Laurence Arné: “I loved my years in Angoulême”

Laurence Arné grew up in Angoulême and has excellent memories of it. While her first film “The Hennedricks Family”, in which she is both director and actress, is released this Wednesday, June 26, the Charentaise looks back on her first years spent in Angoulême, her hometown, where her family still lives.

She also confides in her life with her blended family with Dany Boon. This is what inspired the story of Henri, a young boy who threatens to go and live with his father. His mother, Justine, forcefully takes him on a road trip to the Atlantic coast with his new companion Ludo and his stepson Joseph. Very quickly the adventure goes off the rails and Justine becomes disillusioned. From this chaos, a music group was gradually born, “The Hennedricks”.

I wanted Dany in this film to show a part of him that we don’t know.

This is your first film. Why did you start with an autobiographical story?

I’ve wanted to direct for a long time. I needed experience. I have so much respect for the profession of director that I wanted to do it at the right time with the right subject. It’s a mix of my childhood with my parents in the Arcachon basin – my father is from Bordeaux – and my life. I wanted to talk about this nostalgia. We often want to relive our childhood through that of our children. With my son, we have real moments of sharing that come through music. In the film, there is a lot of talk about music, in my life too. In the living room there is a piano, a drum set, a pan flute, a guitar, available all the time.

You also have a blended family with Dany Boon.

Yes, I wanted a story that touched me and touched a lot of people.

Did you learn music in Angoulême?

I spent my childhood at the Angoulême conservatory with my piano teacher who I adored, Catherine Lecouf.

What memories do you have of your hometown?

We lived in a forest. My parents had formed a small family bubble with my two older sisters. I loved my years in Angoulême. I went to Saint-Paul, then to Guez. I kept my friends. My best friend is still from Angoulême. I started dancing at Katia Seguin’s school with Tatiana Seguin (Katia Seguin’s daughter). I was a volunteer at Musiques Métis. I went to Piano en Valois a lot. I’m super proud that the Film Festival is a hit. It’s a city that moves a lot.

Do you come back often?

Not enough. I tend to go to the Arcachon basin where I also have roots. The film was also partly shot there. The road trip starts in Noirmoutier and ends in Arcachon, passing through Royan. It’s symbolic for me. I brought my friends and my family along for the adventure. It reassures me. In the film, I talk about my grandmother’s recipe for noodle croquettes. My parents appear among the extras, my sister too. I co-produced the film with my sister Caroline, who lives in Nice, and with whom I set up a production company.

What did your son think?

He was in tears. It upset him. He is proud of his mother. Because he didn’t see me much during this period of realization. It was hard, but he understood that I had to complete my project. I’m lucky he’s not yet a teenager. He is 12 years old. He is attached to his mother.

Why did you choose to act and direct at the same time?

This seemed obvious to me. Justine, the character, is very close to me. I’m an actress. I love playing. It added a mental load to me and it brought me closer to my character. It was dizzying to manage all of this at the same time. I worked with a coach to reassure myself.

This is the 4th time that you have formed a couple in the cinema with Dany Boon, your partner in life too…

I wanted Dany in this film to show a part of him that we don’t know. I wanted to show his fragility, his musical side. He also has a certain restraint when he’s not being funny and that suits him really well. I wanted to take him elsewhere, towards a side of his personality that had never been filmed. He wanted it at this point in his career. My proposal pleased him. I know him so much in the private sphere. He played the game. He wanted to move towards something else. There he looks like he really is. This supple man, always OK, very fine, subtle, a quiet strength. He doesn’t care what people think of him. He has this freedom. That’s where it’s the funniest. He looks good in his sneakers. He likes to support others, to shine a light on them. It was great to share that with him.

Did he help you, advise you?

He was in support. I knew what I wanted. I didn’t want to be absorbed by another universe. He read the script for the first time. We are used to being uncompromising. We are always in a creative exchange, it is the basis of our relationship. That’s how we fell in love. He made suggestions to me and sometimes I incorporated them. We argued at each other like a couple would argue. There were tensions, but we got through it (laughs). He discovered another side of his darling. I’m nervous, speed, but he understood very well.

Are your worlds so different?

They are super different. This is not a Dany comedy. I wanted a sensitive tone, a mixture of humor and emotion.

You don’t live together?

No and we’re fine like that. I think that’s the key to success. My son goes to school in Paris. Dany lives in Brussels. We see each other to work, we see each other on weekends, for vacations with all the children. A real life as a couple but each has their own home.

Does he sometimes come to family reunions in Angoulême?

No. Time management is too complicated. But he came several times for the Film Festival. Besides, I would love to be part of the festival jury. I would like that. I’ll ask Dominique Besnehard.