The love of nature has never left Mylène Mackay, who grew up in Les Jardins du Grand-Portage. From this unique childhood, the actress has retained a view of life imbued with wisdom and philosophy. Since this summer she will play Marcelle Gauvreau in Tell me why these things are so beautifulMylène will in some way pay tribute to the heritage of her parents: a herbalist mother and a gardener and poet father.
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Mylène, first of all, we can currently see you in the new series The mediator. Your character as a deceived woman decides to take revenge. It’s an outlet for many!
Really! The series is super well written and the subject is extraordinary. I was charmed by this proposal. We are very attached to Catherine, my character, who is experiencing a tragedy. I believe that everyone can relate to their situation or knows someone who has experienced it. She and her friend become vigilantes. Obviously, in life, we wouldn’t take revenge like they do, but it seems like we don’t blame them. I think it’s important to talk about anger, an emotion that is difficult to talk about. Women are often said to be hysterical when they are angry, while men are said to have character. It is perceived differently. As far as Catherine is concerned, it’s not about hysteria, but about taking back her power. We were raised to repress this emotion. The series gives him space. This is why it feels good. I’m happy to play this woman who is a good person and can swing between two extremes. I enjoyed shooting the scenes where my character listens to his customers.
Could you have become a psychologist?
I love analyzing characters and human emotions, but I am far too porous and sensitive to be a psychologist. I have a lot of admiration for those who are. In my job, even if the head knows that we are inventing, the body feels the emotions. If I act out a panic attack, my body experiences that energy, even though it doesn’t belong to me. For my part, I need a very healthy lifestyle when I’m filming: sleep, healthy eating, water, vitamins. To recover between projects, I like to take time for myself when possible.
What do you do in these moments?
I got into the habit of going on yoga retreats. I’m going to an extraordinary place in Mexico, with Brigitte Longueville, a teacher who studied in India. I have done several retreats with her. It’s the best way to regenerate myself on all levels. When I finished drama school, yoga really helped me come to terms with the audition process. He helped me accept refusals and develop more serenity.
Eric Myre / TVA Publications
I read that your father would be a poet. It’s not trivial, though!
My father does a lot of things. He is a gardener, cook and poet. I was born in the family home, in a garden which is open to the public. My mother had three children in our house, in Saint-Didace. My parents arrived there at 18 and 20 years old. They bought the land and built a house from the barn. They started an ecological garden. It was like a return to the earth. They wanted to eat what they grew. It was their dream. I was born into it. When I was a child, I knew it was special, because we were the only ones to eat organic vegetables picked from our garden… (laughs) My father made his own bread, his mayonnaise. We were vegetarians. My mother is a herbalist. She treated me and still treats me with plants. My parents are great connoisseurs.
Looking back, are you grateful for this precious heritage?
Yes. And I’m grateful to have had space to create. The more space you have, child, the more you can create. I drew, sang, did the circus. We watched a little TV, but our parents really wanted us to play outside and enjoy nature.
Did you feel a call to the profession?
No, because I didn’t know it was a job. I fell in love with the theater when I was 10 years old. We were going to put on a play in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. I wanted the main role. From that moment on, I remember the feeling, the excitement, the adrenaline. I was also very passionate about dancing. I could have done dance, but it was destiny that chose… My father signed me up for ballet auditions in secondary 1, and we visited a school with a theater concentration. I was accepted into ballet, but the program didn’t happen that year. So I went to theater, and it changed my path.
Did your parents feel that they were dealing with an artist?
My parents saw it more than me, and I can’t thank them enough. Not all parents encourage their child to pursue an artistic career. I didn’t want to go study in Montreal. I was demonstrating to stay in the countryside… (laughs) I was at war with my parents who were trying to convince me that I was going to like it. Finally, after three weeks at school, I was like a fish in water. My parents were right.
Brother Marie-Victorin (Alexandre Goyette) becomes friends with his student, Marcelle Gauvreau (Mylène Mackay). Both came close to death and share the same love of God and nature.
It was also a sacrifice for them…
Yes, because our family no longer lived together full time. I lived with my parents, my sister and my brother until I was 11 years old. Afterwards, one of my parents had to stay in the countryside, so my father would go by bus with me on Sunday evening. Until Wednesday, I lived in Montreal with my father and my brother, who attended a sports-studies school. Then, on Thursdays and Fridays, my mother took over. On the weekend we were all together. All this so that we can realize our passions. It’s really unbelievable! My parents are still lovers, they weren’t separated, so they had to be away from each other during the week. It’s still a marginal story…
Do you have any other commitments planned?
I published an illustrated poetry collection. My father introduced me to poetry when I was young. It is a heartbreak in five seasons, the story of healing, a quest for tenderness towards oneself. My artistic projects have always been very political. I have a theater company called Bye Bye Princess, which I founded after leaving school with two friends. We proposed They XXxa fairly raw spectacle.
Will we also see you at the cinema?
Yes. I was lucky enough to have a score in the filmAndré Forcier, Ababouiné. I love his cinema. He is truly a poet. I will be a feature film Tell me why these things are so beautiful which will be released this summer. I play Marcelle Gauvreau, who had an epistolary exchange with Brother Marie-Victorin. It was a mystical union. It is both an ode to their love story and to nature. My mother is a herbalist, my father taught at the Botanical Garden and won the Henry Teuscher Prize. My parents can’t believe that I found myself at the heart of this story. I feel so lucky…
Shortly after this wonderful meeting, 7 Jours learned that Mylène will star, alongside Pascale Bussières, in the new detective series Crows, which will soon come to life on Club illico. Other talented actors such as Mani Soleymanlou, Iannicko N’Doua, Marie Tifo, Amélie B. Simard, Marie-France Lambert and several others will join this thriller which promises to be exciting.
