“Yes, we can be addicted to danger”

The hyperactive Guillaume Canet, 51 years old and 55 films as an actor, never stops. Fifteen days after the release in cinemas of “The Deluge”, a story of the last months of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, here it is again in a new fiction, “Ad Vitam”, this time on a streaming platform, Netflix, for the first time in his career. He is the headliner, co-producer and co-writer.

In this nervous thriller, punctuated by stunts in sites known around the world (Sacré-Cœur, Château de Versailles), he plays Franck Lazarev, a former pillar of the GIGN (1) caught up in his past. He must find his wife Léo, kidnapped by a group of armed men, even if it means gradually becoming a real state affair. Barely has the promotion of “Ad Vitam” been completed when Guillaume Canet will begin filming his ninth feature film as director in February, two years after “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom”, project on which it remains quite secret at this stage.

In “Ad Vitam”, your performance is very physical, you perform almost all the stunts, which are often spectacular. How did you prepare?

I devoted six months to physical preparation. Shooting, rappelling, handling weapons… I also had to learn to overcome my vertigo. We wanted, with Rodolphe Lauga, the director, to work as close as possible to the GIGN teams, we spent a lot of time with them. One of their leaders said that I was now almost able to join the group, which is obviously not true. But it was nice, polite, and I was proud (laughs)!

We sense the reference to Jean-Paul Belmondo…

Yes, especially to the film “The Professional” [NDLR, sorti en 1981]which impressed me a lot as a kid. Particularly the alone against all side, which we find here in the narration.

What did you learn about GIGN from this experience?

I was very struck by their dedication, their courage. They go on missions on very tough operations, physically and psychologically. Every day, they are confronted with the great fragilities of society, face hostage takers, madmen. They see horrors from morning to night. And when they return home in the evening, they must be able to sort things out. All this with a salary, how to say, limited… What also struck me was their commitment not to kill. Their number one rule is to try to disarm, to negotiate. For them, a mission where they have to shoot a madman is a failure. Sometimes one of their number is on the ground, but they will still try to disarm the attacker, or wound him in the shoulder.

In “Ad Vitam”, the danger that awaits Franck is becoming a hothead, taking reckless risks…

Yes, this is why GIGN members are strongly encouraged to preserve their family life, to cultivate a solid personal foundation, precisely to keep perspective, it is essential.

“We can be addicted to danger, to risk-taking”

How did you come up with the idea of ​​this ex-member of GIGN character?

The starting point was my meeting with Thibault Lévêque, then team leader at GIGN. I was doing weapons training for another film, the production had put me in contact with him. We didn’t see each other for two years, I met him again and found him looking a little sad. He had left the GIGN after fifteen years of a hectic life and found it very difficult to give up this adrenaline, to return to a calmer, more routine daily existence.

Do you understand this addiction to danger?

Yes, we can be addicted to danger, to risk-taking, because we never feel as alive as in these circumstances. I go parachuting, paramotoring, paragliding: every time, in the evening, when I’m at home, I wonder why I do all this, I tell myself that it doesn’t make sense, that it’s completely stupid… And the next morning, I can’t wait to go back.

Is a fight scene difficult to shoot?

It’s not a simple balance. Everything must be very choreographed, follow the instructions rigorously, for obvious safety reasons, and at the same time avoid it seeming automatic, artificial, by preserving a messy side, an awkwardness, drops in rhythm.

“Regularly, I try to give myself a break. But I can’t hold on, it worries me.”

What assessment do you draw from this first collaboration with Netflix?

I had some concerns, but I actually loved working with them. They gave us time, the freedom to work well. And they are professionals who have a good handle on public expectations. From their contact, I learned certain methods that could be better transposed to cinema. For example, in the design of communication campaigns. At the cinema, film promotions are always very broad, global, at the risk of showing the film to people who are not the type, who will not like it, and, potentially, will be vectors of bad word of mouth. -ear. Netflix’s campaigns, particularly on networks, are much more targeted.

Do you have a target number of views on the platform?

No. I just know that thanks to Netflix, “Ad Vitam” will be broadcast in 190 countries, which is a great opportunity.

You will start shooting your new film in February. Do you never breathe?

Regularly, I make a good resolution: to take a break. But I can’t hold it, it worries me. As soon as I stop, I have the impression that I won’t be able to work anymore, that I won’t be offered as many things anymore. And I need to be moving. When I lie down on a deckchair, on vacation, the moment I lie down, I am very happy. But after five minutes, I get bored and stressed.

How do you explain this overactivity?

No doubt the fear of death. I know time is running out. I often have the same nightmare: I learn that I am going to die, and I have to go say goodbye to everyone.

(1) National gendarmerie intervention group.

“Ad Vitam”, by Rodolphe Lauga. With Guillaume Canet, Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Alexis Manenti, Zita Henrot… Starting this Friday January 10 on Netflix.