Declaring herself very attached to holiday traditions, Christine Beaulieu was not difficult to convince when the producers of the series The eye of the storm asked her to star in a Christmas film inspired by the popular comedy in which she is the main star. “I immediately thought it was a really good idea,” says the actress in an interview.
“We’ve been thinking for a long time that it would be fun to see the characters [de la série] at Christmas. We originally talked about doing a special holiday episode, but it ended up turning into a Christmas movie. When I read the script, I thought it worked and the story held together really well.”
Designed in the same spirit as the series The eye of the stormwhich attracts more than a million viewers every week on -, the film The Christmas cyclone recounts the adventures of Isabelle Gagnon (Christine Beaulieu), a single mother of three children who learns, three weeks before Christmas, that all the members of her family have planned getaways outside the city for the evening of December 24 .
With her sister Éliane (Véronique Cloutier), she will therefore develop a Machiavellian plan to try to unite her entire gang around her for Christmas Eve.
“Isabelle is totally hurt because she can’t imagine being alone at Christmas,” explains Christine Beaulieu. She will do everything to keep her family together on the 24th and maintain this tradition. But since she is not perfect, she will go too far and she will regret it…”
Opal Films
By her own admission, Christine Beaulieu did not have to look inside herself for long to understand Isabelle’s motivations in wanting to save her family Christmas.
“For me too, traditions are important,” insists the 43-year-old actress. I really enjoy having my family over for Christmas. Every year, it’s me who receives with my boyfriend [l’acteur Roy Dupuis]. We make a big tree, a real one, and I make my sandwich bread, which is really good. That’s how we like to celebrate Christmas.”
Complicity
Viewers who assiduously follow the series The eye of the storm for four years will quickly feel on familiar ground by discovering The Christmas cyclone. The film, directed by Alain Chicoine, was shot in the same locations and with the same group of actors as the series, including Patrick Hivon, Danielle Proulx, Luc Senay, Catherine Souffront and Emi Chicoine.
“The whole gang knows each other well, we love each other and we like to play together,” emphasizes Christine Beaulieu. Complicity is very easy between us and there is something sincere which already exists and which we do not have to manufacture. We shot the film in just 15 days so it was a big advantage to already have this chemistry and this habit of working together.
Opal Films
Casually, this is the second time in three years that Christine Beaulieu has starred in a new Quebec Christmas film. Two years ago, she played a small role in the comedy December 23, scripted by India Desjardins.
“We don’t make that many Quebec Christmas films,” regrets this big fan of the cult American comedy. The tree has balls that she never tires of seeing again every year.
«Avant December 23there was Red nose but it’s starting to be a long time. There is also The tuque war but is it really a Christmas movie? I think we could make a Quebec Christmas film every year. There would be room for that, especially since we always want to go to the cinema during the holidays.”
- - original film premiere, The Christmas cyclone will be released in theaters on November 8 and will then be offered on the ICI TOU.TV EXTRA platform a few days before Christmas.
