Since September 2024, subscribers to the platform Paramount+ can discover Jean Dujardin in a new role. That of the famous masked vigilante, who signs with the point of his sword, a Z which means “Zorro”.
Indeed, the ex-companion of Nathalie Péchalat embodies the famous Zorro in an eight-episode series co-created by Noé Debré (Parliament) and Benjamin Charbit (Under control) who aimed to reinvent the famous hero, whose real name was Don Diego de la Vega, by exploring his intimacy and his schizophrenia.
A series soon available on France 2
A series available on Paramount+which will subsequently be broadcast on France 2 at Christmas. “We didn't try to be cringeworthy. We played with the character of course but we didn't want to break the statue. That would have been a little too easy. That was the whole point: to modernize the character while leaving his image somewhat intact”, said Benjamin Charbit to BFMTV.
For his part, Jean Dujardin revealed that he had fulfilled a childhood dream by taking part in such a project. Indeed, in an interview with Ciné Télé Revue, the 52-year-old actor expressed his lifelong desire to play Zorro.
A “childhood” dream for Jean Dujardin
“In fact, when I was a kid, I was Zorro! I had a hat, a mask, a cape, I played in my garden. And once I became an actor, I explained in the press that I would like to do Zorro”he confided to our colleagues before continuing: “As if I was pushing destiny a little bit to surprise me. And then the years passed. It didn't come at 30, not at 40 either. I thought it wouldn't come. And finally it happened at 50.”
However, Jean Dujardin assures that it was not an obligation in his career. “I didn’t need to put on the costume at all costs if it wasn’t well written and there weren’t good actors around”he assured Ciné Télé Revue.
Still, he couldn't refuse such an offer. Especially since he has “found that everything came together” in this series: “There was at the same time second degree, a desire for it to be epic, modern themes. The series is produced by my brother, Marc. He saw me playing as a child in the garden. It’s a gift in some ways what he's doing to me by offering me this series”. A great opportunity, arriving at the right time for the 52-year-old actor.
