This Thursday, January 2, 2025 marks the great return of bigdil on RMC Story. Gilles Vautier, the interpreter of Bill the Extraterrestrial, returned to Tele-Leisure about the secrets of his character.
Bill makes his comeback in The bigdil but on RMC Story this time. Twenty years after the show ended on TF1, the program hosted by Vincent Lagaf is on the verge of making headlines again. From January 2, 2025, the show will once again be broadcast weekly. Same setting, same team, fans of bigdil will certainly not be surprised to find the same alchemy between the host and his (almost) entire team. Indeed, the character of Ramuncho is missing.
“Finding him like this is comforting” Gilles Vautier, the interpreter of Bill du bigdilgoes behind the scenes of his character
Since 1998, Bill has been him! Gilles Vautier, 62-year-old actor, has played the alien of the cult game since the beginnings of bigdil and until its cessation in 2004. He returns to service this year by once again lending his features and his now legendary voice to the character. “Finding him like this is comforting. In terms of technique, it is the same as in 1998 except that there is a difference in size, the sensors of the suit are now wireless. So I don’t have 40,000 cables with me. I only have two. But it’s exactly the same technique, except I don’t have a puppeteer. I just have a smartphone with a front camera that analyzes my face and everything I do so Bill does it.”he tells us. He continues: “The eyes, the looks, the eyebrows, the mouth, before there was a puppeteer. All my expressions were spread across his ten fingers. He looked a lot at how I spoke, there was a great bond between him and me.”
“People threw themselves at me for autographs” : Gilles Vautier remembers the first time Vincent Lagaf presented him to the public after Le bigdil
For years, the real Bill was forced into anonymity. The actor tells us: “20 years ago, production kept the making of Bill a secret.“For Gilles Vautier, no problem managing fame. He remembers the only time Vincent Lagaf presented him to the public:”People threw themselves at me for autographs. It was the only time I had an anxiety attack. I was scared!” However, it is through his voice that Gilles Vautier is particularly recognizable: “Every time I go to people’s houses, they say: ‘It’s Bill from the Bigdil.’ And there, you have 30-35 year old kids who look at me and say: ‘Is that you?’ And I look at them, I say: ‘Yes, it’s me’ with Bill’s voice. And when I do the voice, the kids have little tears in their eyes because they were plunged back into their childhood.”
