Before playing Rayane Saeed in “Tomorrow belongs to us”, Sasha Birdy passed tests for “Here everything begins”, the other soap opera of TF1. And he almost lent his features to a very important character.
Currently at the heart of one of the most touching intrigues of Tomorrow belongs to us, Sasha Birdy, the interpreter of Rayane, revealed to have passed tests to embody one of the main characters of Here everything begins, long before joining the daily soap opera carried by Ingrid Chauvin, Alexandre Brasseur and Maud Baecker.
At the end of last year, TF1 viewers met Rayane Saeed, the nephew of Karim (Samy Gharbi), who was then presented as a disturbed teenager, living under the threat of a violent and manipulative father, who had rejected when he learned of his homosexuality.
But for the past few weeks, Rayane has appeared in a new light in Tomorrow belongs to us, thanks to his meeting with Jack (Dimitri Fouque), to whom he has become very close over the course of the episodes. So much so that the two teenagers now seem to have feelings for each other… without daring to admit it to each other.
And while “Jayane” (name given to the Jack-Rayane “couple” by fans) is becoming a real global phenomenon on social networks, which goes beyond the borders of France and is reminiscent of what had happened with Skam France, the public appeal for this birth relationship could have been somewhat different if a casting passed by Sasha Birdy in 2021 had taken place in a different way.
Sasha Birdy had auditioned for the role of Axel in Here it all begins
Long before Rayane entered Tomorrow belongs to us, Sasha Birdy was already familiar with the world of TF1 soap operas as he revealed during a question-and-answer session posted by the channel on its networks social media having auditioned to play one of the main characters in Here It All Begins nearly two years ago.
And not just any character since it is Axel, the nephew of Teyssier (Benjamin Baroche), who was introduced in the series in March 2022, shortly after the departure of Maxime (Clément Rémiens), and who quickly established itself as one of the new darlings of television viewers, in the guise of comedian Thomas Da Costa.
“I started by doing castings for Here it all begins. I had to go on call-back for the role of Axel Teyssier. That was two years ago and suddenly it didn’t. But then I continued to go to castings for Tomorrow belongs to us and I was finally taken for the role of Rayane Saeed”.
Despite several auditions to play Axel, Sasha Birdy was not chosen by the production of Here it all begins, who preferred Thomas Da Costa. But he was quick to bounce back and land the role of Rayane in Tomorrow belongs to us. A character that suits him like a glove, even if the young actor assures us that his character is very far from him.
“I’m a very cheerful person, who smiles all the time. And it’s true that my character is very mature, he’s experienced things that I haven’t experienced. So the biggest challenge is is to play emotions that I don’t know, in the most sincere way possible”he continues in this interview with TF1.
“At the base we are very different, but I tried to bring something very alive to this character. To bring this touch of Sasha in Rayane”. And if we judge by what we discover at the moment on the screen, it is successful.