The actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi agreed to receive us at the Château de la Douve, in Bourg-d’Iré, delegated commune of Segré-en-Anjou Bleu (Maine-et-Loire) with his friend René Walgraffe. He is preparing a new play there, The memory box, which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the actor. Meeting with Jean-Pierre Castaldi and Christophe Delire, his scene partner.
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What is your stay in Anjou worth to us, and more especially at the Château de la Douve, in Bourg-d’Iré?
Jean-Pierre Castaldi. I appreciate the charm of the residence and the calm of the landscape, far from the noise of Paris. I will perform in Belgium, from Sunday July 7 to Sunday August 25, a new play The memory box. It’s a very original concept. A caravan in which I stay. I play the role of an actor at the end of the course. The show begins when I open the trailer. This is the outdoor setting, if the weather is nice; in a barn or like in a place like here if it rains. I talk about my life as an artist. A bit of what we don’t tell journalists. This is the other side of the story. I talk about the misery, more than the brilliant side of the actor. A series of anecdotes that are hard. I started at the bottom, like everyone else. That’s what I’m saying.
You are not alone on stage…
As I don’t like stand-up and one-man shows, my producer Cédric Monoy gave me a partner. Christophe Delire is a bailiff who comes to seize me. It’s the red clown. He has files on me. We enter my life with these notes. I scold him every time, telling him that it didn’t happen like that.
And after The memory box ?
I’m on tour starting next October with The Grand Dukes, by Patrice Leconte, directed by Jean-Luc Moreau and with, among others, Georges Beller. In September 2025, I play a Feydeau, Mister hunting, with Olivier Lejeune, Xavier Viton and Lydie Muller. In short, I’m done for two years!
“Cinema is a bonus”
Have you given up on cinema and TV series?
For twenty years I have hardly made films. In television, I did six Maigrettwo Mill, Marie-Pervenche, The men of pink for twenty years. I’m burned. I’m at an age where I can no longer be the 40-50 year old cop. I am no longer the young leader. I can only be an old cop and I believe that TF1, M 6…are fed up with old cops. They had Navarro…
Do you prefer theater?
There is nothing more rewarding than theater for an actor. The sanction is immediate. We don’t have to wait two years for the release of the film for critics or non-critics. Theater is immediate love. All the great actors I knew, whether Michel Bouquet, Michel Piccoli… They all ended up in the theater. It’s still originally what we do this job for. Cinema is a bonus.
Is there an author who has had a greater impact on you than another?
I haven’t played any great classics. That said, Sacha Guitry with You saved my lifeshows with Jacques Weber like Monte Cristo, Yes. I would have dreamed of playing the role of Alceste in The misanthrope. I played boulevard at a very high level with Jean Poiret, Michel Roux, Jacques Weber and even Spartacuswith 50 characters.
Christophe Delire: “I am a street clown”
And you, Christophe Delire, who are you?
Christophe Delire. I am a jack-of-all-trades artist. I did free radio and hidden camera television in Belgium. I’m a street clown, a little excessive, style Deceits of Scapin. Belgium is chocolate, comics and surrealism. My meeting with Jean-Pierre dates back seven or eight years.
There, we are going to play a very contemporary show. With Artificial Intelligence, fake news… Everything can be subject to doubt. There, the character is in the flesh. I’m going to say what really happened. This is not a hologram of Mélenchon (laughs). With Jean-Pierre we played 150 sessions of The history of cinema and 100 sessions of The history of dance. A tobacco in Belgium. It’s a gift from heaven to shoot with Jean-Pierre Castaldi. He taught me a lot of things.
You have a team around you…
Everyone on the team has an essential function, in a film as in a theater. I have deep respect for all people in the profession. They are the ones who give you the spotlight. When you are told that you are going on stage, you have your acting bar. Before, you didn’t have it.
And if we had to do it again ?
Little hesitation. This is not guaranteed. Obviously, today I can say that I succeeded. How many of us have remained on the side of the road for fifty years? This is what we address in the show. Why and how. I’ve been up then down. I struggled for two generations. What I learned from the greats, their dominant, is their humility. They have nothing to prove.
