Did you think he had said his last word? This is to know Jean-Pierre Foucault poorly. The 76-year-old presenter, who has presented “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” for 19 years, and the Miss France election for 30 years (which he confirms he will present again this year), launches into a new professional experience: actor! He plays in the TV film “Murder on the Blue Coast”, alongside Alexandra Vandernoot, this Saturday evening on France 3.
Beginner actor
“It’s a completely new experience. For years I have had guest actors at Sacrée soir, but I never considered becoming one of them”he explains at a press conference. He owes this experience to Christophe Koszarek, the producer of this film: “I wanted to shoot with Jean-Pierre, because he was the one who got me started in the business, and I found it fun to get him started in my turn,” he explains mischievously. “It seemed natural to us to set this story on the Blue Coast”adds the producer who set up his cameras in this region between Martigues and Carry-le-Rouet. And for good reason: this is where Jean-Pierre Foucault lives.
“It’s a little-known region, west of Marseille. I would even say that it’s the most little-known of the known regions. And filming here allowed me to evolve in familiar settings and to return home every evenings. It helped me a lot.”
To play Marc Valenci, a heritage architect who will see one of his colleagues thrown from a viaduct, Jean-Pierre Foucault admits to having had some difficulties. “I hadn’t learned a text since I was 18. It was complicated and a little scary. And it allowed me to quickly regain the use of a dormant muscle called memory.” For this, he was able to have the help of a colleague who works in the area: Jean-Luc Reichmann. “He gave me his method for remembering my text.”
55 years old in front of the camera
If we tend to think that the hosts are all acting a little, Jean-Pierre Foucault denies this: “I’ve been in front of the camera myself for 55 years. And there, I was asked to forget the camera. To pretend it wasn’t there, and to make that credible. So sometimes it had to redo scenes, because I was looking at the lens, like on a TV set.” Reflexes that he finally managed to lose.
And if everything ultimately went well, it is not certain that Jean-Pierre Foucault will frequent the sets again : “It’s an experience that I don’t regret, but it disturbed me.” Is he satisfied with his performance? “It’s not for me to say. I can’t say that I felt good. We’ll see if the public liked it.”
“Murder on the Blue Coast”, by Marjolaine de Lecluse, with Jean-Pierre Foucault, Garance Thenault, Alexandra Vandernoot. Policeman. This Saturday October 12 at 9:05 p.m. on France 3.
And in replay on France.tv
