What state of mind do we find Panda in at the start of season 2?
Julien Doré: For him, the situation is a little disappointing, but at least it is clear. After a kiss exchanged with Lola (Ophélia Kolb) at the end of the first season, the latter tells him that she is getting married. Panda even ends up convincing himself that he can have a role to play in the ceremony! He is like that: when the wind does not turn in his favor, he adapts with kindness.
What were your desires for these new episodes?
It’s such a colorful universe that my fear, at the time of writing, was to caricature the caricature, which is right because it was improvised and instinctive. The desire was also to flesh out the other characters, such as Lola, Messina (Gustave Kervern), Stan (Maxence Lapérouse), Roman (Mathis Bour) and Thérèse (Hélène Vincent).
“My place is music…” Julien Doré does not define himself as an actor
So you once again got involved in writing the screenplay…
Of course. It was important to me, as was setting the series at home, in the South. Even if it meant taking this step aside, I needed to feel that through this character drawn in one line two and a half years ago, we were going to create something different. I wanted craziness and fun. I was lucky enough to agree on this freedom with the production and the channel. Otherwise, obviously, I wouldn’t have gone there. And above all, I wouldn’t have gone back!
Did filming two seasons of Panda make you feel more like an actor?
-No way ! I see it as a parenthesis. My place is music. The rest are attempts and experiments. It was a wonderful moment for season 1, then season 2. I hope it’s fun, but it’s not my life, I’m not an actor. This is why, since the launch of the series, I have refused everything that was offered to me that was of a comedy nature. I want to be on stage and sing. Which is not to say that I didn’t have a lot of fun playing.
Julien Doré: a platinum record and soon a tour
What will your new tour look like, which you will start in March?
I’ve been working for a year on a completely crazy production, which will be carried by my songs and covers from the new album. Making kids and their parents who come to see me laugh is the greatest use I can have as an artist. This world in which my son is growing up, our children, is too anxiety-provoking. But I manage to find keys that open little doors of happiness. This is what I want to do with my life, as long as I have the chance to continue music.
Imposteur will soon be platinum (100,000 albums sold). Does such success cure imposter syndrome, exactly?
No, because he is an ally. I realized recently, probably with more wisdom than a few years ago, that when I ask myself the question of whether I have the right to have this place, it helps me to do things for the right reasons. Artists whose paths I have crossed, like Francis Cabrel, have explained to me that even after thirty hits, they always wonder if it is worth making another record. When people like that tell you that, then you know it’s pretty healthy to question legitimacy.
Panda, Thursday January 9 at 9:10 p.m. on TF1
