Riddle: we never see a portrait of him, he gives few interviews, leads a successful career in Hollywood, to such an extent that his Wikipedia page has long indicated that he was the French director who had garnered the most revenue from all the time.
But never go to big parties where the stars are present, preferring to play cake dads with his three children or go to the beach with them.
And his first name starts with an L ...
Luc Besson?
Lost.
The correct answer: Louis Leterrier, 47, an atypical career in the world of French cinema.
Just one example: for the first time in his life he shot in French, on the occasion of the first three episodes of the series "Lupine", the recent worldwide hit from Netflix.
Before, it was always in English, for international successes such as the first two "Transporter", "The Incredible Hulk" or "Elusive".
The 7th art, Louis Leterrier has always bathed in it.
His father, François Leterrier, who died last December, produced comedies such as “I'm going to crack” (1980) or “les Babas cool” (1981).
Her mother, Catherine, was a costume designer and head decorator, awarded an Oscar in 2004. She is also the sister of… Laurent Fabius.
Small, he meets the biggest stars on the sets
With his two sisters, Louis Leterrier spent a happy childhood.
“I grew up on the sets.
We lived in Rwanda, in Tahiti, we spent our summers where my parents were filming.
I grew up with some very famous actors in our kitchen making pasta, Sophia Loren, Lauren Bacall, and it was something very natural to me.
I met Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu… ”
Logical, therefore, that the boy also launches out in the cinema?
Not that easy.
“I hesitated between a florist, an architect, a musician… At one point, I really wanted to create toys and amusement parks.
Now if you look at my career, I pretty much did the whole thing!
I am an architect, I create amusement parks, toys.
Well, the flowers, I don't know… ”
"Since I was 8 years old, I have been making short films" confides Louis Leterrier.
Gregory Pace / REX / SIPA
“It's not that I didn't want to be like mum and dad,” resumes the artist, “but I thought it would be too complicated to make the cinema that spoke to me, rather of entertainment and great spectacle, more American and English.
I saw the movies my parents made and they didn't talk to me.
"His father gives him any advice:" Do what you want, but don't become an actor.
"
As a teenager, Louis dabbled in music: “I was a drummer in a Beatles-like cover group, in a funk group, then in hard rock.
In New York, I was a DJ.
You really have to have the sacred fire to be a musician.
I never wanted to be up front, a stage beast.
In the 2000s, he directed videos for Ophélie Winter or Enhancer.
Today, he is friends with the two ex-Daft Punk and keeps a close eye on the soundtracks of his films.
“I like working with rock or electro musicians to make movie music, bring something else, like I did with Massive Attack on
Danny the Dog.
"
Besson puts his foot in the stirrup on "the Transporter"
But Louis Leterrier's real passion is cinema.
“Since I was 8 years old, I have been making short films.
“Very young, he did summer internships on film sets.
“I even played with Gérard Jugnot in
Scout toujours
… (1985).
"He continued his studies of cinema in New York, with teachers like Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee or Oliver Stone, then began his career as an assistant, turning into a little mouse," to see these incredible directors, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, work. Jean-Paul Salomé, Alain Chabat, Luc Besson ”.
Newsletter The list of our desires
Our favorites for fun and culture.
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
He was present at the beginnings of EuropaCorp, the studio set up by Luc Besson, with whom he formed a friendship that lasts forever.
“I learned everything from him.
He's someone who loves cinema, his teams, he's an incredible director.
From time to time, out of friendship, to have fun, but also to learn, I come to work in a second team, or I come to help.
I did it for Luc, on some shots of
Lucy
.
"
It is Luc Besson who puts the foot in the stirrup, in an unexpected way, on “the Transporter”, released in 2002, which will make of the actor Jason Statham a star.
“I was second assistant, and the scheduled director, Corey Yuen, arrived late.
He was exhausted after his previous shoot, and I had prepared the film for him.
We passed the baton, I realized, but he was the one who directed the choreography of the fights, and
the Transporter
is best known for that.
It was truly an exceptional experience.
I was absolutely not afraid, because it was a team that I knew well.
Corey didn't come to the edit.
I did it, I took care of the music, and finally I said to myself: oh yes, that's it, I'm a director.
"
François Berléand, actor in “Transporteur”, still remembers these beginnings.
“It was his first film, he was 25 or 26, he was really a kid!
He was very attentive, very calm.
He is humble, he is the most courteous man in the world.
I saw it again recently, and it's still the same.
