How two actors nearly had a tragedy on set

The movie The Little Handkerchiefs by Guillaume Canet was a huge success in 2010. But behind this triumph lies a much darker reality: two actors were rescued by firefighters after narrowly avoiding the worst during filming.

Available on NetflixBroadcast this Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at 9:10 p.m. on W9, the dramatic comedy The Little Handkerchiefs follows Max Cantara and his wife Véro who, every year, invite their friends to their holiday home in Cap-Ferret to celebrate the start of the summer holidays and their friend Antoine’s birthday. But this year, before they leave Paris, their friend Ludo finds himself between life and death after being hit head-on by a car. Despite this event, the group of friends decides to go on holiday in the south of France like every summer. For his third film, Guillaume Canet surrounded himself with his friends, including Laurent Lafitte and Gilles Lellouche, who had to be rescued by the firefighters on the set.

The Little Handkerchiefs : These two stars nearly had a tragedy on set

For the purposes of a surfing scene in the middle of December, which was cut during editing, the two actors had put on wetsuits to protect themselves from the cold. The technical team had also planned a jet ski to pick up Laurent Lafitte and Gilles Lellouche in case the current carried them away. The vehicle unfortunately broke down, leaving the actors in the water. They did not know how to get back to dry land because of the large waves.. All ended well for the actors who were rescued by the firefighters. “We were stuck behind huge waves. We had to wait a long time, it was the firefighters who came to get us“, recalled the interpreter of Bernard Tapie.

The Little Handkerchiefs : a difficult shoot for Guillaume Canet

The filming was not only difficult for Laurent Lafitte and Gilles Lellouche. Director Guillaume Canet spoke to our colleagues at the magazine First on the difficulties he encountered during the filming of Small Handkerchiefs. “My actors were totally carefree, in swimsuits, smoking weed and drinking all day long. They were absolutely not in the discipline that is essential to making a film. Directing them was extremely complicated. I would start talking to one and the other would make a joke. After a while, I became execrable.“, revealed the one who literally “lost my temper“on the plateau.”I said : ‘You know what? You figure it out. Stop, we’re stopping everything.’ We had a real discussion and everyone told me what they thought, I cried a lot that evening.“. The filmmaker can nevertheless congratulate himself on having brought together more than 5 million spectators in dark rooms.

Article written in collaboration with 6Médias