Fred Testot: “An audio series? We also interpret roles, but without the need to be made up.

Emblematic for his role in the short program

completed ten years ago, the actor and comedian continues his career in cinema, both in front of the camera with

and

, and behind by directing

.

He also multiplies roles in series such as

on TF1,

or even

broadcast on France 2. Since 2021, Fred Testot has returned to his first love: voices, and more particularly audio series.

In collaboration with Audible Original, he plays in various fictions including the latest,

, broadcast on the platform.

In it, the actor plays alongside Mélanie Doutey, Rod Paradot, Pascal Elbé, Sébastien Cauet and François-Xavier Demaison.

It tells the story of mysterious disappearances of teenagers from a small rural village in East Germany.

The police then entrust the investigation into their disappearance to a city officer.

Herself bereaved, this mother will be put to the test when she discovers that these kidnappings are inspired by the myth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, with the aim of sow terror among the inhabitants... A new project for the actor who likes to add hats in order to always renew himself.

LE

What's funny is that I heard this story when I was little.

It's funny to finally know what happened.

I play a geek, the cousin of the character played by Rod Paradot, which I am not at all in real life, so it's a composition role.

I eat a lot of pizza, I live in my mother's basement and while eating pizza, I help the police to find information on a missing person.

Based on the voice, the intentions and the way we play, everyone at home imagines the character, their build, their way of sitting on a chair in their own way.

The audio series really leaves room for the imagination, we quickly enter into total immersion, we let ourselves be carried away.

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You lend your voice to several audio series, including the second part of

For this series in particular, I play the role of a very ambiguous character.

Which is not me at all in life.

Me, I have a very simple life, very normal, without interest.

So I love playing characters and living out of time, whether in fiction, theater or audio series.

Also, I've always liked doing voices, whether in commercials, in cartoons, animal documentaries... I started on the radio, so in principle I love voices and playing with them.

When Audible arrived, I contacted them, very simply, on social networks to find out what they wanted to do.

We agreed on a date, and everyone said what they liked and what they wanted to do.

A meeting like we do a lot in our work.

I

I always worked like this during my years at Canal+.

We meet and talk.

Audible was very responsive.

How do you make your choice?

As for films, we did a kind of interview, during which I expressed what I like to do or what I think I can defend.

Because there are times when you want more to do comedy, others to be more in the drama.

It's according to our state of mind at the moment T. There is no rule.

I did a panel of whatever I liked and they offered me things.

We've worked with different studios, including Engle, who I've worked with a lot and love.

I also did a series on Mayan secrets, the buried city, for Audible with the Novelcast studio.

This work is exciting.

It's a shoot, but in the studio.

For several days we interpret, we also play roles except that we don't need to be made up.

We're never in our comfort zone and that's what I like

Fred Testot

Is lending your voice the same exercise as acting in front of a camera?

What are the big differences?

The two exercises are similar.

When you're with several actors, the audio recordings resemble filming fiction since you play together.

We play for each other and the other plays for us.

It's an actor's job.

There are a lot of emotions, we have to show and explain more things in this writing so that the people who listen understand that, there, for example, we open a door and wonder what is behind it. .

In fiction, since we see, there are many things that we don't need to explain.

It's another way of working.

How does the actual recording of an episode take place?

Depending on everyone's schedule, it is possible to find yourself alone in the studio, at least physically.

We then give the reply to voices that are already recorded, witnesses or those of other actors.

Finally, we are never really alone.

It's an even different experience.

I have always liked to practice the profession of actor, I am very happy to do it in a different way.

We learn all the time, according to each medium or each way of working.

You have to adapt.

You're never in your comfort zone and that's what I like.

Each project, whatever it is, is a constant questioning and new learning.

Netflix productions, television bonuses, sketches or audio series… You seem to be comfortable on all media, but do you have any favourites?

I just like being able to do completely different things.

Going from one world to another, from audio series to TV or film fiction, making series, going from drama to comedy.

Being multi-hatted... I don't like routine.

From your point of view, what is the difference between an audio series and an audio book?

This is yet another exercise.

I also made one.

It is very precise because we read, and with an intention.

There is something more "rigid" in the exercise.

But not in a bad way.

What assessment do you keep of

I hope so.

I took part in it as a director.

We are working on it, we continue to propose things.

For the moment, it is more a short program but which must be installed in the long term.

We had done a bonus, but it's true that it works better in a two-minute chronicle.

We learn by doing.

Me when I started at Canal +, for example, for years I did sketches that nobody saw, which were very confidential, that's what allowed me to grow.

Do not stop too early, because the road is long.

Artistic creation is done over time.

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What are your plans for 2023?

Do you have any on TV?

Beyond the audio series, I participated in a cinema film by Jeanne Herry entitled

which will be released on March 29 at the cinema.

This film talks about restorative justice, a sort of complement to penal treatment.

Associations bring together victims and perpetrators of offences, which allows them to understand the consequences of their actions and, perhaps, not to reoffend.

It's a very hard but very positive film at the same time, very luminous as one would say to speak correctly.

[Laughs] And then also an OCS series, which is called

by Arnaud Malherbe and Marion Festraets who imagines a world in which laughter is forbidden, a sort of dystopia.

It's shot in a “comedy” way but it's dramatic.

At the same time, I also have a film project that I'm going to make for the cinema, in which I'm also going to act.

Isn't chaining such different projects too difficult to manage?

Those didn't chain directly, but it's happened to me before.

Which is not always negative.

Going from one to the other allows you to keep energy.

As for those, I had the chance to completely change my physical look, haircut... These transformations help to slip into the character and then, afterwards, comes the preparation specific to each one to put themselves in the mood.

It's a step I like.

But it's also teamwork, we mustn't forget all the people who help with the work of the actors.

Authors, artistic directors, etc.