Viewers will discover a new opus from the collection "Murders at"on France 3, January 23, 2021, at 9:05 pm, where the action takes place this time in Albi. In this police investigation, a young commissioner embodied by Léonie Simaga will find herself at the heart of a complex intrigue. 42 year old actress gave an interview to Current wife in which she returns to this shoot, her crossbreeding, her family and her career as an actress.
Current Woman: Can you tell us in a few words the story of Murders in Albi ?
Léonie Simaga: It is the story of a woman, Annabelle Dalmasio, who has just been appointed commissioner in Albi. The day she takes office, she is faced with a crime. No wonder, but this crime is a bit special. The investigation begins and the film will unfold in a somewhat surprising way. There will be the detective intrigue and to that, an intimate intrigue concerning my character will be mingled, which is also linked to the History of France. It is these three lines that intertwine. At the same time intimate, historical, social even, and police.
What interested you in the role of Annabelle Dalmasio?
L. S .: Precisely, the complexity of the interweaving of these three narrative lines given to the character because it has a beautiful thickness. She needs to be smart, responsive, a good cop and a good boss. She has to prove herself. Besides that, what is interesting is the intimate abyss that will open up for her. All the emotional relationships that come into play, with her daughter, with her parents. And lastly, History with a capital H that I did not know. That's what I liked, the fact that there was really material.
Annabelle is a strong woman who holds a position of commissioner. Do you have any character traits in common with her?
L. S .: I think I'm rather put, by people in general, in the category of strong women for better or for worse. With a strong character, which has advantages and disadvantages (laughs). As another trait in common, at one point Annabelle says that she earned her job because of her work, her studies, the competitions she passed. Me too, it's something that I did a lot, I studied, I took competitions. In my life, I have tried to gain objectively respect or admiration. We have that in common, her and me.
Her husband, her children
Annabelle is the mother of a 12 year old teenage girl. Do you have children?
L. S .: Yes. Besides, that was also a great pleasure. I have children who are not yet adolescents. It's happening fast. I have a 10 year old daughter who is really a pre-teen and a little boy who is 5½ years old. The few scenes I have with Angie, the actress who plays my daughter, were really cool. She is a single mother with her child. The bond was strong with her.
Does your husband work in the same environment as you?
L. S .: My husband's name is Massimo Troncanetti, he is Italian. He is a scenographer. He designs sets, more opera and theater. He has both an artistic footing, and at the same time, he often says that he is not an artist, that he is on the technical and engineering side. Most of the time, his interlocutors are technicians, people who build the sets, who make them move, machinists, etc.
Your character Annabelle is an adopted child from the Reunion Island. Did you not know the story of these children who were forcibly exiled in the metropolis?
L. S .: I discovered it while reading the script. I did not know this story. It is a terrible story that interested the director Delphine Lemoine. It is a subject which had not been treated and which had to be.
Did you document yourself when you first became aware of the story?
L. S .: Not that much. I didn't dig too deep because the situation affected me enough like that. I think I have a hypersensitivity to these issues. The question of interbreeding is taken into account. The question of what colonization was, of the harshness of decolonization, of the harshness of France's relationship, as an institution and as a nation, to its former colonies. The subject touches me closely. Even if I was not particularly aware of this story, the problem is close to me and touches me.
"The question of my interbreeding did not arise in the theater"
Where do you come from ?
L. S .: My father is Malian. My mother is French, more precisely from Brittany. This is where my parents met. My older brother was born in Rennes. Afterwards, they left for Africa where my second brother was born in Bamako. I was born in Marseille because my mother had decided not to give birth in Africa. She went to her sister's house. But I grew up in Burkina Faso. I had the chance to be in a cultural melting pot, to know the diversity of the world, of cultures and this in good conditions. I have not been the victim of the difficulty experienced by the majority of the people on Earth. Poverty, fragility in relation to viruses. Now we are discovering it in the West. In Africa, people have been dying of diseases that could easily be cured for a long time. Then my father changed jobs and I came back to France, in the Côtes-d'Armor, at the age of about 10. Afterwards, I had the chance to go abroad again. In this case, it was in Tangier, Morocco. Afterwards, Paris for studies. I have stayed there ever since.
Did you encounter difficulties in obtaining roles because of this crossbreeding?
L. S .: The answer is complicated. It is in two stages. I spent most of my career in the theater, at the Comédie-Française. Non. I am one of those actresses who were lucky enough to have a lot of beautiful and great leading roles. From the moment I entered the Conservatory and started working on French as an auxiliary student, then as a boarder and then as a member, the question of my crossbreeding did not arise. It is one of the beauties of the theater. The Infanta of Spain can be played by a young mestizo. What matters is what she expresses and not her skin color. In terms of my film and TV career, yes, obviously. There are fewer roles, less diversity in roles, for people who don't fall into the major and dominant category: heterosexual white males between the ages of 20 and 50. French creation takes its time. It's moving slowly. But I am not to be pitied. They call me directly to offer me a casting or a role. Certainly, I am on the list of non-white actresses, in addition to those of the unknown ones, but most of the people who call to work with me are people who know my work, who have seen me in French or who have seen in such and such a thing.
His next role in I promise you the remake of This is us
You were a member of the Comédie-Française, do you plan to play again one day on stage?
L. S .: More than that. I had a premiere which was scheduled for Marigny at the end of January. But as the theater had to close because of the epidemic, it is postponed until next season. Since 2016, I have hardly played in the theater. I realized when I was offered it how happy I was. Before that, I must say that I played so much for 10 years at French, that when I left, I did not miss it.
In your news, you are part of the cast of I promise you, the remake of This is us, which will soon be broadcast on TF1, which character do you play?
L. S .: I play Agnès in the French version which is Beth, Randall's wife, in the American version. I play the woman of the black who is played by Narcisse Mame. We come back to it. Certainly, that's how the story was written, of this black child who was adopted by this white family, but I find that there was really a real desire to show precisely a black family from the share of production, directors and screenwriters. He's a brilliant lawyer. He, like Annabelle, ticked all the boxes for the right student. They have a good bourgeois life. You rarely see a non-white family of senior executives on French television. I saw the American version and I really like the actress who plays Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson, editor's note). We have a little pressure all the same. Honestly, from what I've seen, I think it's not bad. I find that it is up to the model.
Read also : Valérie Karsenti ("La fugue"): "Many parents do not know their teenagers" – EXCLUDED