Life is made up of little signs. We get hung up on details. Places. Souvenirs.
Thierry Neuvic, who needs no introduction, uttered his first cries in Montreuil in 1970. Montreuil, a town in Seine-Saint-Denis dear to your servant since he spent the first quarter of a century of his life there.
So when TF1 announced the broadcast of its new detective series tinged with comedy, “The Recruit”, we said to ourselves that calling Thierry Neuvic, from Montreuillois, to tell us about his role, his life, his job, was the right thing to do.
Why did you accept this project, “The Recruit”, for TF1?
I liked the script and I quickly met the producers upstream and we got along well. I loved my cop character, Vincent Béraud, a little closed and rigid, who has difficulty communicating and who finds himself having to team up with a young guy, played by Ethann Isidore, who was imposed on him by his superior hierarchical. However, it turns out that this superior is also my companion in the series, so everyone has their own interpretation of the situation. It’s a series that focuses on themes that speak to me: generational conflict, tolerance, the right to a second chance.
It’s a series around duos. Before tackling the one with Ethann Isidore, there is the one with your superior played by Judith El Zein…
We subtly address guilt because my character has an injury linked to the disappearance of a child and Judith El Zein is attached to the mother of Ethann’s character. Everyone is trying to make up for past mistakes. It’s a series that takes place in a family atmosphere.
How did your meeting with Ethann Isidore go?
We saw each other for the first time in the production office, he was very surrounded, like all young actors his age. He asked a lot of questions, he was a lively, exalted person. I saw myself again at his age and on set we got along very quickly. He’s someone who makes a lot of jokes, even if sometimes they fall flat, but he’s a driving force. It was very exciting to work with him. That’s what I like about this job, you can work with people of all generations, we all have to learn from each other. We feed ourselves.
Is being a cop, when you’re an actor, a dream?
It’s a kid’s thing, when you play cops and robbers. It’s always something remarkable. And then the series is a mix of genres, there is police investigation, humor, emotion, we can call on a fairly wide range of games. I realize that over time, I am more and more attracted to the register of comedy.
Actor, was it a childhood dream?
Not at all, I wanted to be an architect or cabinetmaker. It was only around the age of 17/18 that I fell in love with the theater. Then, I got into the game and started the castings. I only realized I was an actor when my first pay slip had the word “actor” on it. But it’s a job where you should never think you’ve arrived or are comfortable. This is also valid in life, when we take everything for granted, we no longer offer anything and we end up getting bored. It’s stimulating to constantly challenge yourself.
In your career, which roles have had the greatest impact on you?
I loved playing Cyrano in the theater at 25, I never left the character, even during the day. Then I was very marked by my filming in Sarajevo, just at the end of the conflict, for ”If I forget Sarajevo” by Arnaud Sélignac. The city still bore the scars of the war, the people were scarred, it was striking. Finally, it’s difficult not to mention ”Mafiosa” and my role as Jean-Michel Paoli for several seasons. It’s a series that worked well, to which I’m attached, and which is aging quite well.
You toured with Michael Haneke, Clint Eastwood, Guy Ritchie, what memories do you have of it?
Beyond the prestigious names, they have different working methods. It’s glorifying to work with names like that. Eastwood, for example, reminded me of my childhood because his character Blondin in Sergio Leone marked my life. Guy Ritchie, on ”Sherlock Holmes”, is a special director, he has a messy side, he doesn’t make you feel comfortable but it’s another way of working. And on the same film, I played opposite Robert Downey Jr., a huge star, who is adorable, comforting and welcomes you into his world. We always learn from others, whether they are famous or not.
“The recruit”, this Monday at 9:10 p.m., on TF1.
What is it about?
This detective series, in which Thierry Neuvic (“Mafiosa”) plays the role of young Ethann Isidore, recently seen alongside Harrison Ford in the latest Indiana Jones, revisits the duo of cops…
At 18, Kevin Lorin is a five-star con artist and, when he is caught red-handed on the Basque coast, he prefers to give up his life as a con artist.
It was then that the local commissioner came up with the idea of offering him a new life: helping him on a case by infiltrating a local gang. Very quickly seduced by this new life, Kevin makes a radical decision after his infiltration: he decides to become… a police officer.
An arrival at the police station which will turn everything upside down, especially when he will have to team up with Captain Vincent Béraud, played by Thierry Neuvic, an exceptional but rigid cop.
