Prisoner Island: Is Noah Chabat (Geoffroy) deaf and dumb for his character?

On Monday, February 20, 2023, L’Île burgnière, the first original series created by Michel Bouss, continues to be broadcast on France 2. An average of 4.5 million curious people watched episodes 1 and 2 of this thriller last week.

An exciting series

Here, the public lands on an untroubled island until twenty armed activists arrive and trap all the residents in the village school. Alpha, their leader, has everything planned, except that the shuttle connecting Penhick to the mainland eludes them, allowing its five passengers to hide on the island.

Who are these activists? Why are the residents of Penhick in custody? Who among them will become heroes, cowards or traitors? Who is the stranger on the shuttle, returning after a ten-year absence?

In the casting, we find Pierre Perrier (Alex), Lanique Gautry (Alpha), Deborah Francois (Chris), Antoine Duler (Jaune) or Margot Bancillon (Candice) in the main roles. The latter also answered Kevin Azais (Yannick), Anouk Greenberg (Mado), Marie Denarno (Eliane) and newcomers Jane Cara (Kelly), Diego Murgia (Dorian) and Noah Chabat.

Impressive performance

The latter slips into the shoes of Geoffrey, Chris’s deaf-mute son, whom he is raising with his partner Elian. But does the 10-year-old aspiring comedian live with the same disabilities as his character? The answer is no! Thus, for the needs of filming, the boy, Deborah Francois and Marie Denarno learned sign language thanks to courses.

Elsa Bennett, co-director of Prisoner Island with Hippolyte Dard, revealed:The challenge was to perform the language at the same speed as those who use it naturally.” For this, Noah Chabat trained with a specialized coach.

“With Hippolyte, we met a lot of children for this role, and Noah immediately captivated us with his maturity, his desire to play and, above all, the humanity he was able to convey in his interpretation. Elsa Bennet remembered. He seduced everyone on the set, he was our little mascot!“It’s a real achievement.