With Nicolas Anselmo and Mikael Mittelstadt gone, the writers here are wasting no time in bringing some new blood to the series.
As the double wedding celebrated on Friday puts the “Greliot” love story on the back burner and an entirely new story centering on the Armand clan and an unexpected new secret from Auguste begins, viewers of the TF1 cooking series. Meet two new young chefs: Leonard (Thomas Villani, who introduced us to his Sun character) and Maya (Alexandra Faval), the brother and sister of Salome (Aurelie Pons).
Determined to return to her past and right her wrongs, Salome reconnects with her two best childhood friends, with whom she grew up in a foster home. With a very specific idea in mind: to invite them to join the summer course at the Auguste Armand Institute, which he is leading this year.
Maya, who never forgave Salome for meeting Louis a few years ago, gave in and gave her precious sister a second chance? Will he let her convince him to attend summer camp? And who can he connect with at the Institute besides Salome and Leonardo?
Alexandra Faval, who was introduced a few days ago in Everything Begins Here, tells us about this new character who will find a place at the Auguste Armani Institute this summer.
AlloCiné: Who is the Maya that viewers will discover here this week?
Alexandra Faval : Maya is a young girl who has been through a lot of hardships since growing up in a foster home. He has a strong character and is determined to take revenge on life. He wants to take responsibility for his life, move forward and succeed.
How does he appear in Salome’s life?
When we meet Maya, she is very angry with Salome, who after leaving home promised to continue the relationship and did not keep her promise. Therefore, the reunion is not easy, because Maya does not appreciate how things ended between them.
There will be a lot of commotion, it is not calm at all between Maya and Salome. I repeat once again, Maya has a strong character, we can see that right away. But Salome manages to convince Maya to take the institute’s summer course, even though she didn’t want to at first. And it will be a very good experience for Maya, so Salome was right to insist.
Will the tension between Maya and Salome last through the summer, or even beyond, or will the institute’s summer internship bring them closer together?
I don’t know, you’ll have to watch the series to find out (laughs). Of course, at some point Maya will have to give in, because Salome is her sister at heart and she loves her very much.
What does Maya have to do with cooking? Is she one of the naturally gifted summer camp students or does she still have more to learn?
Maya still has a lot to learn in the kitchen, even if it is a real passion for her. While at home, he cooked a lot, but with tools and techniques that were a little crude. When he comes to the institute for a summer internship, he finds it difficult to recover, because Salome’s departure, a few years earlier, has created a kind of trauma for him in relation to the kitchen.
During her summer internship, Maya will open up to cooking thanks to Ethan. How will it affect him?
Ethan (Rick Cleve) is a sweet and kind boy. and above all the patient. And know that patience is not necessarily Maya’s strong suit. So with his patience and advice, Ethan helps Maya get back on track and regain her taste for food.
Should we expect a romantic rapprochement between them?
Getting closer, of course. It’s a love affair, I don’t know. Either way, they make a good pairing in a kitchen that will shine this summer. Two of their characters do match Good in the kitchen. They will definitely help each other out as Ethan will have a bit of a problem this summer as well. So Maya takes him too.
How did you experience the first day of shooting Here It All Begins?
My first day on set was full of excitement. I was jumping everywhere. I thought I was very tense and in the end I wasn’t at all. I was so happy to be there, I was so excited to discover everything. But I think I got bored of the team quickly (laughs). I was jumping, talking so loudly. I think they really told each other “It will last a long time there. It will last a long time with him” (laughs).
How is it working with Aurelie Pons, Thomas Whelan, Rick Cleves and everyone else?
We often hear about the “big family” where it all starts, and it really is. Thomas Villani and I were welcomed as little brothers and sisters, new children. They immediately put us at ease, which was great.
Gradually they become friends. We spend time with them. We work, of course, but our work is still very cool. We laugh a lot and get along well with everyone. I have to say that it’s hard not to get along with the people here, the atmosphere is so good that it’s rare to be in a bad mood on set.
Was the very strong relationship required by alchemy that exists between Salome, Leonard and Maya that easy?
It was easy that Aurel played our big sister in the heart. And when we arrived, Thomas and I, he was really acting, perhaps in spite of himself, with our big brother. He took us under his wing, comforted us in many things, gave us advice. So yes, it was easy to make that connection with him because he was so open, he welcomed us with open arms like we were his little brothers and sisters at heart.
What memories do you have of hearing it? Did you audition for the role of Maya right away, or did you try out for several characters?
I tried out for other roles, including roles in Tomorrow Belongs To Us. But it didn’t work, and Maya stuck to my skin well from the beginning. It was easier, more obvious.
And I remember very well my first hearing, yes. I was coming back from vacation and I went to this casting in a very special spirit (laughs). Unlike my previous castings, I went there and spoke for myself “At least I’ll never be taken. There, I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m going all out.”. I was prepared, but compared to other castings, I was not stressed. I really thought “I have already had 50 rejections, this will be only the 51st”. And I think that helped me in the end, to go there completely relaxed. I knew my text like the back of my hand and, again, because Maya sticks to my skin, it worked.
Can you tell us a few sentences about your background?
Before everything started here, I had a completely different life. I got my film license in college and on top of that I was a superintendent at a high school, which was my student job and it was really cool. But I really didn’t hesitate to leave this job, to choose between here and my old life (laughs).
Before getting the role of Maya, I went through a lot of casting because it was really my goal to get into a project like this. I did a few shoots, a few short films, some pretty cool silhouette roles, but it had nothing to do with Here It All Begins, which gave me my first recurring role on television.
Was your cooking before playing in the series?
No, food is not my thing at all (laughs). Everyone here knows I don’t cook, but not at all. I don’t like food at all, I rarely cook. So playing in this series and spending time in the kitchen is special because it’s a room I don’t know (laughs). But in the end it’s quite nice to play something that I don’t do at all in real life.
Source: Allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
