“This series is feminist and committed”

Zorro is a character who has captivated several generations since 1919. Does the masked vigilante have a special place in your life?

Absolutely. This is my first relationship with a superhero. I came across the Guy Williams series on TV from time to time and I have great memories of it. I still remember this incredible stunt where Zorro jumped out of the window and landed – without hurting himself – on his horse which was waiting for him below. It blew me away.

This month, Zorro returns to France 2 with a series imagined by Benjamin Charbit, and in which you play Gabriella de la Vega. How does this production differ from others?

This series is resolutely modern. It deals with contemporary subjects and the relationship with the feminine is astonishing in relation to this universe. Gabriella has a really important place and I think it’s one of the most beautiful roles I’ve ever played. When we think of Zorrowe think of the guys around, and not at all of the women. Aside from Catherine Zeta-Jones [dans Le masque de Zorro en 1998, ndlr]they do not exist. This new adaptation also addresses relevant themes, such as the masculine and duality.

Would you say that this version is more committed than the previous ones?

Ce Zorro is feminist and committed. The series tells the story as it really happened, which is that we, the settlers, took the land of people who lived there, kicked them out and paid them with alcohol to enslave them. This is all the real story. There is something deeply engaging, under the guise of immense family entertainment. There is a promise of laughing, relaxing and, at the same time, getting to the bottom of these important topics that matter to our society today.

Can we say that this new adaptation also takes on the features of a romantic comedy, with a love triangle that is not really one?

Completely, it’s the vaudeville of this story! We are witnessing a love triangle for two (laughs) ! Don Diego’s relationship with his wife and his wife’s relationship with Zorro are central to the plot. Gabriella’s heart swings between two men who are in reality the same person… If the couple is highlighted, it is also because it is one of our main centers of interest.

The series actually talks about the wear and tear of a couple, which is ultimately a universal subject, to which everyone can identify…

The theme of time passing is clearly at the center of this adaptation. There is the question of the couple, but also that of the man. Twenty years later, Zorro takes up the cloak and sword again, but he is no longer as skilled as before. He will regain his verve and his passion, but we see an aging hero who lives with the ghost of his father.

We can see the latter as a representation of the weight of patriarchy on the shoulders of men – because it is not only women who suffer it. He was broken by his father who never believed in him and never supported him. Hence the split personality. Behind the mask, we actually find a man who is experiencing problems in his relationship, who witnesses time passing and who questions his place in the world. So many resolutely modern themes that question us all.

I was inspired a little by Scarlett O’Hara and that era ofGone with the Wind. Given the meager history of female characters in ZorroI didn’t really have any references, so I instead looked to the aristocracy – even my ancestors – to have this outfit and this way of speaking which are not those of today.

I also underwent enormous physical preparation, because the series took five months to film. There were sword fighting and horse riding scenes, so you had to be strong, be comfortable on a horse while filming, learn the choreography and be solid. I prepared intensely with a coach to stay upright and in one piece throughout, and have the stamina for these eight episodes (laughs). It was a big preparation!

How did you feel playing this complex heroine?

It was very pleasant to play this woman. The series takes place at a time when female figures had even less place than today in society. It was “the wives of” or “the mothers of”. That’s all. Gabriella didn’t manage to have children with her boyfriend, so she’s not even a mother, she’s an aristocrat, so she doesn’t take care of the house… She’s really a woman who is trapped in something something that doesn’t suit him. She thinks she wants kids, but in reality, she craves adventure.

What was great was to leave this confinement to go towards the path of freedom, self-affirmation, justice and the madness which lay dormant in all the women of that time. Just because they didn’t have room to express themselves doesn’t mean it wasn’t somewhere inside them. It was enjoyable to display this inner fireworks at a time when women were not allowed to express it.

Do you recognize yourself in her?

A lot. We are both passionate, we love adventure, we love men… I have a very strong sense of justice and I believe that this is common to Gabriella. And above all, I don’t settle into everyday life.

As you said, the preparation for this shoot was intense. What are the worst and best memories you have from this experience?

The worst are clearly the rehearsals with Jean [Dujardin, ndlr] as soon as I had a sword in my hands. He was freaking out, he was freaking out, he was freaking out! He’s right, an accident happens very quickly. When we have a real swordsman or stuntman in front of us, he will make sure to dance with our lack of experience to deliver the blows as if they were the right ones. It’s a lot easier to do these scenes with them, so I felt like I wasn’t doing too badly.

But when I was with Jean, I was no longer confident at all. He was freaking out because he couldn’t counteract my mistakes and I his. But when your partner is afraid, you tell yourself that you’re going to screw up. Besides, I nudged him during rehearsal, during my first rolls. He had an egg in his mouth for three weeks, so every time I did this stunt, I saw the animal protection instinct in his eyes (laughs) ! It was scary, so at one point I told him: “You have to trust me, otherwise I’m not going to make it.”

I wanted so much to be comfortable during the scenes and I was so afraid of hurting him that I rehearsed all these sequences in my head. In the end, I learned this information – which has been scientifically proven: the brain does not differentiate between what we imagine and what we do “for real”.

So I could rehearse my sword fight in my head to practice. Through visualization, I ended up succeeding in these difficult choreographies. When you’ve finished your scene, you haven’t hurt anyone and your partner tells you “It was cool, Audrey, we did it!”while basically he said to himself “I like the actress, but I’m not sure about the stuntwoman,” it’s nice.

And the best memory?

In five months of filming, I experienced so many joyful moments… There are those of the great melodramatic scenes where you end up saying to yourself that it was cool, there are those of the great moments of comedy, of this whole part of vaudeville which was absolutely delightful to experience, there are some epic ones – we had a sandstorm with André Dussollier who did not want us to cut and who said: “Wow, the magic of cinema!” -, there are also other times when it’s supposed to rain, we tell ourselves that it’s going to be a disaster, but the sky is blue and everything is fine, and we tell ourselves that the universe is with us; there are stunts that we manage to complete and we’re happy with the job… But I think the biggest memory is the end.

We shot the finale during the last two days of filming and the stakes were enormous, since there was a fight, a resolution and a lot of extras. If we missed it, we missed everything. We ended on an essential scene and we felt a lot of happiness saying to ourselves: “That’s it, it’s over and we’re all in one piece, no one was hurt.” We had a small margin for error, so it was a real relief to get to the end.

Zorro was one of the most anticipated series of 2024. What are the other works that marked your year?

I was very very very surprised and confused by My little reindeer. I loved this series, its treatment of denial and this trauma that we keep deep within us, and which comes back to bite us as long as we don’t face it. Under the guise of a kind of saucy, crazy, astonishing, atypical comedy, with exciting characters, this work makes us grow. It’s a healing series. On another note, I loved The path of the olive treea Turkish production which is also one of those shows that make us grow.

We are just a few days away from the new year. What do you wish for 2025?

I wish myself to expand into who I am and create with meaning, whether as an actress, director or author. And plant trees.