Un Si Grand Soleil: “It’s a really good start”… Fred Bianconi recalls the last day of filming

Finish clapping!

Indeed, the episode of Un si grand soleil that aired tonight on France 2 marks the departure of Fred Bianconi from the Montpellier soap opera. An emotional episode that will end the unforgettable Virgil Burville’s daily life.

Fred Bianconi, who faced this hugely exciting narrative arc, spoke to Allociné about the reasons for his departure, the last day of filming and his upcoming projects.

Allociné: Recently we heard in the media that you are leaving Un si grand soleil. Was it wishful thinking on your part?

Fred Bianconi : It’s always a difficult decision to make, especially when you’re so attached to a character. For five years, this adventure has been enriched by so many twists and turns, special adventures, incredible meetings with directors, actors, producers and also the public, because Un si grand soleil reaches an average of 3 to 4 million viewers. So telling ourselves that we’re going to leave it all behind is not a decision we take lightly.

One thing is for sure, after a year and a half of moving this character into extraordinary things, when things get a little more banal or less interesting to play, the interest wanes a bit. What do we do from there? Or, we stay because it’s a small comfort and wait for something. Or, we tell ourselves, we do something powerful, we take a real break that will be of indefinite duration.

There is a risk that the break will also be permanent. But at least something real happens, we take off our slippers and go back to what we do this job for. That is, multiple adventures, putting yourself in the place of other characters, remaking new adventures, meeting new people.

It’s obviously risky, it’s also worrying, but at the same time, I have confidence. I tell myself that at the age of 56 I have done great things in my career. I have not traveled much. I had Engrenages and this great adventure Un si grand soleil, which lasted 5 years and for which I had some fame. I hope this popularity will make producers and channels want to bring back an actor that people like.

Departure is in this approach. About taking risks, wanting to provoke reactions and then opening up a field of possibilities.

Can you tell us about July 10, the last day of your shoot?

It was the climbing scenes between Manu (Moses Santamaria) and Virgil. This is by no means the last sequence of the story. These climbing scenes were postponed from June due to weather problems. It just so happened that my last day of shooting was this scene with Moises Santamaria.

I already knew Moise because he came to Engrenages at the time, but we really rediscovered each other playing on Un si grand soleil. He’s definitely someone I’ve really enjoyed shooting with because we work a bit alike, a bit on instinct, which has led to some really cool scenes. With him as a partner and Chris Nahon, who is one of the directors with whom I shot my first sequences on Un si grand soleil and who is someone I really like, we found ourselves in a kind of little cocoon, a very nice family fiction. It sure was moving this last day. Putting down a weapon, leaving a favorite character costume, it obviously does something.

We feel that you are very happy with the ending that the writers came up with. Did you have a specific request for your departure or did you let the writing take you away?

We always let the writing take you away. From the moment we made the decision to say we were definitely going to break with Virgil, it was all about giving him a good ride. Let’s just say that the only request I could make was to say “Let’s take advantage of this to give it a nice rideAnd honestly, the release is great! It is both beautiful and heroic. He fits the character well. Honestly, it’s well done and well thought out. Every little element that the character leaves behind is well done and awesome.

What I wanted to avoid was Virgil disappearing without knowing why. There, it’s sold and marked departure. This does not preclude a possible return one day. But in any case, it’s a really good start.

If you had only one memory of Un si grand soleil, what would it be?

There are so many moments. One of the powerful moments was before the death of Leah (Marte Fieschi). Marte called me one day as he was leaving the production office and said:You know what ? They are killing me!“. It’s funny, my brain is still stuck thinking about it (laughs). I told myself it was crazy. Selfishly, it’s the character who’s talking. I said to myself “what have i become I’m going to shoot myself! This is the apple of my eye“I completely sympathized with him, and at the same time I wondered if the writers were going to leave the series?” It was a powerful event.

There was another moment. It’s a bit like an actor’s dream. After Leah’s death, I read in the script: “Virgil breaks into his apartment“I wondered if we were really going to blow up. The writers proved to me that we were going to. They said, “You’re going to explode. You throw the vines through the windows. Turn the chairs. You throw the TV against the wall. You turn the tables. You throw away the paintings. You actually do what you want.“. We only had one take. There were three cameras. Everything was choreographed. When it was time to go, everyone was focused and we did it in one shot. It was really good!

What are your next projects?

I have a long-standing project which is the show “Les darons oss tout!” With my four other stage brothers, who are Olivier Magee, Frédéric Boural, Luc Sonzogni and Emmanuelle Donzella. We could have been a casting call, but we’re not. We have been friends for 30 years. A new tour is being organized and will probably last until 2024 to do something more luxurious and which will end with the Folies Bergères. It’s an adventure between friends who take to the stage in a completely unbridled show about complicity, friendship, love and life. This is an extraordinary adventure.

I took part in Black Widow, 4×52 for France Télévisions. I will be in the second season of Sophie Cross. I also appeared in an episode of Cassandra.

Today my desire is to enter a new adventure channel for a channel that will have the good idea to think of me and participate in series that I like, like Astrid and Raphael, Le voyageur… something like that. To be honest, if there is an opportunity to participate in an existing series of this type, I would love it.