On the occasion of the return from the dead of Samia in “Plus belle la vie”, Fabienne Carat, her interpreter, confides in her comeback in the soap opera of France 3! The actress also makes revelations about the nature of her appearances…
As the grand finale of Plus belle la vie is fast approaching, Fabienne Carat has prepared a nice surprise for fans of the soap opera: the actress who played Samia will return to the series!
For AlloCiné, this one tells how this comeback was set up in secret and gives some indications about the conditions of the reappearance of his character at the Mistral, from October 19 on France 3 …
AlloCiné: You said that once the “Plus belle la vie” page was turned, the soap opera would stay behind you… Yet here you are again!
Fabienne Karat: Yes and no. Since my departure, each time I go out, people tell me that they regret that I left. Some are angry with me! (laughs) It’s not that it made me feel guilty, but I told myself that I didn’t do this job to hurt people. When I was asked before the summer if I would come back for the PBLV final, I accepted. Obviously, I would never have returned if the series had not stopped and I would never have returned either if Samia had been alive. For me, it’s not a return but a wink, a little gift for the public.
So how does this wink come about?
It remains very light, it is only there in Boher’s imagination. It remains subtle and it allows my character and me, his interpreter, to understand the end of his story a little more. There are going to be a lot of revelations. Why did she disappear? How did she disappear? I was in the dark about this departure.
How was your secret reappearance in the Mistral organized?
Claire de la Rochefoucauld, the new producer, called me and told me that the soap opera couldn’t end without Samia. She asked me if I would be OK to come back and told me that they could revive me if I wanted! I said no because Samia’s DNA had been found at the scene of her accident, so she was definitely dead. I didn’t want to change that either because I hadn’t come all the way back to that.
How did the writers plan to bring Samia back from the dead?
Since we hadn’t seen the body, it would have been possible if it had been my wish… Even if it seemed odd to me because of the evidence of his death, anything can be done in fiction! (laughs)
How did you feel coming back to the filming of “Plus belle la vie”?
I left less than two years ago and stayed for fifteen and a half years. This pro rata means that I hadn’t forgotten anything about the operation there. It was quite natural and I had a lot of perspective on my return since it was temporary and for the end.
Almost as if you had never left in short?
Yes and at the same time, when I left the show, I was out of breath. There, I was regenerated and well. I was delighted to see actors again and they were delighted in return. We took it as a gift of life. Like when something has ended and you have a little reprieve, as if you had the opportunity to speak again for a quarter of an hour with a deceased person.
How long will your appearances last?
It seems to me that it will be over five weeks. I spent almost two months on set.
In what context does Samia “visit” Boher?
I come back like a ghost. I’m still quite present. I had some really cool stuff to play. Boher finds himself in the same situation he found himself two years ago with Samia: Léa, his new companion, is in the same mess and everything starts again for Boher, everything goes downhill. The second woman in his life disappears and Samia comes to help her because she has been there. She shakes Boher, she is his conscience. When he goes too far or gets discouraged, she is there like a guardian angel to shake his coconut tree and wake him up. They have real exchanges, only he sees her normally. At times, she yells at him too! There are a lot of dialogues between them.
Will there be flashbacks to explain Samia’s disappearance?
Yes and I love it! There will be old ones and new ones in Algeria.
Do you think “PBLV” is over for good or could exist somewhere else, otherwise?
I don’t have the answers. It always seems very surprising that it really stops but you have to be happy that it lasted 18 years. However, it is true that when you see the Place du Mistral go out, you say to yourself that it is not possible! This decor is there, it is alive… Maybe it will continue one day in another form, with another cast. Life and its surprises…