It was more than twenty years ago. In 2001, French viewers switched to M6 and came across Loft Story, the very first reality TV show broadcast in France. A real media, cultural and societal revolution. By filming 24 hours a day a group of young people preferring to talk about parties rather than politics, the Loft Story unleashed passions and divided France into two: that which considered that the program was in phase with its times and that which considered the Loft like a “trash show”. Whatever the case, Loana, Jean-Edouard, the swimming pool and the confessional left their mark on a whole generation, and Loft Story launched a new era in television. The program is today considered cult. It is therefore quite natural that Prime Video decided to use this adjective as the title for its new series Worship which explores behind the scenes of Loft Story, from its creation until the broadcast of the finale of the first season.
The success of Loft shelled
Contrary to what one might have feared, the six episodes of Worship are not a recreation of season 1 you Loft. It is really behind the scenes that the series shows us, with the protagonists not the loft owners but the creators of the show, those who have never been filmed: Isabelle de Rochechouart (Anaïde Rozam), a character inspired by ‘Alexia Laroche-Joubert, the creator of Loft which also produces Worship, and his acolytes Raphaël (César Domboy) and Philippe (Nicolas Briançon).
All three are ready to do anything to bring the Loft. Their thirst to succeed is the driving force of the series, which is devoured like a good thriller. The suspense builds to a crescendo as the obstacles multiply in front of the producers. How will they achieve their goals? And by what means? Isabelle, Raphaël and Philippe find themselves in the middle of the media war between TF1 and M6, a war where no holds barred.
The two competing channels initially enter into a secret pact ensuring that neither will broadcast reality TV. A promise broken by M6 which ultimately commands the Loft. The pressure then increases a notch for Isabelle and her team, on whom rests full responsibility for the success of the show. “People will come for the concept but will stay for the casting,” says the right-hand man of the M6 boss.
Here lies the strength of Worship : the series not only tells a phenomenon but studies its anatomy through the eyes of its artisans. A daring way of making spectators understand that nothing was won. “We had to put all the weight of this reality TV show on the producers,” explains Louis Farge, the director of Worship. “We find in Worship this logic of oppression on camera, specific to the thriller. The music also plays a lot, with many layers of tension. Without forgetting the editing which allows for a frantic pace,” he continues.
Louis Farge was particularly inspired by the series Succession to find the “right distance” with producers and lofters: “As in SuccessionI used long focal lengths to take close-ups of the characters from afar. This process allows us to feel empathy for them while maintaining a certain distance.”
Extremely touching characters
The six episodes are also very easy to binge-watch because the characters touch our hearts, including that of Isabelle de Rochechouart, who at first glance is quite cold and unsympathetic. Behind this shell hides a woman steeped in doubts and frustrations, who would like to find favor in the eyes of her father, an intellectual who despises Loft. “She doesn’t really allow herself to be sensitive and that’s what makes her touching,” analyzes her interpreter Anaïde Rozam during our meeting. “I always find that it’s more moving when you hold back tears rather than an explosion of tears,” she adds.
The 27-year-old actress, who exploded on Instagram during confinement thanks to humorous skits, is ultra credible in the role of Alexis Laroche-Joubert’s alter ego, whose facial expressions and language tics she perfectly reproduces. Anaïde Rozam assures her that playing Isabelle gave her self-confidence: “She has this energy of ‘fake it until you make it’. There is a risk-taking which is huge, especially for a woman in an essentially male environment, but she believes in it so much that we end up believing in it with her,” she argues.
In the post #MeToo universe, Isabelle is on the rise, and Loana is not just a beautiful, damaged blonde thrown out to pasture. Worship depicts her as an intelligent young woman with a very high IQ, extremely kind and sensitive. Qualities obscured by the time, obsessed by her bimbo physique. In the guise of the talented Marie Colomb, Loana regains her splendor. “I researched a lot before playing his role and what helped me the most was his book She called me… Miette because it is she who tells the story. The more I got to know her, the more my love for her grew and the more important it was for me to represent her,” the actress tells us.
It is also through the character of Karim, journalist from Isabelle’s team played by Sami Outalbali (seen in Sex Education), that we rediscover Loana. “He sees a form of innocence and purity in her,” he emphasizes. But, over the course of the episodes, Karim, healthy and balanced at the start of the series, loses himself in his adoration for Loana. “He represents a part of the spectators with all the excesses and deviances that this entails,” Sami Outalbali explains to us. Everything that happens in Worship Did it really happen 20 years ago? It doesn’t matter, what matters is that we believe in it, a certain Isabelle would respond…
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