TF1 offers this Thursday evening the first three unpublished episodes of “Sissi”, a new historical series on the famous empress with Dominique Devenport. Did you know that the young actress had never seen Romy Schneider’s films?
More than 60 years after the now cult trilogy of Ernst Marischka with Romy Schneider, TF1 offers this Thursday evening Sissi, an ambitious German series which will bring a breath of fresh air to the famous story of Empress Elisabeth. To camp Sissi, the production has chosen Dominique Devenport, a young Swiss-American actress, who gets her first major role on television for the occasion.
The actress, who auditioned for the role of Sissi completely by chance, achieved the feat of never having seen Romy Schneider’s films before being chosen to play her. “JI saw them after being cast to play Sissi”, She explained to our microphone.
“I watched them all the same because I wanted to understand the phenomenon. When people hear the name Sissi, they don’t think of the Empress. Most think directly of films with Romy Schneider. ” But there was no question for her to watch the films to be inspired by the interpretation of Romy. It was just not pure curiosity.
A legacy hard to bear
Despite the heavy legacy of the 1955 version, Dominique Devenport is not afraid of comparison. “From the start, it was clear that our project was going to be very different from what had been done before. Sissi’s character is nothing like Romy Schneider’s, so I don’t think anyone can compare me to her. And that wasn’t my wish either. His films are classics and I know everyone knows them, but it was never our intention to overshadow them.”
Find three new episodes of Sissi this Thursday evening from 9:05 pm on Salto. Season 1 is already available in full on Salto.