“The packaging remains the same, but the gift is different”: Michael Yoon presents Superpapa, a Christmas TV movie like no other for TF1.

Head to the hills this Monday 13 November for TF1 audiences to discover Superpapa, the new Christmas TV movie.

In this heart-wrenching romantic comedy, Michael Yoon stars as Christophe, the main character, a father-hen who is very (overly) protective of his wife after his wife died four years ago. Until the day he receives a strange gift: Kristoff can now hear the thoughts of adults, including his own son. Christophe will be disappointed very soon then…

For AlloCiné, Michael Yoon has agreed to pick up his skis and make this TV movie a throwback like no other.

Alocine: What are your memories of filming? How exactly did this happen? Jennifer and Gabriel DiefenthalWho do you respond to the most? super dad And who did you play with for the first time?

Michael Yoon: I’m not going to say it was magic nails, because that means the rest of life isn’t fun, but being on the skis at that moment makes everyone want to go back to the weekend with the group. Very noisy but very friendly teenagers, honestly, eating raclette with Ludovic, Virginie Hock and Jennifer… it was a very delicious moment. If my whole year was like this, I would just do this, shoot, shoot and shoot…

And yet, it was a bad start: director Sophie Boudreau, a pity, withdrew the project three weeks before the start of shooting, because the previous director could not embarrass us. But in the end, the filming and the TV movie portray her image as gentle, caring and funny at the same time.

The TV movie is called “Superdad”. What is a great father to you?

A great father would be a father who manages to behave and support his child(ren) without becoming frustrated, neurotic or psychotic. But there is no such thing as a super dad. Freud said: “Whatever you do with your children, you will do it wrong.” And in fact, we cannot raise a child, unfortunately, without creating disappointments. When we are, it’s too much, it suffocates me. When we are not good enough, we fall short. No matter what happens, whether you’re super cool or principled, nothing will go your way.

You are a parent of two children, seven, who is 12, and Stellar, who is 4. How can you be the best father possible to them?

I try to be a super cool dad, but I find that I’m still my parents’ child more than anything, which means there are things that throw me into hysterics, like when my daughter doesn’t do her homework or loses things. . At your age it’s hard not to start yelling every now and then because you’re tired and you realize you’re not spending enough time with your kids, so you want things to go faster so we can. More benefits from each other…

On TV, we’ve seen you play a father figure in fiction a few times in recent years The Runaway: Whore for Love, The day my heart brokeor red bracelets…

That’s right! It’s crazy because I have – or rather had – the image of a “scary baby”, a slightly agitated teenager. I guess I should show some sympathy. There must be something tender in my eyes that makes people associate me more with children or teenagers than with other colleagues. Anyway, I’m excited!

Is father a particularly interesting type of character for you?

Ah, rich, yes! Being a father already adds depth to being, so it definitely adds depth to the game, for example, I asked myself a lot of questions when we were making the movie BDE. I told myself that playing a 45-year-old boy without children is not trivial, there must be an explanation. Either you couldn’t have it, or you didn’t want to. But in writing and interpreting a character, you can’t act as if life is designed this way and that, suddenly, at the age of 45, you start asking yourself a question.

The Christmas TV movies that grace our screens every year are quintessentially American. Superpapa, on the other hand, is one of the rare French productions of this genre. What do you think we can bring to this type of highly formatted and validated fiction?

I think we’re not afraid to tackle things a little tougher than usual in Christmas TV movies and look for more originality in the script. For example, in Superpapa we take the classic “romance comedy” aspect of Christmas TV movies to the background rather than the foreground to support the story of this father listening to the thoughts of teenagers. It’s more of a comedy about a teenage crisis. Even if these teenagers aren’t shooting themselves or burning down bus shelters, we sense that there’s something wrong with them, that they’re not okay or they don’t understand.

In the end, the packaging remains the same, and that’s fine, because people look for that sweetness, that tenderness, that goodness in Christmas TV movies, but the gift inside is different from what they got. From a TV movie.

Like in Superpapa, your character can read other people’s minds, can you read ours to know your last question?

I feel like your last question would be, “If you could read our minds, what would our last question be?”

You are crazy…! So we didn’t know if it was a composite role, we had another question planned, just in case…

Ah! In this case I will listen to you!

Do you already know where to find you after Superpapa?

Yes, in many ways! on Amazon Prime Video, with a sequel to the film BDE and possibly also in the film, an action comedy with Jean-Claude Van Damme – not yet signed. On TF1, with the detective series. In cinema, Nicolas Vanier’s film about the end of the world. I’m also finally teaming up with the Fatal sequel. It took me fifteen years to find the title for the sequel, but after I found it, I absolutely want to make the movie. On various music streaming platforms, I will be back with a new Fatal Bazooka album…

Who else has a little wink in Superpapa!

Yes! I thought it was funny! I was not on the set that day. Teams contacted me and asked if he could be added, I said of course.

2024 promises to be professionally rich, so…

Yes, even too much! I’ll have to calm down for Christmas!

Comments collected in Paris, November 8, 2023.