Laurent Laffite left the Comédie-Française after twelve years at the house and a final triumphant performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. A disaster ? This makes Éric Ruf, actor-director and administrator of Le Français since 2014, burst out laughing. “Laurent is a pearl in a rosary that has been going on since 1680,” he confides to 20 minutes. This allows us to put things into perspective. No one, no matter how talented, is irreplaceable, starting with me! The French audience does not come to see stars, but great performers, whether known or less known. Above all, he is attached to the troop. »
The fact remains that many great popular actors have passed through the Comédie-Française: Pierre Niney, Isabelle Adjani, Michel Galabru… However, to focus on a single person would be to ignore the whirlwind of talents that have followed one another since the creation French. Today’s greats like Benjamin Lavernhe, Denis Podalydès, Florence Viala, Guillaume Gallienne, Dominique Blanc, Laurent Stocker, Christian Hecq and Suliane Brahim are still present on the stage, not to mention the new ones that Éric Ruf unearths with remarkable flair . “When I hire a young person, I sometimes tell myself that one day they will perhaps be the dean,” he jokes.
Open up to diversity
Since his arrival, the ranks have gained in diversity. If parity is not yet completely achieved, Éric Ruf takes it very seriously. “It’s important to vary the profiles to show young people that the Comédie-Française is accessible to them, that they are at home there,” insists Éric Ruf. Both on stage and in the room, all age groups are represented, not out of opportunism but because great texts can be played and appreciated by everyone. » And it works like God on stage as well as in cinemas where recordings of the plays are a huge success. Seats are snapped up in the three Parisian theaters of the Comédie-Française as well as during tours in the provinces or abroad.
The “French” is on the rise. Éric Ruf leads his boat as captain to allow his performers to appear more and more often in the cinema. “There was a whole era when we were looking for actors and actresses who were more “natural” than those who came from the theater,” he explains. People came back. It is now completely fashionable to call on French actors who bring their discipline and hard-working side with them. » You only need to look at the credits of current French films to be convinced.
A virtuous circle between theater and cinema
This principle of communicating vessels meant that Éric Ruf himself recently appeared as Cardinal de Richelieu in the diptych The three Musketeers. “Everyone benefits from it, the Comédie-Française as well as the filmmakers. Even if it gives me migraines when it comes to managing all of this, I am delighted with this development,” notes Éric Ruf. It must in fact produce 900 performances per year while juggling its 60 performers who sometimes have filming or other external commitments.
He does not yet know who will take the place left vacant by Laurent Lafitte: everything will depend on the troupe’s next productions and the needs they require.
“Laurent Lafitte said he would gladly come back in thirty years if we have something for him. He wouldn’t be the first to do it,” jokes Éric Ruf. While waiting for its hypothetical return, the Comédie-Française will have revealed many new talents that we are eagerly and eagerly awaiting.
