“What surprised me when I was offered the role was that this story about stealing maple syrup is true. It’s so Canadian! » confides Margo Martindale. As a reminder, in 2012 the Quebec authorities discovered the theft of thousands of tons of maple syrup, worth nearly 20 million dollars. This very real news item thus serves as a backdrop to The Stickya Prime Video production that mixes social satire and black comedy. If the original story had all the makings of a local curiosity, the series by Brian Donovan and Ed Herro today makes it a human epic of international scope. “There is a sweetness, almost naive, in this anecdote, which reveals a great symbolic weight,” specifies the American actress.
At the center of the plot, her character, Ruth Landry, a maple farmer with a volcanic temperament, finds herself at the heart of the maple syrup theft of the century and a succession of improbable misadventures. “What I like most about her is her intensity. She can go from explosive anger to total vulnerability, collapsing in pain thinking about her husband,” explains Margo Martindale with enthusiasm, who always enjoys embodying raw, burning emotions. For his part, Guillaume Cyr plays Rémy Bouchard, this “40-year-old guy who still lives with his father and who dreams of being respected, seen”. Wish granted when he finds himself tied hand and foot with Ruth Landry and Mike Byrne, this little mafioso to whom Chris Diamantopoulos lends his features.
The Sticky is not, however, content with reporting a simple news item in the manner of the big Hollywood studios. This story, although its share of fiction is substantial, is deeply rooted in Quebec. “What’s great is that we filmed here and that the series celebrates our accents and our expressions,” underlines Guillaume Cyr.
Montreal at the heart of production
The Sticky thus offers a brilliant showcase to the Quebec metropolis. “I loved Montreal. It was fantastic to be able to discover this city, but also to show it as it is, without disguising it as New York or Chicago,” says Margo Martindale. This particular attention to local culture is also reflected in the choices of sets and distribution, where Quebec actors, such as Suzanne Clément and Mickaël Gouin, rub shoulders on screen with several global stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, also a producer. delegate. Guillaume Cyr even had his say in the process. “I had the chance to contribute beforehand, suggesting adjustments to make everything more authentic and proposing names. » For him, seeing Guy Nadon join the team was “a real joy. »
Producing a Quebec series for an international audience, therefore in English, however required certain adaptations. “We had real discussions about how to introduce French in a logical way. For example, if my character speaks in French with another Quebecer in one scene, we cannot suddenly switch to English with my father in the next,” says Guillaume Cyr, who for the first time had to film in the language by Shakespeare. And to emphasize the unprecedented scale of this production. “It was incredible to film a series with such a budget. Here, we would probably have cut scenes that were costly for script-editing. But there, everything becomes possible: smashing windows, burning a farm… What we see was done for real,” he explains, delighted.
A Quebec black comedy with universal accents
Beyond its local roots, The Sticky therefore has the ambition to speak to as wide an audience as possible. “What makes this series so accessible, even internationally, are its universal themes,” explains Margo Martindale, referring to the quest for community, the visceral need for recognition and the human frustrations explored by the creators. These themes, although portrayed with humor, often catapult the characters into situations that are as absurd as they are tragic, in which any thrill-seeker will find what they are looking for.
In fact, by being distributed in more than 120 countries, the series The Sticky offers a rare opportunity for Quebec to tell its story on a global scale. The two actors also share a common pride, that of showing an authentic and human territory. “The dark humor of the series works because it is anchored in reality. It is from despair, fury and rage, played with sincerity, that comedy is born. Quebec humor, even with its particularities, is not that different, because it is based on universal emotions,” says Margo Martindale.
Guillaume Cyr insists on the universal dimension of the series, since “these are not billionaires in New York, but ordinary people with extraordinary challenges” who are shown to viewers. “I think that it is this humanity which has the potential to touch the general public, regardless of the country”, concludes the one who sees in this heist story a “perfect context for fiction”.
