Bérangère Krief, sex without complexes

Paris Match. Speaking without taboos about one's desires on stage, has this not become the new specialty of female comedians?
Bérengère Krief. I don't even ask myself the question when I write. I am a woman who talks about sex. It's my point of view, my story with self-deprecation and occasional jabs at guys. It's all good natured. I find the audience quite heterogeneous. I like it when, in a couple, both adore me.

With “Sex”, they saw a side they didn’t know

Bérengère Krief

Can a woman now go as far as men in the area of ​​intimacy?
I see an evolution. When I worked on this new show, I went to test things in a comedy club. I told myself that it was going to be a huge thing to bring this up, but I saw a lot of women who talked about it very easily on stage. And, finally, other generations approach the subject much more head-on than me.

Your parents come to see you every premiere. For this show, wasn't it improbable to talk about sexuality in front of them?
No, because from the cellar of Boui Boui, a café-theater in Lyon, to the Olympia, they have always had a lot of admiration for me and have always supported me. With “Sex”, they saw a side they didn’t know. They come from a generation that still cares about what people will say and think. But there is a lot of love, they understand my approach, and I spoke to them a lot. Still, it was a challenge.

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Your mother is very present in your sketches. “Pregnancy is like Lemon Paic, just one drop is enough,” she says…
All the sentences are from her! I'm appalled by the popularity of these kinds of punchlines. People love my mother and think she's awesome. But we didn't talk about sex at her parents' house. She was so wandering and so ignorant about the theme that she didn't want me to experience this solitude. So, I hadn't even had my first experience when she was already telling me about my visit to the gynecologist!

Was she a mother hen?
When I was a teenager, she was mostly a cool mom. It was at my house that people came to get their hair removed, I was allowed to put on makeup, get a navel piercing. The important thing was that I was safe. If there was a party, my parents would take me there and come back to pick me up.

In the show, your mother asks you for grandchildren. Do you encounter daily pressure around motherhood?
I can't say: “No, I don't want children”, but I can't say a big yes. I have the impression that, the more we advance in self-knowledge, the more we wonder how we are going to combine motherhood and love of ourselves, of our life. It took me so long to get to know myself. I am not too subject to social pressures, but, at 35, I had a medical examination for the purchase of an apartment, the lady told me about the desire to have children: “You must not delay . If you knew how many women I see who regret it afterwards…” I was single. I found it so hard…

Would you, young woman, have liked to see a show like yours?
I'm definitely not denying my education, but I wish I had the “you can have fun” part. In her book “Desired Woman, Desiring Woman”, gynecologist Danièle Flaumenbaum emphasizes that we are never taught that with this stuff we can have pleasure. Afterwards, nothing is perfect. If I had that, I wouldn't have done this show. Thanks again!

When did your sense of humor begin?
I don’t remember saying to myself: “I absolutely have to make people laugh.” I was funny, sometimes in spite of myself. The turning point came around age 15, in theater class, where we were playing “The House of Bernarda Alba”, by Federico Garcia Lorca. Spain in the 1930s, a widow, five locked-up girls, in love with the same guy from the village… Nothing funny! During the tests, I read with all my soul, the teacher laughed and said: “Bérengère, we’ll find you something else.” I remember asking myself: “What does that mean? That you didn’t try to be funny but that you are?” I played the crazy grandmother who talks to a sheep, while the others played girls in love in nightgowns.

I grew up with comedians who were on television, like Muriel Robin, Gad Elmaleh or Florence Foresti

Bérengère Krief

Was there a taste for theater in your family?
No way. We were in the provinces, participating in a casting was all the more improbable. But my family’s philosophy of life was my luck. My grandparents, who arrived from Algeria, started a frozen puff pastry business from scratch. Everything was possible. So I, very simply, said: “One day I will be an actress!”

What references did you grow up with?
We didn't have a very dense cultural life. On Sundays, I went for a walk, picked chestnuts with my cousins ​​and had pancakes for snacks. We were in nature. I grow my own crops even now. I grew up with comedians who were on television, like Muriel Robin, Gad Elmaleh or Florence Foresti. She is the most inspiring figure. She opened a huge door for women. When I watched his show, it made me vibrate as if I were in front of a rock band.

Marla was a very modern role, a woman who has sex without the notion of a couple

Bérengère Krief

Fifteen years ago, you were Marla, the regular sex date in “Bref.”. Is this a character chasing you?
People still talk to me about it, I'm very touched. I feel like Rachel in “Friends”! [Elle rit.] It was a very modern role, a woman who has sex without the notion of a couple. The creators, Kyan Khojandi and Bruno Muschio, were one step ahead. It was quite uncomfortable for me at first, because I was the desiring woman and I wasn't ready to wear it.

Were you subsequently offered similar roles?
Yes, and often there was not this pitfall of love. She was just a very liberated girl who fucks and smokes a cigarette after sex in her panties. I've turned down a lot of offers like that.

What irritated me the most were the comments that I was putting on “a chick show”

Bérengère Krief

The stand-up scene has recently been singled out for its pervasive sexism. Did you suffer from it?
I had moments, at the very beginning, more on sets, where I was told: “You’re a woman… but you make me laugh.” What irritated me the most were the comments that I was putting on “a chick show”. But I come to put words, to say what we have not managed to verbalize. This is my function. There is no better or worse.

You're not talking about politics. Is this land you could go to?
If I start watching the news, I empathize to the power of 3,000 on any subject. But I can't deliver this show. There’s something a bit guilt-inducing, like: “Don’t you watch the news? Doesn’t it affect you what’s happening in the world?” Of course it affects me greatly, but what's the point of coming to see someone who is impacted and who does nothing? In my art, I like people to be in a parenthesis, having ignored their problems and the news. The stage is where I have the most fun. This taste for the present moment is so rare today. When we come across old TV shows, we see the freedom that there was before social networks.

I find that we have lacked role models of successful 40 year old women

Bérengère Krief

You are 41 years old, you are ironic to the public about your daily life. Was there a real change in your life at 40?
I find that we have lacked role models of successful 40-year-old women. Suddenly, the plan is to become an “old withered flower”, when no! At 40, I love myself. I like my current life so much better! I know myself better. It’s a great age and no one says it.

On stage, you also thank your new companion for understanding your approach…
He is in my professional circle, but he is not an actor, it is important to clarify that. He is curious about my career, he does not come to judge me. I haven't had only pleasant experiences with the actors. As André Dussollier told me, “two artists together is hot”, there is inevitably a bit of competition. My lover supports me a lot, he helps me every day. Talking about sexuality so simply with someone was truly a dream.