Pio Marmaï and Roschdy Zem: “It's interesting to see the way people look at us and what we do with it”

This January afternoon, as if by magic, the conversation does not revolve around the health pass, the vaccine or the pandemic, but especially around the cinema, the game and the comedy.

Roschdy Zem and Pio Marmaï meet again, after two years (almost) without having seen each other.

Their look has changed: one displays a mustache, the other a black beard for the needs of the filming of the moment.

But the joy of seeing each other again is visible.

They come to promote

the new film by Thierry de Peretti (

).

The pitch?

A former narcotics infiltrator (Roschdy Zem) reveals to a journalist (Pio Marmaï) the existence of state trafficking led by a high-ranking French police officer, the true story of Emmanuel Fansten and Hubert Avoine - authors of the book

.

Meeting with two actors who play fair.

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Madame Figaro.- Do

you belong to the same family of actors?

There are many actors with whom I have not worked and maybe even with whom I will never work.

The directors decide.

And, to my great regret, the cinema sometimes works with the family.

It happens to be a little sclerotic.

You can sometimes even guess the name of a director just by looking at the cast of the film.

I also believe that there are people who don't dare come looking for us, and vice versa.

When Arnaud Desplechin offered me to play in his film

(which earned Roschdy Zem the César for best actor in 2020, Ed), I was far from imagining that I was an actor who could interest him.

There's sometimes a lot of modesty between us… When I was younger, I set myself an absurd rule: don't go to see a director because, in my opinion, the desire must come from him.

If I had to define my cinema family, I would include Pierre Salvadori, because I feel quite close to him.

We are used to working together and thanks to him, I met Catherine Corsini, with whom I then shot

(for which he was nominated for the César for best actor this year).

Once you move towards other types of filmmakers, it opens other doors, other directions.

I hate working in painPio Marmaï

How was your meeting?

It was in Corsica, we had organized a rehearsal workshop for ten days with Thierry de Peretti, the director of the film.

Listening, for long hours, to the audio transcriptions of the exchanges of our characters then allowed us to find our own interpretation.

Unconsciously, I imprinted Hubert's speech rate, my character, his way of expressing himself, his mannerisms... For example, I realized that, throughout the filming, I started talking with a little point of accent and I ended, like him, my sentences with "etc., etc.".

I have rarely forgotten myself so much on a set.

It's exactly that !

When one is confronted with such logorrhea, one is somewhat forced to abandon oneself to the other.

There then comes a time when we find the rhythm of our characters and the game suddenly arises.

I remember that when I met Emmanuel Fansten, whom I play on screen, I was fascinated by his way of making this whole complex investigation so clear and limpid.

He explained to me the ramifications, the narcotics traffic in North Africa… Once I left, I was incapable of telling things so simply!

After a month and a half of work, I began to know exactly what I was talking about and it was quite exhilarating: I had in mind the precise figures, the dates, the places... Like a real journalist, I I felt capable of writing a paper on the subject.

Actor Pio Marmaï is starring in

Thierry Peretti 's film

Matias Indjic

What other environment would you like to infiltrate?

I would be interested in being part of the close circle of a presidential candidate credited with 3% of the votes, to understand what his motivation is.

Find out what drives him to embark on a tour of cities and the media knowing that he will not be president.

We talk a lot about sisterhood in the film industry, what about men?

Because they had often served as foils to men, women had this necessary need to form a kind of union - what is called sorority - to better fight against this injustice. Having always been more or less spoiled, men do not have this same need. There are sometimes actors with whom we feel a form of rivalry, but as a general rule, it's rather fraternal between us.

You can tell very quickly if it's going to be pleasant or not to work with someone. I hate working in pain. What interests me is when there is mutual respect, the desire to uplift each other, to have fun.

Is it difficult to grow old for an actor?

No, because it's interesting to see how people look at us and what we do with them.

When you are a young actor, you have a desire to show a form of power, strength, even virility.

With age, we take a little bottle and we are more likely to be entrusted with flawed characters.

Today, a wave of directors takes us to worlds that we have not yet explored with characters who assume their share of femininity.

Twenty years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it, but today I play them with the greatest pleasure.

I like getting older because I feel more confident and experience more things.

I probably wouldn't have been able to work as I did on

when I started, because I would have lacked calm, abandon.

Moreover, I did not have the technical and human capacity to do so.

My life as a man also advancing, I no longer think in the same way as when I was 20 years old.

Actor Roschdy Zem stars

in Thierry Peretti 's film

Matias Indjic

What fathers are you with your daughters?

We are poles apart, Pio and I, because I am the father of a 24-year-old young woman and he is still raising a baby.

My daughter has a very humanistic side and I feel she is equipped to cope, strong in her rights and her demands, far-sighted.

I didn't have that strength at his age.

The fact of having a daughter has allowed me to have a better understanding of the evolution of male-female relationships: I necessarily think of her in all circumstances and all contexts, I say to myself: "What if was she ?"

I therefore fully support the discourse of women and their demands.

I also have a 21 year old son and I find that sometimes I need to be pushed around by my children.

Sometimes I need to be pushed around by my childrenRoschdy Zem

PM -

I'm obviously a bully with my 17 month old daughter!

More seriously, under my relaxed air, I am quite anxious by nature.

I feel like a slightly worried father.

But I see by his side that everything works, I'm lucky to have a calm and sleeping child.

As for education, I will strive to ensure that my children are confident and well equipped, as Roschdy says, to know how to defend themselves and remain in control of what they want to do or not.

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Who was your guardian angel at the movies?

I don't know why, but Depardieu imposed on me on two or three films when I started out.

The first time I met him was for the cast of the film

.

To Gérard Depardieu, Gérard Lauzier had launched while looking at me: “There is this young man there, but I reassure you, there are others.”

Depardieu chose me and then called me back for other roles.

We still talk on the phone sometimes.

I have great admiration and deep respect for the actor and the man he is.

Rémi Besançon was perhaps also a guardian angel for me, because he was the first to make me do cinema and we shot several films together.

He gave me advice, both for coping with life and the job.

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In which films will we soon find you?

I filmed for Rebecca Zlotowski, Louis Garrel and Chad Chenouga and I directed

.

This is my sixth film and the most personal, because it is a reinterpretation of the story of my family through an accident that my brother suffered.

I have two film projects with Pierre Salvadori and I'm shooting

by Martin Bourboulon, in which I play Porthos.

In terms of adventure, it's something I've always dreamed of.

When I was young, I saw lots of adaptations of the Musketeers, French, English, German, or even futuristic versions, and I would have been really unhappy not to be part of this project.

When I arrive on set in the morning and come across 300 kg pigs, waddling geese and riders, I tell myself that we are still doing a crazy job.

Investigation into a State Scandal,

by Thierry de Peretti.

Released February 9.

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