“I was embarrassed…”: The 3 Musketeers, why Francois Civil has a special memory of auditions

What is it about? From the Louvre to Buckingham Palace, from the slums of Paris to the siege of La Rochelle… In a kingdom torn by religious wars and threatened by an English invasion, a few men and women cross swords and unite. The fate of France.

Special casting!

François Civil, who had already been cast as d’Artagnan, had to audition for Eric Rouffey, who at the time was in competition with another actor to play Richelieu. Given Rouf’s impressive career and status as administrator general of the Comédie-Française since 2014, Civil was uncomfortable with the situation. He recalls this during a screening of the film at Club 300 AlloCiné:

“It was scary because I had already been cast in the film and Eric Ruff is the director of the Comédie-Française, he’s a bit like the heads of the cast! And I had to give him the casting before I was already cast. The film! I was embarrassed. Besides, because it was the first time I played D’ Artanian against the director, I managed to put pressure on the genre, if I complain, they will fire me!”

A large-scale project

The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan is the first part of a diptych directed by Martin Bourboulon, to whom we owe Papa or Maman, Miss Suite and the Eiffel. The film will be followed by The Three Musketeers: Milady, which is scheduled for release on December 13, 2023.

With an estimated budget of 72 million euros, The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan and Milady took 9 months of preparation, 8 months of filming, and mobilized a team of 300 people.

Note that the diptych was written by Alexandre de la Pateliere and Mathieu Delaporte (Le Prénom). They will soon be adapting another Alexandre Dumas novel for Pathé: The Count of Monte Cristo, with Pierre Nini in the title role!

Real is set in France

The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan was filmed in Ile-de-France, Brittany, Ote-de-France, Normandy, Burgundy and Grand Est. Director Martin Bourboulon explains:

“Together with the producers, it seemed to us to shoot in a natural environment in very impressive places, the Invalides, the courtyard of the Louvre, the cathedral of Meaux, the Chateau de Chantilly, Fontainebleau and Compiègne, even if it was. More difficult will contribute to the realism of the film.”

History of the great H

In The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, Martin Bourboulon tried to reconnect with the great adventure films, talking about both individual trajectories and history with a capital H. The filmmaker confides:

“We all remember the plot of the three musketeers, the sense of honor and brotherhood that is told there, the large scale of the battles. When I think about what that novel was when I was a kid, it’s something huge that comes to mind.”

Training for Francois Civil

To play d’Artagnan, François Civil had to learn fencing, fight choreography and become the best rider (in areas where the actor was completely new!). He recalls: “A little over six months before filming, I started doing it two or three times a week. Fencing with Yannick Borrell (Olympic champion) and acrobatics on horseback with Marco Luraski, who is my schooling elsewhere in films.”

The idea was to become a top rider so I could do some stunts myself, which we did! Once these bases were firmly in place, it was time to work on the choreography with Dominique Foisier and his team. stuntmen”.