Virginie Ledoyen stars this evening on France 2 in the mini-series “Contre toi”. At the microphone of AlloCiné, the actress looks back on this new TV experience and on Esther, her very intriguing character…
Virginie Ledoyen plays one of the main roles in the France 2 mini-series Contre toi, which begins broadcast on Wednesday June 19, 2024 at 9:10 p.m. Here, the actress plays Esther, a married woman facing death with a troubled past, who falls under the spell of her bodyguard (Lannick Gautry)…
AlloCiné collected the actress’s secrets about this new TV experience.
AlloCiné: Why did you choose to participate in the mini-series “Contre toi”?
Virginie Ledoyen: For its screenplay, its story, the way it’s written, the director Christophe Lamotte… I think it’s a thriller that works very well. Esther, my character, is complex, endearing and mysterious at the same time. We don’t know who she is, we don’t know if she’s crazy, we don’t know what she’s hiding… In life, no one is of just one color. I like that we don’t know which way to dance with her.
How did your collaboration go with Lannick Gautry who plays Mathias, Esther’s bodyguard?
It was the first time we worked together! In the story, our characters have a very strong, very intense and even torrid relationship. This created a lot of fluidity between us and Christophe largely contributed to that as well. We discussed at length beforehand the look he wanted to have on this couple. Was it just an adulterous couple? We also really talked about the sometimes intimate scenes we had to perform. It gave us a lot of confidence.
Why does Esther fall under Mathias’s spell?
In my opinion, it’s called love at first sight, actually! These are people who meet, it’s not at all planned, it’s not an adventure, it’s not made for them. They are each married but they are two people who, at some point, recognize each other. He is also the only one who believes her, right away. Their relationship is not like an affair, they have nothing to gain from it, quite the contrary.
Your character almost drowns at the beginning of “Against You”. Wasn’t diving in a lake in winter too difficult?
It was very, very cold, I can confirm that (laughs) There were not 36 takes, fortunately! These are the hazards of filming… There are worse things on earth, obviously, but it’s true that it was curdling!
You play several scenes with a dog at the beginning of the series. Are you comfortable with animals?
I have already had experiences filming with animals. They are trained so everything generally goes very well. And then there it was Messi: the dog in Anatomy of a Fall!
What was ultimately your biggest challenge during this shoot?
We tried to the end with Christophe, Lannick and Charlie Dupont [Fred, ndlr] to make sure to hold this character so that she is vulnerable and that she has a little borderline side as well. All this while trying to make her endearing and human because she can be tough, she can be cold… and what’s more, she sometimes lies!
You’ve been appearing in series for a long time. Is this a format that you particularly like?
Mini-series are great because you have time to really create and explore plots and characters. In this case, for Esther, it was good to have four episodes to set this one up and try to understand it.
Do you have any other TV projects coming up?
I finished the television adaptation of the novel On the Slab by Fred Vargas, by Josée Dayan and with Yvan Attal.
