Gildor Roy had a brief stint in the camp Get Me out Of here!, in the heart of the Panama jungle. The actor told us behind the scenes of this surprise participation. he also told us about his projects, including a show with Danielle Ouimet and a documentary on the old Mirabel airport.
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Jean-Philippe Dionthe producer of Get me out of here!would have liked that Gildor Roy participates in the entire season. “I couldn’t because I had to start shooting the film The little one and the old onex at the same time, but it was eventually postponed. At one point, I ran into Jean-Philippe and told him that the shooting had been postponed. He then came back to me with the idea of a fairly short participation during the season, which I found interesting.
The arrival of Gildor was a big surprise for the personalities who were still present in the camp. “I immediately felt that the campers were happy to see me, but after 30 seconds they fell back into competition. I saw in their faces that they were wondering what I was doing in their camp. My goal was still to make them believe that I was there to go all the way and win the season, and they believed it. They’re super nice people, but they were still a little frustrated.”
Gildor confirms having had a very interesting experience during the filming with his fellow campers. “Just being there, even though it was brief, was a really special experience. We create links very quickly. I had never met Rosalie Vaillancourt before Panama. I saw her again at the Les Olivier Gala, and we fell into each other’s arms as if we had known each other forever!”
A role to play
Unlike the other participants in Get me out of here!, Gildor Roy didn’t feel like he was facing his fears that much. “I surpassed myself at least in one sense: I managed to play a villain. I said terrible things to the campers. I did things I didn’t think I could do. For example, production gave me an orange and asked me to eat it in front of the others around the fire. In addition, I had to tell them that I had to eat fruit every day, that it was in my contract. I felt really cheap, but they believed it.”
The living conditions weren’t too hard for him either. “The thing is, rice and beans have been part of the menu at our house for years. We eat it often because people in the Caribbean consume it regularly. You just have to know how to cook them, that’s the challenge; but Audrey Roger was not worse! We actually cooked together one evening, it was fun.”
The purpose of Gildor Roy’s participation was to make things more difficult for the other participants. “Production gave me the challenge of making them believe that I was there to win and that I had a good chance of doing so. The bugs in the jungle don’t really scare me; I’ve seen a lot of them in my life. I actually didn’t mind the jungle aspect, and the other campers knew it. I still had a lot of fun with Dave, Philippe, little Audrey, who I didn’t know, or even with Clodine, who I knew a little. Additionally, I was sleeping in the trailer because I supposedly had a back injury; so I had to sleep in a bed. I was really there to disgust the other campers.”
The only challenge that could have made him tremble was the first event in which Sophie Durocher, Philippe Laprise And Sébastien Toutant, or walk on a wire between two buildings. “I feel dizzy and I would be dead. It’s terrible for me. Out of pride, I certainly would have done it, but it would have been torture. Sleeping in the middle of the jungle is not a big deal for me. I was raised on a farm, and putting my hand in a box with mice in it is no big deal to me.”
Interview-will
Gildor Roy is currently participating in the filming ofBefore leaving, a new, somewhat special show. This is a series of 50 45-minute testimonies; each will be broadcast only after the guest’s death. “It’s very special and very enriching. These are people who have put a lot of thought into their lives and have participated in or witnessed great things. So, when they agree to participate in this show, they share essential thoughts with us. I leave recordings completely exhausted because I have no right to make mistakes. I need to cover someone’s entire life while giving them the opportunity to provide a will. It’s a pretty impressive experience.”
No names will be revealed before broadcast, and therefore before their death. The choice of personalities is made in consultation with Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec (BAnQ) and the Pamplemousse productions team, which oversees this project and which received funding from the Quebec government. “During our research meetings, sometimes names emerge spontaneously. In addition, each time someone who was not on our list dies, it pushes us to accelerate our project. It’s a strange calculation, but I’m very happy to be on this show.”
Something to say
Of course, most of the people Gildor Roy meets in this project are old, even very old. “The youngest person I did this show with was 84 years old. In particular, I spoke with someone who, when he was young, liked to listen to speeches by Henry Bourassa live with his father. It’s impressive. Another told me that as a child, he often went to watch the Montreal Royals in baseball, with his friend and neighbor Pierre Elliott Trudeau. We are talking about people who give us real pages of the history of Quebec. I spoke to sociologists, to great entrepreneurs, to scientists, but these are all people who the public will remember and who did important things. Danielle Ouimet takes care of the more artistic part.”
Filming of the show usually takes place in the reading room of the National Archives in Montreal. “It’s incredibly beautiful! It’s a place that few people know about and yet is accessible to everyone. While wandering through the shelves, I found my parents’ birth records; It makes me love these things!”
A monumental waste
In addition to starring in the film The Little and the Old, which should be released later this year, Gildor Roy is lending his voice to a documentary that illustrates the monumental waste of the old Mirabel airport. It will be broadcast next season on Historia. “It will be 20 years since the last passenger flight took place in Mirabel. I host the documentary on the history of this airport. It will talk about everything that happened and we will explain why it was then closed and what is happening today. It is exciting!”
The documentary will notably look at the expropriations of hundreds of local farmers. “I met expropriated people from the very beginning. It was really wild. For example, while people were at mass on Sunday morning, people came to loot their house because it no longer belonged to them. They expropriated around 75,000 hectares, while only 6,000 hectares were needed for the airport. It’s incredible!”
A new filming project will be announced on May 8; Gildor is being held incommunicado until this date.
Get me out of here! is broadcast on Sundays, at 6:30 p.m., on TVA.
