actor and director Hugo Becker strolling on the Île de Ré

LWith a smile in his eyes, a frank handshake, Hugo Becker displays his “coolness” even in his clothing, a good big sweater over jeans, without frills. In relaxation mode, the 37-year-old actor, director and screenwriter with an impressive business card spoke without filter to “Sud Ouest”. Encounter.

In Vendée for “Vaincre et mort”, in La Rochelle in September for the Fiction Festival for “That Night” and today on the Île de Ré, you are at home on the Atlantic coast…

In fact, I know Charente-Maritime well because as a child, I came on vacation to Royan and Saint-Palais. And sometimes, on vacation on the Ile de Ré where I have friends who have been coming here since their childhood. And there was the series “I promise you”, filmed largely around La Rochelle, Rochefort and in a pretty house in Fouras with a dazzling view.

You are in the theater, the cinema and in TV series. Would a musical comedy tempt you? You have a voice, have you ever been told that?

It’s true that I haven’t done that yet but it’s funny, I’ve been offered it several times and I’ve always said no (laughs). I imagine that someone must have told me when I was younger, “luckily you won’t be a singer” and that must have stuck with me. At the Lille conservatory and in theater schools (Court Florent and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), teachers asked me if I sang… in relation to my voice. I refused because it was for the show and it would take too much of my time. On the other hand, something “spoken and sung” in film, I would like, yes.

In an interview, you said that you really like to stroll, like at the moment internally or literally?

Daydream, let thoughts wander. Even when I talk to someone, it happens to me (burst of laughter). It's important to create and to calm the mind, otherwise we're in a frantic race where we no longer really have the meaning and pleasure of things. If we don't wander around, we don't have much left to contribute. For me, it's a real breath of fresh air.

You speak English and Spanish fluently, a plus for “strolling around” in the literal sense?

It allowed me to tour in Spain and the United States. I learned Spanish from my cousins in Spain and English at 14 on a six-month exchange trip to Australia. Languages allow you to confront other cultures and not let yourself be confined.

You have just completed your 4^e short film (“The Line of Life”). Next, a feature film?

I think about it but it's secret. I recovered the rights to a book that is close to my heart. A little-known part of the life of a personality that everyone knows.