Carole Dechantre, who plays Ingrid and Emilie in “The Mysteries of Love” on TMC, returns for AlloCiné on her participation in the series. The actress also reveals how much she enjoys playing her two characters, opposite to each other…
TMC broadcasts every weekend, Saturday and Sunday at 7:50 p.m., season 30 of Mysteries of Love, the latest series telling the crazy adventures of the band of Hélène and the boys. Here, Carole Dechantre portrays the roles of Ingrid and Emilie, two characters that everything opposes… For AlloCiné, the actress looks back on her participation in incredible fiction.
AlloCiné: Who do you like playing the most in The Mysteries of Love: Ingrid or Emilie?
Carole Dechantre : I really like this mixture that I find super funny. (laughs) Sometimes I amuse myself! Sometimes I get carried away and do too much so I have to move the sliders so that it remains digestible for the public. I was very attached to Ingrid and I attach myself to Émilie. Both inspire me. It’s a playground to be able to embody both.
Émilie is one of the series’ comic backers, but don’t you think she overdoes it?
Sometimes yes, I get carried away… It can get really annoying. I like to watch the episodes and note for the next time to do differently.
Ingrid, on the other hand, has a sexy and sulphurous side. What do you think of these aspects of his personality?
I have to admit that I’m not very comfortable with his bisexuality and scenes between girls.
Have you ever refused or modified certain plots?
I was able to point out that things went overboard and got a little ridiculous at times. I changed lines that Ingrid says to Tania because I’m always a little embarrassed with their scenes in bed, for example. I don’t see what they actually bring… So sometimes I lighten it up a bit.
Are you tired of the series?
None ! (laughs) I’m lucky to have this split personality with Ingrid and Émilie and that amuses me a lot. I was able to build this last, this bigot completely turned on, and just with her, I can’t bother.
How did you react when you discovered Émilie, Ingrid’s other personality?
I was not at all informed of its appearance, I discovered it by reading the scenarios! It was written that I was resuming my role of Emilie, the teenager from the AB Productions sitcom La Philo according to Philippe, which I used to play. In season 2 of the Mysteries, we knew that Ingrid was Emilie but we did not know that after high school she had had a period during which she wanted to dedicate her life to God, then that afterwards she had completely twisted …
Jean-Luc Azoulay wrote in the script: ‘Emilie stands in a corner and prays‘. I called him to ask him what to do and he gave me carte blanche. I proposed this interpretation and no one contradicted me. The voice, the way of tying my hair, the little steps… Everything was my composition. By making Émilie from A to Z, I directed her towards something that interested me.
Do you sometimes find that the series exaggerates in the incredible?
This series is crazy. You have to look at it in the second degree. Everything is incredible, that’s the tone. It goes far but that’s what’s quite funny, I think.
As an actress, do you feel limited in your career because of your participation in Mysteries?
(laughs) I don’t know. I would deeply like to have a discussion with a director or a producer to find out if this is a disabling baggage or not. Of course, there are a prioris. I can understand people criticizing and being asked ‘Why are you doing this ? Maybe it’s stopping you from doing something else…‘, but the reality is that I haven’t had a frank and clear conversation about it. I would like to know !
What do you say to those who read The Mysteries of Love?
The series may have less prestige than another French series, but I don’t care what people think. I do my job and it’s wonderful to have the chance to practice my job every day for 12 years. I’m never going to spit in the soup and say I’m ashamed. Nope ! I am an actress and I work. In a big series, there are better working conditions and it’s great for the ego, when you have it. But as long as it’s fun…
Do you sometimes think about the after?
We’ve been thinking about it for 12 years! (laughs) Each season is good to take and each year we realize that we are still there. Afterwards, I have another job: I produce documentaries for the cinema with my box. The Mysteries are my breath of fresh air. When it stops, I will continue to produce.
Are you close to your partners?
Sure. I live in Switzerland, I regularly bring back fondue for Hélène! She adores. We all end up on the set with the other actors because we don’t normally live nearby.
How do you explain the fact that almost the entire cast of Hélène and the boys is still there, thirty years after the start of the saga?
Jean-Luc Azoulay took in the distribution of benevolent people, who do not feel above the others, who lead a normal life, who do not take themselves for stars… They are healthy, balanced and human people . No one is going to crush the other. When you are surrounded by good people, it works.
If this group of friends were one day, perhaps, to be the subject of a fifth series, would you stack up?
Yes ! We feel like family and reassured with this team. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to do other things too, but I care about these people.
What other kind of series would you like to shoot?
I don’t watch TV, I can barely turn it on! That said, I recently saw Les Combattantes on TF1. I would like to shoot in a period series, in a production with a director who directs and where we have the time because at home, we don’t have it… In any case, I am very open to many things . I love meeting other people and seeing other ways of working.