Promising career –
Stefan Crepon, the sacred fire of French cinema
In “Playing with Fire”, he plays the brother of Benjamin Voisin who moves to the extreme right. The wise element of the film is him.
Published today at 11:45 a.m.
Meeting with Stefan Crepon in November in Geneva. The great revelation of French cinema.
LAURENT GUIRAUD/TAMEDIA
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- Stefan Crepon, French actor, has become a notable revelation in cinema.
- He gained fame from his role in “The Legends Bureau”.
- In 2025, he plans to shoot four films.
- In “Playing with Fire”, he plays alongside his friend Benjamin Voisin.
Regarding Stefan Crepon, can we still speak of a revelation? He seems so obvious, so unique, so constantly right that we dream of meeting ten like him every year. It was in “The Office of Legends”, the famous Canal+ series, that we first noticed him. A secondary role as a young computer scientist member of the office, a sort of geek whose presence is so strong that he seems to appear in each of the seasons. Error, since he only plays in 4 and 5. We then see him again in “Lupin”, but it is mainly the cinema which will monopolize him.
In François Ozon’s “Peter von Kant”, he is brilliant in the role of mute assistant, painkiller and probable lover of the hero. In “Making of” by Cédric Kahn, he works as a young filmmaker ready to do anything to get his screenplay ready. He reveals an unexpected comic potential. Then after the less essential “Drone” by Simon Bouisson, here he is again in tandem with Benjamin Voisin, his cinema brother who is a bit of his hidden face in “Playing with Fire” by the Coulin sisters. He is a good student, in the ranks, very wise, while Voisin flirts with delinquency and the extreme right, and turns bad. They were recently at the GIFF in Geneva. We spent a long time with Stefan Crepon.
How did you get involved with this film?
Very simply. Following a casting. Delphine and Muriel Coulin wanted real brothers. I have no relation to Benjamin Voisin. But on the other hand, strong bonds of friendship. He’s actually my best friend in the city. A production director told this to the directors and it must have had an impact. The curious thing is that these two brothers, in the film, are diametrically opposed. To agree, we needed points of connivance.
Did you know who you were competing with?
No, and I don’t need or want to know. Sometimes there are roles that I want at all costs. And when I started in the profession, I was stressed, surly. I often missed castings. Today, I don’t advise young actors to want a role at all costs. When you’re not taken, it means that the director doesn’t have the same vision of the character, that’s all. At the same time, it is also important to be demanding.
Could you have swapped your role with that of Benjamin Voisin on this film?
I think so, but we should have taken another route. And the film would have been different. There would have been an imbalance if he had played my little brother who succeeds in everything. Because in reality, I am, for example, more introverted than him.
With Benjamin Voisin, you were roommates. Does this complicate things for casting?
We were roommates for five years. On the contrary, it was even easier. Because of our friendship, we were like brothers. We even manage to finish each other’s sentences.
To date, you haven’t made many films yet. Do you accept almost everything or are you already selective?
I select quite a bit and I don’t know if I’m right. The projects have to speak to me. The subjects and the way of treating them, that is to say the director’s point of view. And it has nothing to do with the size of the role. In 2025, I should shoot four first films. Two are main roles and the other two are supporting roles. I hope I never get to the point of doing career calculations or strategies.
The public began to identify you with “The Office of Legends”. Did you like this experience?
Clearly, yes. Plus, my character is evolving, I thought it was really great. He goes from geek – even very geeky – to hero. But it’s good that this is all over. What blocks me the most in a role is recurrence. And this is the case in the series. You can’t know what happens to your character, since you keep playing him over and over again. I don’t really like this idea. After “The Legends Bureau”, I was offered lots of geek roles.
The film crew in Venice.
AFP
-Which role would you feel close to?
The further a role is from me, the more I like it. What I did in Ozon’s “Peter von Kant” amused me enormously. It was very, very far from me. Conversely, my role in Cédric Kahn’s “Making of” would come closest to who I am.
What more positive things can you say about “Playing with Fire” by the Coulin sisters?
The happiness that it represented to have Benjamin Voisin as a brother and Vincent Lindon as a father. I remember meeting Lindon in the street one day and telling him all the good things I thought about “The Law of the Market”. And there I was playing with him.
And more negative?
Haha, you won’t get me. Nothing.
You like challenges, it seems. What other actor would have accepted a silent role like you did in Ozon’s film?
I don’t know. That’s all I like, challenges. I do this job for the challenges.
How do you see the filming?
Like an intense way of living for two months. We all drink together, we sleep, we go back to the set. All while maintaining artistic requirements.
What films would you like to go to?
Regardless, I don’t want to predetermine it. I don’t make any prior choices.
Are you someone who loves going to the movies?
Yes, but I mostly go to see classics. The only thing I can watch on TV is everything.
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Criticism: “Playing with fire”, tipping point of radicalization
Pierre has two sons and raises them alone. Where the youngest, Louis, succeeds in his studies and takes a path mapped out in advance, the eldest, who goes by the strange first name of Fus, in fact the diminutive of Félix, is more problematic. It all starts with a rumor that Pierre hears during a work meeting. His eldest would frequent a far-right group. But how do we know if it’s the truth? For this, Pierre observes and ends up observing that yes, Fus is falling into radicalization. So, he tries to reason with him, to lecture him, and the gap widens, especially since his younger brother continues to shine while preparing to go to the Sorbonne. But it’s too late. Went into delinquency and ended up being caught.
This new film by the Coulin sisters, Delphine and Muriel, who had already directed three, opts for sobriety and observation, espousing the gaze of the father, this Vincent Lindon on the brink of the abyss, rightly rewarded with an interpretation prize in Venice. The rigor and composition of the framing, the actual economy of the story, familiarize us with a drama in which each part ultimately reinforces what was constructed just before. Locking himself in a vice generated by his own demons, Fus composes a lost character, opposed in every way to this model brother who remains in perfect harmony with himself. The dark side for Benjamin Voisin, the light for Stefan Crepon, two irreconcilable tendencies that only blood ties can preserve. One is a bit of a mirror of the other, like two sides of the same existence, with this question, to which “Playing with Fire” does not provide an answer: how do we come to join the far right? The social debate is posed through an individual example and the film, fortunately, does not provide any morals. Bright.
Rating: *** Drama (France – 110′) – in theaters from January 22
In dates
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In 2018Cédric Kahn spotted him and gave him a secondary role in “The Prayer”, alongside Anthony Bajon. Faithful to the actor, he will call on him again in 2023 dans «Making of».
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