A Happy Man, by Tristan Séguéla, will be released in cinemas on February 15. Catherine Frot was deeply marked by this role. Interview.
Catherine Frot is starring in Tristan Séguéla’s film “A Happy Man”, in theaters on Wednesday February 15. In the feature film, she plays Edith, the wife of the mayor of a small town in northern France. She announces to her husband overnight that she is a man and intends to accelerate his transition. In the film, she gives the reply to Fabrice Luchini. We spoke with Catherine Frot about this role, which is so special in her eyes, and challenging.
Comedy, romance film, society film, where is this film located?
Catherine Frot: Almost everywhere at the same time, that’s what is very interesting. This film is a comedy, we laugh a lot thanks to the dialogues, the situations. But me, I am the white clown and Fabrice Lucchini is the Augustus, and he is brilliant in this register. I am determined, there is a path, and everyone follows their own. So that the characters are not in judgment, I had to not be in the comedy at all, and that the seriousness is maintained throughout for my character Edith. But this film is also a true love story, between two human beings, not a man and a woman. It’s very beautiful, it puts love, in the purest sense of the term, at the heart of the matter. And of course, it’s a deep film, about a transition. There is something educational with this movie. The idea is to entertain but also to inform about what is a reality for many, and to respect it, to create open-mindedness, where there is none. And for that, there was a real danger for me.
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What challenge did this film represent for you?
I hesitated before accepting this role. Already there was the aspect obviously physical challenge, because I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I don’t have an androgynous physique, I didn’t know how we were going to make people believe in ‘stuffing’ in the theatrical sense, how I would manage to be credible. So I asked to do some testing. And very quickly, it fascinated me because everything related to composition delights me. I worked a lot to get close to something very fair. Something that is not forced, nor caricatural, but touching and right. For this I met many people who made their transition, watched multiple documentaries. The important thing in this role for me was that there was depth and truth.
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How did you find your “man”?
The essential question, in fact, was to know what man i wanted to be, to stay me. I had to look for him for a while to find him and slip into his shoes: an intellectual, a sportsman, a seducer, a businessman, a noisy, a discreet, a macho, the palette of archetypes was very wide . While doing the make-up and costume test one day, I found that I looked like Christopher Walken on a picture. It is a very good model. I found it extraordinary and I took a lot of pleasure in the transition of the character. One day I even allowed myself to walk down the street in a man’s suit. I admit, this role really troubled me.
A Happy Man by Tristan Séguéla, in theaters on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
*Article written in partnership with Gaumont.
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