Tapie on Netflix: ‘It’s Not Our Job to Be Documentary’ Josephine Japp (Dominique) Reveals How She Prepared for Her Role

After months of waiting, Netflix finally offers its subscribers the opportunity to watch the new French fiction Tapie. Here, users of the streaming platform will discover Laurent Lafitte from the Comédie-Française in the shoes of Bernard Tap, a public figure often criticized in our country.

Bernard Tapp Netflix version

Inspired by real events, the seven episodes of this project (created by Tristan Seguela and Olivier Demangel) depict the life of a man who was once the boss of Olympique de Marseille or even a singer in a TV show. Hook before becoming a minister in the government of François Mitterrand (to whom Samuel Labarte attributes his traits).

As Laurent Lafitte explained on the microphone of AlloCiné, there was no question for him about the copy and paste of the real Bernard Teppie. In consultation with Tristan Seguela (who also directs the series), the actress chose during this performance to portray her own version of a person who was still married to Dominic Tapie at the time of his death in late 2021.

Josephine Jappi, who plays the latter on screen, also told us that it’s necessary as an actress to take a step back from reality. This distancing, he says, allows us to retain some freedom to play an existing or former hero.

“It puts a lot of pressure on…”

He told AlloCiné:There is always a peak in this type of project. There is reality and being inspired by reality is what I love to do! I love research, I was a bookworm for three months before I started in the game part… but I think we should also get rid of existing characters.”

Josephine Japp develops this reflection:It puts too much pressure and takes away a form of freedom. I played France Gall in another project, and in the same way, at some point you have to forget. You have to immerse yourself deeply in the fantasy and character as told in the series, while drawing inspiration from reality..”

“It’s quite a delicate balance to find. Recognizes key stakeholders. And I think the series really managed to emphasize that, identifying the essence of Bernard Tap, who he was, his epic journey and sometimes even beyond reality, because it is so incredible! But without forgetting the artistic part, because this is our job.”

Josephine Japp concludes:It’s not our job to be documentaries and report exactly what’s real. It’s our job to go out and play the characters and be the best performers that we can be. “