While he gets a little closer to Johanna every day, Yann still seems to have trouble taking his revenge on life. Constantin Balsan, his interpreter, confided in what awaits his character in the sequel to “Un si grand soleil”.
Upon his arrival, Lieutenant Cross (Constantin Balsan) made a discreet entry into Un si grand soleil. An honest policeman, often a lone wolf, Yann had until now remained very mysterious. However, his meeting with Johanna (Aurore Delplace) revealed the painful past that prevents him from living fully. If Johanna unquestionably revives something in Yann, the latter unfortunately lives on in the memory of his love lost three years earlier.
An immense pain from which he cannot extract himself. At a time when life could take over, however, the investigation into Sylvie’s death could well undermine this beginning of romance. Constantin Balsan, the interpreter of the mysterious Lieutenant Cross, confided in the microphone of Allociné on what awaits his character in the continuation of the soap opera of France 2.
Allociné: It’s been more than a year since you arrived in the series. What conclusions do you draw from this?
Constantin Balsan: I don’t know if we can really assess it. We haven’t done the full tour of this character yet and we’re not at the end of our surprises with this guy. When I arrived I didn’t have much information about what it was. I didn’t quite know how to approach it. I simply realized that it was completely voluntary on the part of the production because they want to leave room for us, as actors, to be creative and come up with things.
Yann reveals himself more and more as the episodes progress. He was mysterious at the start, he still is today but already a little less so.
What seduced you in the role of Yann suddenly?
His obsessive hardworking side. It’s funny because what the production came up with afterwards was exactly what I had imagined, namely that he was fleeing a painful past through work. I really like that he is a character both on the run from his past and from himself. I also appreciate his somewhat lonely wolf side in his investigations. It’s super fun to play. He is almost virtuous in the procedure but this rigid side pleases me.
Until now, we knew little about Yann, but his meeting with Johanna allowed viewers to learn more about his past. Were you happy that the scriptwriters dig a little deeper into your character’s past?
I was waiting for this with great anticipation. I was eager to know more about him because it can be dangerous sometimes to fantasize about his character. And if the production goes in a different direction we can be disappointed. Everything would have been fine with me. I take great pleasure in participating in this daily so as long as it goes like this, I am delighted. And then I’m always very happy to talk about it with the production.
As you said, Yann is a serious, almost robotic person. With this new plot, however, we discover him clumsy and smiling. I imagine you enjoyed getting out of the usual frame of your character…
Completely ! With Johanna, Yann finds himself smiling. It takes me to another style of play and that’s great. It’s a great opportunity that only daily newspapers can offer since you stay with a character over several years.
How is the filming going with Aurore Delplace, the interpreter of Johanna?
It’s awesome ! There is a real agreement in personality and in the game with Aurore. There is something where we found ourselves right away. We almost improvise our scenes. We speak the same language in terms of acting. Every time we have a scene, it’s a giggle. It works between us and I feel really comfortable with her.
Johanna and Yann have been turning around for a few days. What can you tell us about the turn their relationship will take?
A beginning of a love story. In fact, all the planets are aligned for it to work. But when fate interferes, the attraction and affinities that one can have with a person are not necessarily sufficient for a story to work. Without saying more, it will not be easy. They do well to dig because it could work and give a very nice story.
Yann and Johanna will eventually give in to temptation and spend a night together. Why is Yann going to leave like a thief in the early morning?
Yann finds it hard to accept because he can’t get over his wife’s death. He feels guilty, even if it means lying to himself and telling himself that this girl is not for him. Except that he feels very well that this is the case. The reality is that he is not ready to move on. He got into a habit for three years: that of working a lot so as not to have to think about the death of his wife. This habit is part of him now.
Could Johanna still help him grieve?
From my point of view, completely! But it is not there yet. Yann was very much in love with his wife. She left when they had just gotten married. They did not have time to have children. There is a fantasy of an unfulfilled early marriage. So he can only idealize what would have happened next. From there, he is in a kind of eternal love tale that he has not completely satisfied. He didn’t have time to weaken it with everyday life, with “Honey, it’s time to go shopping”, etc. Inevitably, he is in this fantasy of a perfect love that he will never be able to reproduce.
