Very short deadlines, a little rush and a controversy that should never have seen the light of day.
This Thursday, June 10, France 2 published a press release to announce that the filming of "The Call of the stork" had just started in Gironde.
This TV movie, inspired by the testimonies of Marc-Olivier Fogiel's book "What's wrong with my family?"
», Published by Grasset in 2018, notably headlining Sofia Essaïdi, Malik Zidi, Benjamin Siksou and Roby Schinasi.
The plot?
Céline and Matthieu have been fighting for five years to become parents through adoption, but the social worker only submits to them the possibility of welcoming a child with multiple disabilities.
The assistant's trainee then gives them the contact details of a couple of men, Julien and Darius, who have had recourse to surrogacy (surrogacy) to start a family.
The fiction thus draws in particular on the experience of Marc-Olivier Fogiel and his spouse, who are fathers of two daughters born in 2011 and 2013 in the United States.
"So this is the best"
The catch? In the press release of France 2, Véronique Genest is announced in the role of Agnes (Celine's mother, played by Sofia Essaïdi). Not a main character, therefore - it only requires three days of filming - but this presence made Internet users tickle and, in the first place, Marc-Olivier Fogiel himself, because of the remarks made by the actress on the GPA. The current CEO of BFMTV was indignant on Twitter: “So this is the best! I just learned it ! It was Michèle Bernier who was to play. Obviously the budget must be comfortable so that Véronique Genest (who after having said horrors) goes to soup! Yum yum! Yuck ”.
So this is the best!
I just learned it !
It was @Bernier_Michele who was to play.
Obviously the budget must be comfortable so that @veroniquegenest (who after having said horrors) goes to the soup!
Yum yum!
Yuck https://t.co/Nn4CnRI3Zp
- Marc-Olivier FOGIEL (@FogielMarcO) June 10, 2021
The TV man thus referred to a tweet that the 64-year-old actress had posted in 2018 about surrogacy: “In twenty years, the children will say:
Hey daddy, who's mom?
Why did she sell me?
Words then erased by the one who played Julie Lescaut on TF1, but not forgotten by those concerned.
Two days later, the situation turned around, the PurePeople site announced on Saturday June 12 that Véronique Genest would not finally play in "Call of the stork" and that a casting was underway to replace the actress.
"It seems wiser to me," said Marc-Olivier Fogiel on Twitter.
The host, whom we contacted, does not wish to express himself further on the subject, simply stating that he did not intervene beyond his messages on the social network.
"Nothing was signed"
"Michèle Bernier was to play the role, but she told us last weekend that it was finally not possible, because she was taken by another shoot", explained this Sunday, June 13, Anne Holmes, the director of the fiction of France Télévisions, at Parisien - Today in France. “We spoke with the producers and the director, Hélène Angel, and the name of Véronique Genest was mentioned. When we contacted her, she told us that she was very busy with a festival she is organizing in Corsica, and therefore the timing would be extremely tight. Our fault is to have put his name in the press release that we sent, when nothing was signed. "
“The deadlines being very short, we did not have time to seek the opinion of Marc-Olivier Fogiel, who nevertheless has a right to oversee the casting as author of the book,” she adds.
As Véronique Genest had not accepted and the controversy began to swell, we immediately wanted to turn it off and we decided to take another actress.
Guilaine Londez will be shooting tomorrow.
"
For her part, Véronique Genest assures us that "there is no controversy", adding to have "many projects with France Télévisions", which is in particular a partner of the Corsica theater festival on stage, which the actress created and which will be held from July 17 to 20.
