Bardot on France 2: Was the series really filmed at La Madrague?

On May 8, France 2 began broadcasting Bardot, a biographical mini-series that revisits the life and love of the iconic Brigitte Bardot, portrayed for the occasion by Julia de Nunes.

Throughout the episodes, the fiction written by Daniel Thompson and his son Christopher Thompson recalls the key moments that marked the famous actor’s life, namely the acquisition of his estate in La Madrague, near Saint-Tropez.

In episode 3, broadcast this Monday evening, viewers were able to discover this mythical place, which is inseparable from Brigitte Bardot.

In 1958, the actor bought this small fisherman’s house, which he fell in love with. A true haven of peace for Brigitte Bardot, who was constantly hounded by the paparazzi, La Madrague was the scene of grand parties that made headlines in the Parisian newspapers.

A few years after her film career, Brigitte Bardot donated her fortune to the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation to ensure its sustainability. Did the production crew really set up cameras in this property, which the actor jealously guarded, to film the series?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Brigitte Bardot was not really involved in the project and she also did not approve of the production of this series in her life. So it would be very surprising for him to have teams come and allow him to shoot on his property.

It was in the boathouses in Var that the scenes that were supposed to take place in La Madrague were filmed. In an interview given on the website CNCDennis Seiglan, Bardot’s chief designer, went behind the scenes to create this iconic location.

“We found a boat house that was lost in the middle of the forest. An incredible place in Var near Breganson“, he explained. “I didn’t think it still existed! We were lucky to come across this absolutely unique place, whose owners agreed to rent it for filming..”

“It must be remembered that La Madrague was also originally a boat house, with a small fisherman’s house above. After that, the decor had to be arranged to match the shape of reality and recreate the world, in this case the world that Brigitte Bardot discovered when she arrived in Saint-Tropez at a time when fishing was not yet abandoned. village…“.

And to create a set as faithful as possible to the reality of the time, the set designers relied on many photographs taken by Brigitte Bardot, one of the most photographed stars of her time.

Find the last two episodes of Bardot this Monday, May 22, from 21:10 on France 2. The episodes are now fully available on the France.tv platform.