VIDEO – Reda Kateb in “Les Promesses”: “An actor is not there to seduce like a politician”

He is a chameleon actor, stunning in all circumstances. A prophet, Hippocrates, Django, Out of Standards… Each time, Reda Kateb changes register and universe with the same conviction. In The promises, Thomas Kruithof’s new film in theaters on January 26, he plays Yazid, Clémence’s chief of staff, a suburban mayor played by Isabelle Huppert. A pair with complex alchemy who tries by all means to obtain the renovation of an unhealthy city. The opportunity for the actor to discover behind the scenes of the political world…

This film comes out at the beginning of a very political year, with the prospect of the presidential election. It’s a plus, right?

In any case, he approaches politics in a different way than the eternal ‘All rotten!’. Or this idea that the election of a person can change everything for everyone, the providential man or providential woman side for that matter. In this film, we are on the ground, with dedicated people who are at the same time at the heart of a game, which itself has its cogs. And we try to follow them through this story which is a bit like a local political thriller!

How would you describe Yazid, your character?

Yazid is a professional in the service of politics, but he is not himself a politician. He was not elected. But he provides several advisory missions to the mayor, while managing files himself, by receiving families for example… He is protected by the shadow in which he is. He is never on the front of the stage and the criticisms are not addressed to him directly. I think he is building his future as a politician. At least that’s how I imagined it when the film begins.

How did you feed him before shooting? Have you met any real cabinet directors?

In particular, I met the chief of staff of the city of Clichy-sous-Bois where we shot a large part of the scenes. It was very interesting to understand his job just through his schedule, from when he gets up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night. I quickly realized that it’s overflowing everywhere, that on his desk there were an impressive number of files, and that it’s a job where you give a lot. To the mayor for whom we work, but also to the citizens. For Yazid, this film is in a way the prologue of his life as a politician.

Is it a little more than a movie character?

For me, he is totally a movie character, he intervenes in a story that is stylized, there is a search for suspense and tension. And at the same time it corresponds to something very contemporary. Yazids, I think that in town halls, in ministerial offices, there are beginning to be many. People of immigrant origin who, through their work and their studies, have achieved a form of social success and become part of the elite. But also because they can be exploited since through them, politicians can talk to voters with an immigrant background and bring them back to the polls. Yazid, in the film, is neither naive nor cynical at this level. He plays the political game, even if it means sometimes getting his hands dirty. He knows that a broken promise is not a lie. But he is convinced that we can change things by doing this job.

Do you ever watch a politician on TV and say “he’s a good actor”?

I never tell myself that, no. Actors are actors and policies are policies. An actor is not there to seduce and thrill everyone in his path. He is there to participate in telling stories, bringing truth and at the same time play, spectacle. But he will never sell you that your life will change if you put a ballot in the ballot box, even if it were the Caesars! Politics is in another game. And I really prefer to be an actor.

But politics uses actor tricks, doesn’t it?

If you mean eloquence, self-control, yes. But it is also the case for a lawyer, a professor, anyone addressing an audience. Except that for me the actor is partly the complete opposite. He is not someone who knowingly masters his effects. We actors, we are interpreters, in a story told by a director, and that requires letting go.

In politics, there are fewer nuances. So in the profession of actor, we explore the gray areas, right?

Yes, even if there are policies in which there are nuances. But the politician who only sells you gray areas will never be elected! It’s a job that works on the fool’s game of promises. With every president, every campaign, there is that moment of excitement, followed by a moment of disappointment. And at the end, we do the accounts by looking at the one who disappointed the most and the one who managed to do two or three things. But in general the difference is large. What is good with the film is that we are really in local politics, within a city, and it is very different from national politics.

If there was a government of actors, Isabelle Huppert would be its president?

Yes, it could be the president, the queen, the empress. As you want, but something that commands respect. Truly. In its history, in its journey. In the way she continues to live this job with passion. I did whole days of filming with her and I can tell you that she is always on the go!

>> The promises by Thomas Kruithof. With Isabelle Huppert, Reda Kateb, Naidra Ayadi. In theaters January 26