After the Basque Country and Mont Ventoux, here you are in a third Murders in… What memories do you have of these beautiful regions?
Thomas Jouannet: The Basque Country was exotic. At Mont Ventoux, being a foodie by nature, I especially remember good truffle-based dishes. As for Puy-en-Velay, in the Massif Central, it was a sports shoot with a lot of elevation changes and steps. Above all, I discovered a sublime village set on steep hills.
Your character, Martin Jimenez, is a bit arrogant and macho. A compositional role?
I don’t find him that arrogant. He is rather disillusioned and grumpy, because he is going through a bad time. He has been transferred and he is not taking it well. But behind his provocative old-fashioned cop side, full of clichés, he has a real tender look.
He is forced to pursue his career in a rural environment, while you have chosen to leave the capital with your family to settle in Loir-et-Cher…
Yes, with my wife (actress Armelle Deutsch, editor’s note), we wanted to settle in our country house for a year, to live there during the four seasons. And it’s been going on for ten years. For our young daughters, it was a pleasant life surrounded by nature. While not being too far from Paris, to make regular return trips.
In 2024, you starred in six fiction films (Brocéliande, Puy-en-Velay, Mademoiselle Holmes and Brigade du rivière). Flattered to be so requested?
I enjoy playing different characters: cop in Murders in…burnout nurse in Turnneorural in The Eclipse, etc. I’m very lucky.
Thomas Jouannet talks about the success of his daughter Chloé Jouannet
And in 2025?
I hope to participate in season 3 of the series Mademoiselle Holmes, as well as in the continuation of River Brigade. I will also be filming next summer in the feature film of my daughter Chloé (whom he had with Alexandra Lamy). This is the long version of the short film she directed, Come on girlwith which she won around fifteen awards, including Best Short Film at the 2024 Alpe d’Huez Festival. We worked in the area with her sisters, who were also in the cast (Mado and Ysée, that he had with Armelle Deutsch). We were all very afraid of disappointing her and, in the end, it was a fabulous and successful shoot. Chloé finalizes the writing of the long version and she continues to cast her father, which delights me! (Laughs)
Your three daughters are following in your footsteps and those of their mothers…
Yes, it’s true that there are a lot of actors in the family. Mado is 17 years old, she juggles between her baccalaureate and filming. For Ysée, we will see…
You starred alongside your wife in the mini-series L’Éclipse. Do you have any other projects with her?
We launched a theater festival together called O thread of the Loir, which takes place every year in June near Vendôme, in the birthplace of Pierre de Ronsard. We identify quality, but accessible, pieces to bring them to rural areas. We also write sketches which are performed between two plays in the middle of the audience. This is an event that we have been preparing for a year and which is growing in size.
Murders in Puy-en-Velay, Saturday December 28 at 9:05 p.m. on France 3
