“I hold back from saying certain things because I don’t want to be looked at askance”

“Iris says out loud what others don’t think!” The signature of the series written, directed and performed by Doria Tillier for Canal+ is enough to attract attention. Faithful to its creator, Iris is distinguished by an offbeat tone, a frantic pace and a liberating non-conformism. And because this new heroine is not burdened by social conventions and approaches life in a pragmatic manner, she exhausts her colleagues (played by Pascale Arbillot and Michel Masiero), her cousin and roommate (Anaïde Rozam), her editor (Denis Podalydès ) and his companion (Maël Besnard).

If this authenticity makes Doria Tillier dream of life, it has in fact already made her famous. First on TV, where she stood out as Miss Weather in The Grand Journal from Canal+, then in The Flame, facing Jonathan Cohen. In the cinema, the non-conformist was able to distinguish himself alongside Nicolas Bedos in Monsieur & Madame Adelman, then in The Belle Époque and, more recently, in A matter of honor, by Vincent Perez, where she played a feminist in the 19th^e century.

Madame Figaro. – How much is Iris like you?
Doria Tillier. –I don't know, but it is the expression of the fantasy of what I sometimes wish to be. I sometimes have frustrations in life, because I would like to express things that I feel and which seem obvious to me, but I hold back because I don't want to be looked at askance. Today, as soon as we say something different from what is expected of us, we are looked at strangely and to avoid that, we comply; and some are ready to assert anything to escape any form of disagreement. What I say in Irisis that I would just like a little truth and moderation, because people choose the extremes a lot – and I'm not just talking about politics – while the reality is often somewhere in between. But by assuming this, we are afraid of being lukewarm. So my common thread was this: how not to lie, not try to be sensational and be funny without ever cheating?

Where does this quest for truth come from?
From my life experience, my frustration with this, because I often feel locked into an obligation of having to take offense or exalt myself in order to be in agreement with others, while I am neither one nor the other. I also grew up in an environment where no one lied, neither my parents, nor my brother, nor me. Unlike my classmates, I told the truth to my father and mother because they listened and I could explain myself.

When do you feel like yourself?
I feel like I am with my close friends, but I can also very quickly feel this complicity with someone I don't know. And as soon as I meet someone, I am a priori myself and do not wear a mask.

Iris is the expression of the fantasy of what I sometimes wish to be

Doria Tillier

Have you ever paid a high price for your authenticity?
No, in general, I even find that it's a good thing and I try to move more and more in this direction because you feel better by being honest. But I'm very uncomfortable in a world where people compose, like in certain TV shows. This is language that is too far from the truth, and I can pay the price for it because these are situations where being yourself means being provocative, and I am not trying to make my interlocutors uncomfortable. I sometimes do it to avoid denying myself, but it's not a pleasure and what embarrasses me the most is feeling the discomfort in the person in front of me.

The pace of the series is very nervous…
It's a natural language for me, and Iris has a lot of things to say, so she might as well say them quickly. She's already annoying, so if she speaks slowly on top of that, it's unbearable. I like very rhythmic fiction like Aaron Sorkin (the screenwriter of The Social Network, Editor’s note), that the spectator is carried away like in a dance, and I even prefer that he misses a joke or an idea rather than that he gets bored.

Iris is rarely silent… What is your relationship to silence? ?
Silence is linked to calm, so it is sometimes difficult to maintain it… Many subjects make me angry today, but I try to contain myself a little.

I am very uncomfortable in a world where people compose, like in certain TV shows

Doria Tillier

What gave you a taste for gaming in the first place?
In a fairly basic way, I would say that I enjoyed entertaining. When I was little, I wanted to be an actress but that wasn't at all the environment I was in. As a teenager, I had the impression that cinema was about becoming Sophie Marceau or nothing, and that seemed inaccessible to me. Afterwards, I didn't really study, and since I was a waitress, it wasn't like giving up a great career as a criminal lawyer by going into comedy. But more than becoming an actress, what interested me was representation in the literal sense of the term.

What makes you laugh in life?
Ricky Gervais (English comedian, Editor's note) often says: «It’s funny because it’s true» (“It’s funny because it’s true”), and it has become so rare to express the truth that it becomes original. I use the truth to make people laugh and humor to tell the truth. Very visual things can also amuse me, like when Iris finds herself at a cocktail party in a human body suit or with an old-fashioned hairstyle.

Iris also tells the story of love at first sight, which lover are you in life?
I have often heard: “Love is chemical, it cannot be explained”, and I have the impression that when people cannot clarify a subject, they say that it cannot be explained. don't explain. But for me, if someone tells me that they love me, that makes me happy, but if the reasons given for this love seem true to me, then that upsets me. This suddenly gives a much stronger truth to the thing. And like Iris, I don't lie to myself about my feelings, and it's not always pleasant because it would be nice to be able to delude myself a little more sometimes.

Iris, by and with Doria Tillier, François Morel, Jeanne Balibar, Pascale Arbillot, Maël Besnard, Anaïde Rozam… In November on Canal+.