What does this fifth season have in store for us?
Sara Mortensen : It’s always difficult to answer this question, without risking spoilers. I can just tell you that we should expect surprises, emotion and twists and turns.
Tonight’s double episode has a flavor of Mission: Impossible, because the two heroines are confronted by the secret services…
In fact, they will have the French of the DGSE and the Americans of the CIA on their backs. It’s a pretty cool investigation, since it brings together two worlds in one: that of the police, and that of counter-espionage. This is quite unexpected for Astrid and Raphaëlle!
On the sidelines of the investigation, two events will shake up Astrid’s daily life: the pregnancy of Raphaëlle, pregnant by Captain Nicolas Perran (Benoît Michel), and Tetsuo (Kengo Saito), her Japanese friend, who is in the process of leaving. for Tokyo. How will all this translate into the young woman?
These two events will impact Astrid, in the sense that they risk disrupting her rituals. Raphaëlle is one of her landmarks, and the arrival of a baby threatens to turn everything upside down since, having become a mother, her friend will be less available. Astrid dreads any change in her daily life. Tetsuo, likewise, belongs to his universe. It is part of the furniture, I am tempted to say; the expression, from Astrid, should be taken as a compliment. As a result, she is very anxious.
The series is a big success in Japan… Doesn’t Tetsuo’s departure risk disappointing the Japanese public?
The Japanese were attached to the character of Astrid before she met Tetsuo. You should know that they really like Paris. I dare to hope that if they are touched by Tetsuo, the Japanese will continue to love Astrid and Raphaëlle just as much.
The filming of this season was almost compromised by a… hair incident. What was it?
A few days before filming, a hairdresser applied a product that made me lose my hair. I have often been asked if I wore a wig in Astrid and Raphaëlle. Until this incident, no, I just had an addition to make a ponytail. But there, yes. So Solange, our hairdresser in the series, traveled around Paris to find me the wig that looked as authentic as possible.
Playing the character of Astrid must be taxing. Have you set a deadline for stopping the series?
I will stop Astrid the day Astrid gets tired of me. As for me, I will never get tired of her. This character is a jewel, a gift, a marvel. It’s both scary to play, because I especially don’t want to hurt or betray people directly or indirectly affected by autism, and it’s an honor for me to highlight the difference.
Does this also give you time to work on other projects?
I filmed this summer, in Reunion, in an episode of OPJ with Hubert Delattre, and, currently, I am in Polynesia for Murders in the Marquises, in which my partner is Medi Sadoun.
Astrid and Raphaëlle, Friday November 8 at 9:05 p.m. on France 2
