Lambert Wilson is not his first attempt. In the past, the actor has already lent his voice to several audio books to tell the stories of Marcel Proust, Alfred de Musset and Albert Camus. This time, it is to embody the character of O’Brien, in the adaptation of “1984”, the dystopian novel by George Orwell, that he lends himself to the game. An exercise that he carries out in the company of Laetitia Casta (Julia) and Dali Benssalah (Winston).
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Although he prefers to have a book in his hands, Lambert Wilson easily understands listeners’ attraction to audio readings. As a child, he remembers that he loved those hours spent in front of the radio listening to the stories that came from it. “I feel like we’re going back to the 19th century,” he begins with humor. “In the kitchen, before going to bed, the radio was broadcasting a soap opera called “Christmas with the Four Winds”. Besides the fact that it was written by my godfather, there was a kind of religious listening. I didn’t understand because I was too little and it was for adults. But I loved this meeting, the fact that there were actors playing comedy… We couldn’t see anything because it was a small club but I found it addictive,” he recalls before add: “It was beautiful because it stimulated the imagination. When we are bombarded by images at the same time, we become much more passive. While reading or listening allows you to develop a whole personal world. »
So, what works have built his imagination? What works has he already delved into? What works particularly touch him or remind him of a bygone time? Which literary heroes would he dream of one day embodying? Answers.
SHE. What is the last book you read?
L.W. At the moment, I’m in a Houellebecq phase. I had already read some of his books but intermittently when they came out, like “Serotonin” etc. This summer, I came across “Annihilate”, which I had not read. I started to be totally taken by this author. I’m in a bit of a “Houellebecquian” phase. I read “The Possibility of an Island” and I followed up with “1984” which is about totalitarian states where humans are totally disintegrated… I need a little bit of the Brontë sisters there right away… (laughing) But I’m crazy about Houellebecq. It makes me howl with laughter, I find it so brilliant.
SHE. The book you have read the most times?
L.W. “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust. It’s not a book that I read and reread in order, but for me it’s a sort of big pot that I return to for various reasons. I recorded the entirety of “In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower” and did several shows on Proust. So I read several moments of this book but never in its entirety and in one go. I love getting back into it, either through a show, or, for example, with the comic strip “La recherche du temps perdu” which is absolutely brilliant. There are passages that I have not read and that I discover as if I were reading “Lucky Luke”.
SHE. What book reminds you of your childhood or adolescence?
L.W. I loved romantic stuff, like the Brontë sisters, “Wolfing Heights”… But if I had to choose just one, I would say “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell, because I remember having it read without putting it down.
SHE. The book you would give to a loved one?
L.W. I did it just this morning. I offered “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari. This is, for me, a book that really changed my perception of humanity. Since I read it, I have the impression of looking at humans as wise people.
SHE. What book do you think you should have read at least once in your life?
L.W. There are so many… But if I have to give just one, it would be “The Memoirs of Hadrian”, by Marguerite Yourcenar. I would accept this choice…
SHE. Have you ever put down a book before the end?
L.W. Oh yes. I think the older we get, the more precious time is and we don’t want to bother. We can recommend a book to you as many times as we want, but if you don’t like it… No, you have to move on. This already happened to me with a French author – who I won’t name.
SHE. Is there a literary hero you would like to embody?
L.W. Gatsby! F. Scott Fitzgerald is an extraordinary writer and it was really at the heart of a time when I was reading a lot. At the same time, the film with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow came out and I think I projected myself into that kind of hero as a young actor. I must have read the book when the feature film came out. I would have liked that to happen to me.
SHE. What was the first audiobook you listened to?
L.W. I’ve done some but I don’t listen to any. I need the paper because I cannot consider reading without being able to tell myself that I will store them as a memory of my life. I think actors are wary of actors (laughs). We are less easily “taken on board” by the voice of another. We are more sensitive to works, testimonies, true things…
SHE. Is there a podcast that you particularly like?
L.W. I like podcasts, but I often have trouble finding them (laughs). I love “Les pieds sur terre”, on France Culture and also “Muraro au piano”, where this pianist [Roger Muraro] gives his views on the composers he played. It lasts an hour and a half each time and it’s a dive into the world of a composer. There is also the podcast “Franck Ferrand recounts…”, on Radio Classique, it lasts half an hour and addresses any historical subject… During a bath, I find it absolutely brilliant.
