actor Benjamin Lavernhe, who played the religious figure in the cinema, says he is “devastated” and “betrayed”

In the program “Beau geste”, broadcast on Sunday on France 2, he spoke for the first time since the outbreak of the scandal surrounding the creator of Emmaüs.

“I am already thinking of the victims, there are 25 testimonies and it is terrible. Obviously, we feel a great betrayal, a great sadness,” admits Benjamin Lavernhe. Before continuing “I'm looking for words, but it's difficult to find them. Fear, because somewhere, he was a friend. » The actor never met the priest but according to him, while playing his role, he had “the impression of having known him a little”.

“It’s going to take time to recover”

“How could this guy who did so many extraordinary things behave so badly? And beyond! The duality of the human being, the ambivalence, it’s always a shock,” the actor also lost his temper, explaining that the entire film team is “devastated.” “To say to ourselves that we missed that and didn’t see it, well, that’s what’s the most terrible. So yes, it will take time to recover from it,” he adds.

Iconic figure and founder of Emmaüs, Abbé Pierre, whose real name is Henri Grouès, has since July been the target of a series of testimonies from women on sexual violence committed between the 1950s and the 2000s, and for some of which may amount to rape or target minors.