In the credits of “Tomorrow belongs to us” for a year, Xavier Deluc returns for us to his arrival in the series after the stop of “Research section”. And we tease the future love of prosecutor Sébastien Perraud.
Allociné: You joined the cast of Tomorrow belongs to us a year ago. What conclusions do you draw from this adventure?
Xavier Deluc: I’m super happy. I started off feeling a bit of pressure and then gradually relaxed. It must be said that my character takes his ease because he has his place among other characters who are more leaders, like the one played by Ingrid Chauvin and others. But Sébastien has his place in the script. It represents an ambiguous, neoclassical, sympathetic and somewhat grumpy authority value.
Were it all these facets of Sébastien that you liked?
At first, that worried me. I thought, “What is this modern-day godfather?” (laughs). And from the moment I said to myself that he was a “godfather” who could allow himself things and not tolerate them in others, I liked it because for fifteen years, I played Martin Bernier in Research section. He’s a character who brought me a lot but he was really straight in his boots. With Sébastien that changes.
After fourteen years on Research Section, did you hesitate before accepting another recurring role?
I hesitated but, at the same time, I said to myself that after Research Section, it was going to be the great leap into the void of the questioning of an artist who says to himself “Where am I going?”, “What am I doing I?”, “How am I going to find a character and reclaim it?”. I was in this questioning which gives a little vertigo even if I was still not too worried.
Then this proposal came. Before looking at the style or the format of the series, I said to myself that I was going to another field with the ambiguity of Sébastien. So it seemed interesting to me. I then watched the series to understand it. I thought it was very well filmed and very well acted. The production also told me very well about the project and so I said to myself “Come on, I’ll try”.
Afterwards, I was surprised by how it worked. It bothered me a bit for a few weeks because the relationship between directing and text is no longer the same. As you go along, you end up managing this exercise better to play your best.
On Research Section, you shot episode after episode, which is not the case on Tomorrow belongs to us…
Yes. On Tomorrow belongs to us, we don’t know where our characters are going. They explain it to us a little but sometimes we don’t know. It really is everyday life. When you’re on a recurring series like Research Section and you’re an important player in it, things don’t necessarily revolve around you but with you. Here, it turns with you but know that you are not the only one. So you have to be aware of that. And at some point, I realized that.
How was your meeting with Jennifer Lauret?
Very very good. It was impactful from the start. And then she throws the balls hard. She’s going !
Will we see Sébastien and Raphaëlle again in the next episodes?
Yes, there are a few small confrontations about Camille’s dating. Then there will be others about Sébastien because a woman will enter his life. He is going to meet a woman who wants him a lot of good. But I can’t say more.
What is interesting with Sébastien is that he becomes tender when in contact with Maud (Sixtine Dutheil) and Camille (Elisa Ezzedine). Was it interesting for you to play this facet of grandfather?
Between his ambiguous, authoritarian and sometimes unfair side, Sébastien finds himself in a situation of grandfather and father a bit daddy hen. And suddenly, he does it wrong. He wants to give advice, he knows what to do. In short, as a father probably would, or a grandfather would with his granddaughters.
Telsete/TF1
Last year, the screenwriters of Tomorrow belongs to us tackled the past of the Perraud family. Did you enjoy exploring Sébastien’s past?
Sure. To tell you the truth, I found the core of the plot a bit “woah”. I was inclined to believe that this might have made the character of the prosecutor lose credibility. Afterwards, we evaded it a little, we erased it so that it would be ambiguous but perhaps not so compromised. Compromised, it can be, but not as much.
Can we expect to see Victoria Abril return to the series?
Yes, I believe that can be expected.
Do you have wishes for Sébastien?
I have cravings, yes. My desire is to let go while controlling the authority and the power of the man. That he can worry and that he can have emphasis, either with the words or with the way he behaves because I find that in films, the “happy bad guys” delight the spectators. The more heat the person has, the more he is able to fool others. Sébastien is not the villain of the series but he could worry. We have to go all out I think.
I would also like to have some even more intense scenes with Alexandre Brasseur. With Ingrid Chauvin too, of course. Going to other universes maybe sometimes. Find other situations than the police station and the family. But everyone has their place and after that it’s the scenario constructions that are done like that. And so much the better because otherwise we would be a little confused.
It’s true that you reunited with Ingrid Chauvin, with whom you had played in Dolmen, but you didn’t have many scenes together…
We had few scenes together but there is one that happens where we meet in the hospital. There is a misunderstanding with Marianne (Luce Mouchel) and it will make people smile.
Do you have any projects outside of Tomorrow belongs to us that you would like to tell us about?
I have a guest who normally arrives in a series but I can’t talk about it. And then other projects that are with other producers but I can’t talk about them either (laughs). I have some personal and intimate projects of impossible cinematographic dreams. So those, I don’t even talk about them but I share with you my desperate emotion (laughs).
Research Section ended with a finale that worked very well. Do you think the series could return?
I find your question intelligent and relevant. There is such a demand from spectators that we are not immune to happiness! The ending was a lot of fun. And then this series has socially and emotionally created links. I think we have to respect that. Anyway, I heard what you were saying.
Interview at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival.