“I, I ate him with my eyes”: In 1973 Gerard Darmon was shooting a film with this comedy genius.

Since 1973, viewers who (re)see The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob every time it airs on the small screen have surely noticed a certain Gérard Darmont’s discreet presence with Louis de Funes. In one of his first screen roles, he plays a best man and appears alongside the French comedy’s Holy Beast in the famous chewing-gum scene.

On the eve of the release of L’Heureuse Electe, where he stars opposite Camille Lelouch, his co-finalist in LOL: Who’s Laughing Out!, the actor spoke to AlloCiné as part of our new format. big screenFilmed in the Infinite room of the Le Grand Rex cinema. He revisits that memorable cinema memory in the video above.

“At the age of 18, 19, of course I was doing extra work. If I got a little money, I would just eat. I did all the levels of cinema, all of them. And really, I was very proud of it. The desire to see the stars of that time I saw, Belmondo, I clearly saw, In Rabbi Jacob, but I was not yet an actor..

He was absolutely charming. and distant.

“Both of our eyes hurt, the cornea was torn and everything (A fake chewing gum ingredient – pancake batter – caught the eyes of Gerard Darmon and Louis de Funes, editor’s note). We had the same eye doctor. So instead of three days, my little appearance lasted almost two weeks. So we had time… we put drops in the eyes. He was absolutely charming. and far away.

These twelve days of shooting were a year of lessons.

“I was looking with my eyes. In addition, now I know the quality of the gaze and when we know that when someone is looking at us from that side, we can see 200 meters away. And that’s what fascinated me. I wanted to see a kind of machine, how it worked. These twelve days were a year of lessons..

I didn’t think about cinema at all.

“Then I forgot everything, I only went to the theater. I started in the cafe theater with Jean-Michel Rives. I wanted to be a dramatist, I wanted the theater. I was trained only for this. I didn’t think about the cinema. I didn’t know anyone at all, and all kind people told me that I should be recognized in the wind by my faith ..

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