Julien Doré back with season 2 of “Panda”: ​​“There’s a lot of me in the humor!”

After finishing 2024 in style with the box officeImpostorhis album of covers, Julien Doré starts 2025 in the shoes of Victor Pandaloni, the hero of the series Panda whose season 2 begins this Thursday evening on TF1. A cool cop, a bit high-minded and terribly charismatic, this tailor-made character opened the doors to a new audience for the former winner of “Nouvelle Star”. The opportunity to share some confidences with TF1info…

The success of season 1 of Panda did it reassure you about your legitimacy as an actor?

But I have the same questions all the more because I’m not an actor! Embrace a role like that of Panda on a channel like TF1, there was a lot of stress in season 1. In season 2, the stress did not completely evaporate, but it was balanced with the pleasure of finding this character and my fellow actors and actresses . But I realized that legitimacy lies in the fun, the pleasure, the rightness that you find in being there, in a place that you have chosen. It’s all the more pleasant to experience because it’s a break. I play to play on this series. The rest of the time, it’s music, the stage and the songs that are my daily life. But it’s a nice digression.

Isn’t there a lot of you in Victor Pandaloni’s character?

Yes of course ! After this interview, I take the TGV to return to the Cévennes and I think we imagine that I am like that at home…. And that’s not totally false! The only thing is that I don’t wear a floral shirt, but like him, I’m more in this relaxed, contemplative mode, respectful of what surrounds me. The place where I live is a bit like the Camargue settings in the series. With nature omnipresent and powerful, much more powerful than human beings. An animal kingdom still present. Obviously there are a lot of me. I also think in humor.

We’re a lot funnier when we make fun of things we think are benchmarks for success.

Julien Doré

Is that something you wanted to emphasize in season 2?

Yes, I think so. That’s what was the most fun about working with the writers. In the dialogues, in the jokes, but also in the personal intrigues between the characters, I think we dared to go a little further. It was endless pleasure.

With a lot of self-deprecation since from the first episode, you make a joke about your hair…

My humor today involves making fun of myself. Because I think it’s the best entryway! We’re a lot funnier when we make fun of things we think are benchmarks of success or success. Provided that we consider that hair is a benchmark of success and success. Right now, I think it’s okay (he touches his hair, smiling – Editor’s note). But yes, it’s making fun of the hair, making fun of the body, from the singer’s side too. It’s one of the things we can play with. Panda and which do good. And then this series is broadcast in an era that is the complete opposite of that. Laugh together, convey a little empathy, tenderness. Take the time. Be silent to observe. All these things do not exist or no longer exist, they have evaporated and resemble mythologies of a time for which we are sometimes nostalgic. I think that’s why this series, it just feels good.

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Do you have the impression that Panda allowed you to reach a new audience?

Yes, I have the impression. I often draw parallels with music awards. A gold record means 50,000 albums sold, platinum 100,000 sold, which I have just reached with Impostor. And then there is a diamond disc for 500,000 albums sold, something that happens very rarely during the year. There, you wake up the day after the broadcast of the first two episodes of Pandaand we tell you “Hey, we made 7 million“. Seven million people watched episode 1 of Panda. Then 8 million seven days later with the replay! Suddenly, we realize that there are still two or three people who have not yet listened to your songs, and who have instead watched Panda ! (Smile) With season 1, I rediscovered something: this moment when families sit together in front of the television, like I did with my parents when we watched TF1 detective series like Tailpiece judge and cop, Julie Lescautetc. It is an event that affects millions of people at the same time. And it’s a little crazy for people who come from music like me.