This child of Yvelines lives his presence on the Croisette "like a dream". There's a lot to it, when you're in the cast of a franchise like "Indiana Jones"! "It's indescribable. I had the best evening of my life and I have never been happier than on this red carpet, "he said the day after his climb of the mythical steps of the Palais des Festivals Friday.
It must be said that this film is his first feature film. This 16-year-old high school student is, in addition to his film career, a second-year student at the Lycée Pothier in Orleans, and also a prominent member of the city's Conservatory. Originally from Chatou, in the Yvelines, he is propelled into a Hollywood cast. For his first appearance on the big screen, while he had so far only played small roles in TV series, including "Mortel" on Netflix, he is the first Frenchman to land one of the main roles in the cult saga.
The young man had already tasted cinema in 2018 with the short film "Goodbye Tom Selleck" by Ridwane Bellawell, where he played the lead role. In "Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny," he plays Teddy, a pickpocket who forms a shock trio with Professor Jones (Harrison Ford) and the archaeologist's goddaughter, Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge ("Fleabag").
"I tell myself: it's dead, I'm not going to be caught"
At 14, Ethann landed almost by chance in the cast of this blockbuster, which will be released at the end of June in theaters. "I was coming home from school and my mom told me I got a call from the casting director asking me to go to a casting for a big adventure saga. At the time, I was very happy but, leaving the room, I see in the waiting room about fifteen children and I say to myself: it's dead, I'm not going to be caught, it stops there for me, "recalls Ethann.
A few days later, he went to London for a meeting with director James Mangold: "We went there and we were called back telling us that I was taken and that I was going to play in Indiana Jones 5 and, there, it was crazy, we cried," he told AFP. Born in 2007, he was only one year old when the fourth installment of the saga - not the best - was released. This does not prevent "Indy" from being counted among his childhood heroes.
See alsoCannes Film Festival: we saw the new "Indiana Jones"... and we loved it
"He's a character I grew up with, so I don't feel like it's old-fashioned. It's a timeless saga like "Back to the Future", "Star Wars". When I was taken, I had the impression of taking in my arms my child self, "says the young actor with Mauritian, Brazilian and French origins, who cites "The Last Crusade" as his favorite part - we can only approve.
"He doesn't need a lot of advice," according to Harrison Ford.
At the time, he flew for eight months of filming around the world, with Harrison Ford. "He doesn't need a lot of advice! It is very natural, it is made to tell stories! He's a great guy," the caption even blurted out about his young colleague at a press conference.
"His" episode, he discovered it like the journalists and other stars who crowded Thursday night at the Cannes screening, while the film was shot several years ago but delayed, with the global crisis of Covid-19. However, the glitter will quickly fade for the second-grader, who started theater at the age of 6. "I'm in a high school where there's a film specialty, so it's cool. It's a bit weird to be at the Cannes Film Festival and to know that I'm going back to class on Monday, as if nothing had happened," he jokes.
In any case, not all of his comrades were warned. "I didn't tell that many people, only my close friends. At first, they found it hard to believe me and they were very happy for me. The rest of my high school classmates don't really know. I don't know if it's going to change when I come back from Cannes, I admit that I'm a little apprehensive," he says.
LOIC VENANCE / AFP
The young man knows how to keep a cool head as much as to put on a show on the red carpet of the Croisette. "I'm surrounded by a family that hates pretentious people and will always be there to remind me that I don't know how to peel an apple without cutting my finger," says Ethann Isidore. "I know that showbiz is not the real world and that you have to get back to reality by going to class on Mondays for example... »