His banter, his accent and his charisma have made him one of the most prominent actors of the new generation. Revealed in “Dog from the Scrapyard”, which earned him a César for Best New Actor, and especially “Yannick”, Raphaël Quenard has since been in all the projects: “The Second Act”, which became Quentin Dupieux’s biggest commercial success , “The Fantastic Three” or the musical comedy by Gilles Lellouche, “L’Amour ouf”. Omnipresent, he is starring in a total of five films in 2024 alone and is adding a new major project to his career: he will play Johnny Hallyday on screen! Indeed, while Matthias Schoenaerts will also play the Taulier in the biopic “Phénix” by Jalil Lespert, a second film directed by Cédric Jimenez (“Bac Nord”) will therefore see the light of day with Raphaël Quenard. It will be the biopic “ official » on the rocker as described by Laeticia Hallyday.
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“I was amazed by his game”
In the columns of Paris-Matchthe widow of Johnny Hallyday says she fell under the spell of Raphaël Quenard after seeing him in “Yannick”: “ I was amazed by his acting, his looks, his way of occupying space, of speaking, his spontaneity, his almost animal charisma… I said to myself that if an actor could play Johnny in the cinema, it would be was he “. His meeting with the actress was decisive: “ I felt like I had known him forever. It’s true, between us, it was straight away simple “. Cédric Jimenez even speaks of it as “ An evidence » : « Telling rock through Johnny is an extraordinary, exceptional project, that of a lifetime. It’s a dream and an enormous responsibility to bring to the screen a character who ignited the crowds and mattered in the lives of four generations to the point of changing it for some. To give him full thanks, we will have to allow ourselves, like him, to free ourselves from conventions. ».
For preparing ” thoroughly » for the role, Raphaël Quenard will have to “ immerse yourself, week after week, month after month, eat, drink and think Johnny to get closer » : « He doesn’t have to play, he has to be Johnny at the finish “. Measuring five centimeters taller than Johnny (“ To fit into the costume I’m ready to have my shins sawed off » he replied with humor), he would have already carried out tests which turned out to be “ very conclusive » according to the director. For Laeticia, this film, which will cover the singer’s entire career, is “ at the height of the rocker and the man [qu’elle a] madly loved, sometimes in pain, for twenty-three years » and finally sees the light of day after several unsuccessful attempts: “ Something didn’t add up, the exchanges were complicated. I felt like I was betraying Johnny by embarking on projects that seemed to me to lack a bit of madness, of rock’n’roll. ».
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Still mysterious, this “official” biopic by Cédric Jimenez will be released in theaters on December 8, 2027, for the 10th anniversary of the death of Johnny Hallyday. The other film “Phoenix” will precede it since it is expected in theaters in 2025. “ The two films will be very different, Jalil’s focuses on three years of Johnny’s career, from 1995 to 1998, from his descent into the underworld of Las Vegas, during which he destroyed himself to the point of being damaged, his strong return to the Stade de France with, in the background, our meeting » finally specifies Laeticia: “ Cédric’s, which I decided to support, will cover his entire life, with this powerful rock’n’roll look that he would have wanted… ».
