would like her to be a little more shaken, a little more in difficulty. I would like to see her taken aback.