Now aged 60, the former friend of Florent Pagny – for whom the latter notably wrote the song Anything – confides in the difficulty he had managing his notoriety at the time and his descent into hell after falling into drugs and alcohol. Subjects that he also discusses in his book “The Star of the Neighborhood” published by Éditions Seguier. “I admit that it was a little scary to participate in this show because it is a little sensational. But why would I have said “no”? I take full responsibility for the part of my life that concerns drugs and I think that talking about addiction is not uninteresting.“, explains Riton Liebman currently at TTO in Playlist alongside Erico Salamone and Ingrid Heiderscheidt (information and reservations at 02/510.05.10 or on www.ttotheatre.com).
At 13, you had a wonderful experience filming in Prepare Your Tissues but after the film came out, it became a little complicated for you…
“When I returned to school after the film came out, I became the little star who had toured with the French. There was a kind of jealousy and contempt on the part of certain people. It didn’t feel good to think you were a star. At the time, we were not yet talking about Poelvoorde or Damiens. I was one of the first Belgians to experience this. I was the little Belgian who had succeeded in France and that didn’t work.“
How did you manage this success at such a young age?
“Very bad. I wasn’t ready for success and I really beat myself up… I don’t blame anyone. I messed up with drugs but I only have myself to blame. I got into sex and I liked it. Afterwards, it’s difficult to get out. But, I still succeeded and today, I am a very happy man.“
In the show, you say that the fact that the spotlight was on Florent Pagny and Vanessa Paradis, your friends, and not on you, hurt you. You felt neglected. Did you talk to them about it at the time?
“No. I talked about it to my daughter or my friends but not to them. Florent was my friend but he had his life too. We will say that I left myself alone. When I changed, life separated us. We’re not angry but we don’t see each other anymore. Everyone has rebuilt their lives.“
What motivated you to enter this rehab center?
“I got tired of that life, of not having a project. It’s not easy, it’s boring. They called me dirty. One day, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to stop on my own and I went to this center.”
After resolving your addiction problem, did the cinema reopen its doors to you as before?
“No not at all. I never found the place I had in the cinema. But, I found something else, writing. Something truer and more solid.“
Some people who testified on the show say they couldn’t trust you anymore. Is today a thing of the past?
“It took a while to prove to people that I could be serious. But I’m still crazy. (laughs). I can get mad at my friends. Just because I quit drugs and alcohol doesn’t mean I became a perfect guy.“
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