In the next episodes of “Plus belle la vie”, Laetitia will become a History-Geo teacher at Scotto. On this occasion, we met his interpreter, Caroline Riou, so that she could tell us about this surprising career change.
Last week in More beautiful life, the students of Scotto high school learned with surprise that their History-Geo teacher was absent. Rochat then had the idea of calling on a replacement for the least surprising, Laetitia Belesta, who will arrive in the establishment this Monday, September 19.
The character portrayed by Caroline Riou has been, since her arrival at the Mistral in 2014, a cleaning lady in Mirta and Luna’s hotel. How did she come to be a teacher at Scotto High School? We met the actress to tell us more.
Allociné: In this Monday evening’s episode, your character, Laetitia Belesta, becomes a teacher at Scotto High School. This career development is very surprising. How did she get there?
caroline riou : If you remember the story of Laetitia, four years ago, she had passed the baccalaureate with her son. Until now, the writers had left this story aside, and we hadn’t talked about this year when she had worked a lot to succeed in obtaining the diploma. Laetitia had remained a cleaner at the Celeste.
I find it interesting that, for the end of Plus belle la vie, they are changing this story. Laetitia is a woman who had never had the chance to continue her studies and who, 20 years later, had decided to retake the baccalaureate in order to climb the social ladder. The authors therefore imagined that for several months, even years, she had followed a degree in History-Geography by correspondence.
This plot also directly echoes the emergency plan that Macron put in place this summer, where people who have not studied to become a teacher can apply to be a temporary worker. She therefore finds herself replacing the former History/Geo teacher and will therefore be entering high school this evening.
Will his arrival at high school go well?
When she arrived, Laetitia wanted to do well. I think she’s stressed like a lot of young teachers, and she reads her charts a lot. She sweats a lot before she gets to class. She will however succeed in integrating and imposing herself but before that, she will still have to face insolent students who will test her a lot.
How did you react when you discovered that Laetitia was going to become a teacher?
It was the producer of the series who called me to tell me about my new plot. And when she told me that Laetitia was going to become a teacher, I was quite surprised, and I didn’t understand how the screenwriters were going to justify that.
When we receive the texts, we do not have the plots in full. So we don’t necessarily have the full evolution of the story. I tried to nibble on information in order to understand the ins and outs of this plot.
It’s the end of Plus belle la vie, I’ve been with the team for 8 years. I think it’s great that my character, after passing her baccalaureate, can advance as a woman. She lost her husband, she is still with her son and I find that here she is taking a beautiful revenge on life. It’s a great character development.
Of course the series stops so we won’t have the opportunity to develop this story, but it opens up the field of possibilities. Through this plot, we will perhaps give hope to people who want to change their lives, whether by going back to school or not. This is a strong message that will surely resonate with many people.
Laetitia is a woman who takes care of herself, and even if she has Valentin, who is a billionaire, she needs to be independent, to exist and above all to be fulfilled. Even if she sometimes has to fight and it’s complicated, she prefers that rather than having everything served on a silver platter.
Last May, we learned that Plus belle la vie was going to bow out after 18 years on the air. How did you react when you learned of the end of the series? And how do you envision the future?
I must have taken the news badly. But, at the same time, it’s a series that was born 18 years ago. She opened a lot of doors. So it’s not nice to hear such news, but I tell myself that a series like this is not intended to last indefinitely either.
All the people who are on Plus belle la vie as a recurring character are incredibly lucky to be able to work very regularly. As Anne Decis said (who plays Luna Torres, editor’s note), we will take up our pilgrim’s staff, and we will go and knock on doors.
I think that once you have an experience at Plus belle la vie, you are capable of doing anything. We shoot so fast, there are so many requirements that I think we can be put anywhere.
What also hurts is that we have to mourn our character. I know few people who have had the chance to work so regularly on a series. However, when you’re 20 and life is ahead of you, you know you’re going to bounce back. On the other hand, when you have a little more than 40, you will have to fight to advance.
If there was an actor or actress with whom you would like to play again before the end of Plus belle la vie, who would it be?
Plus belle la vie will end with a prime chorale. We will be very numerous and very mixed. So I will be able to rub shoulders with many other actors. I also had the chance, with this new plot, to give the reply to partners with whom I had never worked.
For example, in the past, I had only shot once or twice with Charles Schneider, who plays Claude Rochat. With this storyline, we had a lot of scenes together. I was also able to work with young people. I was also very stressed to play with them, because I did not know how it was going to happen.
When you think about it, I’ve been in a kind of routine for years: it’s always my son Kevin, it’s the Celeste etc… And then, all of a sudden, I have a lot more partners since I have Scotto’s students but also the other high school teachers. At the start of filming, I went to the set with a lump in my stomach, like when it’s our first day of school. So I’m overjoyed about that. I wouldn’t be disappointed.