In Les Combattantes, the character of Abbé Vautrin is revealed in the last three episodes, Monday October 10 at 9:10 p.m. on TF1. Laurent Gerra has donned the cassock of this detestable man.
How did this role of abbot come to you?
Laurent Gerra: When my agent made me read this scenario, I knew that I was offered Abbé Vautrin. And I immediately hated it.
Did you try to find something in his personal history that could make him a little nicer to you?
Oh no ! Vautrin is garbage. I don’t have any kind of empathy for him, especially since there are bad guys like him in the Church.
What is your relationship to religion?
I don’t really have a predisposition for religion but I respect them all. At home, we are atheists. No one is baptized.
Did you do military service?
I was excused. I ran into a very understanding army shrink. I had just arrived in Paris, I was starting to work. I didn’t want to waste a year. He reformed me. But I am not at all anti-militarist, I would even be in favor of the return of compulsory military service.
Do you want to explore more the field of fiction?
I like more and more to play in fictions. I am lucky to be able to choose. After The Fighters, I chained two telefilms for France 2: A confession, in which I play a man accused of having killed his wife. And the sequel to black as snow where I play a very unfriendly Swiss cop. Surprisingly, I get few comedies.
Would you like to turn to directing?
I studied cinema. I would love to do a western, but I’m going to tackle the documentary first. I really want to tell the story of my grandfather during the Second World War. He was taken prisoner, escaped and joined the Resistance. He was my hero. He wrote his memories in a remarkable way in notebooks which he transmitted to me. I will go back in his footsteps, in Germany.
You have also embarked on the restoration…
Yes. I live in Lyon now. I joined forces with the Bocuse group. We saved three restaurants, including Léon de Lyon, which is an institution.
You are the father ofa little Celestine for two years. How has that changed you?
She is a child born in the middle of Covid-19 (August 24, 2020, editor’s note). She had her parents by her side full time for the first few months of her life. I had the chance to see it evolve on a daily basis, to observe it, to take full advantage of it. I couldn’t have attended all that if I had had to go to work in Paris. Now it’s much harder to leave her. I find it hard to detach myself from her. Going on tour for three weeks without returning, it weighs on me, whereas before I didn’t think about it.
Are you officially daddy gaga?
I don’t know… Maybe… In any case, I’m very lucky to have her in my life. I find her funny. She eats everything, including cancoillotte. It makes me happy. She is also a music lover: she demands Mozart. I think she is off to a very good start in life.
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