"Berléand finds another quality in him:" He is a director of actors and that is quite rare.
"At the time, he got along so well with him that when Luc Besson arrived on the last day to film a few scenes, the actor refused:" I told him: I signed with Louis Leterrier.
"
"Hulk" launches his career in Hollywood
After "Danny the Dog" with Jet Li (2005) and "the Transporter 2" (2005), Leterrier tries the Hollywood adventure.
With a few fears: “American cinema is a bit complicated, and a crush of men.
Transporter 2
had worked really well in the US, so I had a lot of calls from Los Angeles.
»He rents a house there, meets the people in charge of Marvel, then a small company.
“There was a big poster with all of their superheroes.
I was told to choose the character I wanted.
He opts for Iron Man, and is entrusted with the sequel to ... "Hulk".
“In the office, there was Jon Favreau, who worked on
Iron Man
;
Edgar Wright, on
Ant-Man
;
and me on
Hulk
.
Pretty quickly, all together, we thought: it would still be good if there was some kind of unity, like in
Strange
magazine
, that the superheroes could move from one movie to another.
He therefore films a scene in which the Hulk breaks the ice of the pack ice, which reveals Captain America's shield.
Similarly, at the end of the feature film is mentioned the creation of the Avengers.
Leterrier does not however claim the birth of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), this coherent universe in which all the characters of the studio now evolve.
“I was there at first, but it was just winks.
Back then, we didn't think Marvel would become what it is today.
Strangely, he will no longer work for the firm.
“I have been in the running for several films, but it's complicated, you have to plan well in advance.
It's hard to get out of the system and get back into it.
"
But his American career is launched.
With two huge popular hits, “Clash of the Titans”, in 2010, and “Elusive”, in 2013. And one failure, “Grimsby: Agent Too Special”, in 2016. He also tries his hand at the series, with “ Tycoon ”, in 2017, and especially“ Dark Crystal ”(2019),“ the most beautiful thing I have done in my life, ”he says.
It earned him an Emmy (the Oscars of the series), that of the best program for young people.
And to align rave reviews, he who has rarely been spared, even seriously damaged by journalists over the years (including the "Parisian").
"My parents were very good at cutting out the reviews, and sending me the wrong ones to the United States, that always made me laugh," he says.
In 2013, he directed “Insaisissables” with, in particular, Morgan Freeman.
One of his biggest hits.
Kurtzman Orci Paper Products / The Kobal Collection / Aurimages.
Clearly, you have to get up early to shake Louis Leterrier.
"He's such a nice guy," says Vincent Tabaillon, chief editor.
He could have taken the big head, it is not at all the case.
He is very present, demanding, but always available, that's why people like to work with him.
On the set of
Clash of the Titans
, there is a crew of 200 people, and as soon as he arrived, he knew everyone's name.
"
"He has a sense of the spectacle"
"He has a strong and simple link with the actors", adds Ludivine Sagnier, who shot for him in "Lupine".
“Professionally, he's a pretty impressive person, because you feel he has learned his skills on large-scale projects.
He has a sense of the spectacle.
"
A quality that he will not fail to develop further, he who seems to have put his bags in France for several months, as soon as season 2 of "Lupine" will be formalized: "If I am free, I would be delighted to participate. .
I had fun.
And he is very good friends with Omar Sy, which does not spoil anything.
“Now that we've found each other, we're not going to let go!
We are a bit of luck for each other.
"
The two will meet again on the sequel to the film "On the other side of the periphery", in the company of Laurent Lafitte.
Preparation is well advanced.
Provisional title: "the Sure Guys".
Also in his boxes, a sequel to the Netflix film “Bright”, with Will Smith, but also a low-budget film, an exercise in which he never indulged!
"I own the rights to
Alex
, a thriller by Pierre Lemaitre, an exceptional book.
I've been trying to mount it for a long time… ”He said he was ready to play the man-orchestras on it:“ I frame, I ride, I take care of the music.
I want to do it!
"
BIO EXPRESS
June 17, 1973.
Born in Paris.
1991.
Begins film studies in New York.
2002.
Co-directed his first film, “the Transporter”.
2005.
Directed his first film alone, “Danny the Dog”.
2008.
Directed “The Incredible Hulk” for Marvel.
2010.
“Clash of the Titans” is the biggest hit of his career, grossing nearly $ 500 million worldwide.
2019.
Produces the “Dark Crystal” series for Netflix.
2021.
Still for Netflix, is in command of the first three episodes of the series "Lupine".