Precisely, Johanna could bring him all these things…
Completely ! In the first scenes that I shared with Aurore, I told myself that Yann’s wife looked a lot like Johanna. His serious-dark side breaks a bit when he meets Johanna. She pushes him. He begins to be less efficient in his investigations, to smile a little more. It changes his personality a bit. Johanna awakens what it was. I think he used to be a happy, self-confident guy who liked to have a good time with his friends. He was nice and funny. This drama locked him in this sad-gloomy character and he carries around deep inside him a sadness that he can’t manage to abandon. In this, he also has a revenge to take on life.
In addition to Yann’s reluctance, the investigation into Sylvie’s death will tarnish the start of his romance with Johanna. Lieutenant Cross will investigate her uncle and believe that she used him to obtain information. What can you tell us about this subject?
It will create tension. Still, it’s a good time for him to move on even if he can’t shed his shell in two seconds. The planets line up for the meeting but not at all for the rest of things. The investigation puts him a little out of whack. He is torn between his desire to do his job well and disturbed by his feelings. Feelings that he does not admit to himself.
He finds it hard to admit that he is in love with this woman. Suddenly, he starts to do anything in his investigation and that complicates things because he is afraid that Johanna will take power over him. If he grants that to Johanna, it’s delicate, it’s a leap into the void that he’s no longer ready to do for fear of suffering. He needs to check everything and control everything to be sure he can trust this woman. He ends up setting traps for her. Yann and Johanna are going to test their mutual trust.
After this investigation, is there still hope for Yann and Johanna?
Yes ! I think there will be ups and downs but the outcome could be beautiful. Thanks to her, he could win a great victory over himself.
Hugo (Bibi Tanga) is the person who pushes Yann to open up and flourish. What role will he play in this whole story?
He’s going to be in the middle of it all. He doesn’t let go. I think Hugo is a really good guy. He knows Cross by heart and knows how to analyze him better than himself. He is the best advice Yann can have by his side. Besides, he knows it very well and since he often knows he’s going to get it right, he tends to run away when Hugo talks to him.
Can we hope to learn even more about your character in the next episodes, especially about his family or his friendship with Hugo?
We can hope so and the reality is that I hope so too (laughs). I think Yann was completely different before his wife’s death. Energetic, smiling. He really changed his personality before this accident and it would be interesting to see what he was like before all that.
Finally, Yann interacts little with the other characters of such a big sun. Would you like to see him bond outside the office?
Yes. Now that he’s coming back a little to what he was before his wife’s death, it could reopen him and allow us to rediscover him capable of interacting with others. At the moment, his life is organized around work and I don’t think he can let go of that just yet. On the one hand, I like that he is a little alone in his investigations because that is what he has become. Still, it would be nice to see how he experiences things through others. Besides, I got along very well with Malya Roman who plays Elise.
What do you hope for the future of your character? Is there a particular subject that you would like to defend through Yann?
I would very much like a confrontation between Yann and “The Florist” (Hubert Benhamdine), without necessarily being able to corner him. There was a scene in which I had fun showing that Cross has a certain admiration for him. It’s a scene where we talk about him with Hugo and where Yann is forced to admit that “The Florist” is strong. Cross being so honest that he will never leave him alone, but even enemies can respect each other.
Do you have other projects apart from Un si grand soleil?
I shoot a lot in Montpellier and it suits me very well. I have a rhythm that suits me perfectly. As soon as I have the opportunity to shoot something else for TV, I do my best to make it possible. As soon as I have time, I also go back to the Parisian boards because it’s still my first passion. I am currently playing in “Les fourberies de Scapin” directed by Jean-Philippe Daguerre at the Saint-Georges theater in Paris and in “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” at the Le Ranelagh theater in Paris.