France 3 off-season: “It was an effort, I haven’t experienced many shoots like this”

AlloCiné: What attracted you to this thriller as much as others?

Marina hands : When I started reading the script for Off Season, I said to myself “I’ve never seen it, I can’t let it happen”. I felt real excitement. The story is absolutely insane. I love the idea that filming is challenging and challenging because we didn’t take the easy way out with this series. Great, the stakes are always very high.

It was also a great honor for me to be offered such a role because I have never played a character like Steren before. I thought it was good that you trusted me. And then I really wanted to work with Sofia. I’ve met a lot of amazing people in my career, but as fantastic as some of the actors are, I think there’s something even more fantastic about this job: passion.

With Sofia, I felt that filming would wake me up (laughs). I said to myself “It’ll Stop Me From Roaring”. That’s what I’m looking for. I need this news and work with people who burn, make bets. Sofia is like that too. And the whole series was imbued with this spirit. It’s a real gamble: the creators are young, two producers are producing the series for the first time. There was a “first time” aspect. Also for Sofiani, who found herself in such a role. I liked this. The energy that is generated is priceless.

Sofiane Zerman : It is true, even if it is a shared role, it is the first time that so much has been brought forward. There were many firsts. First time in Switzerland. That was obviously part of my motivation. Also wanting to explore the everyday life of a police officer, immerse yourself in this world. I was full of curiosity about policemen, so I liked to put myself in the place of the policeman, in his normality.

How would you define the dynamic of the duo that was formed by your two characters in the series?

Sofiane Zerman: The relationship between Lais and Steren is two diametrically opposed worlds that meet and get along very well.

Marina Hands: The strength of the series also lies in its characters. I liked that they weren’t stereotypes, clichés, people who don’t really exist. I wanted the audience to identify with the police captain. That the link is possible, regardless of labels and nationalities.

Sofian Zerman: The series does not just remain on the surface, it is interested in life, internal conflicts, doubts of the characters. Their professional and personal lives collide, one interferes with the other. This is a true frontier series, in every sense of the word. And all this gives something honest.

We, as actors, have the impression that we play characters who don’t lie and we assimilate them more easily. And we helped because the series is very well written and we had very good director Pierre Monard.

How did you work with this duo of Franco-Swiss investigators?

Marina Hands: We didn’t really create a duet. Together with Pierre, we created two individuals, each on our side. In the first week of shooting, he shot all the car scenes for us. We didn’t know each other, we felt some manipulation by the director, and it worked immediately.

We met on the set of a project that each of us was working on. And it was obvious. We had a lot of fun playing together. And this meeting with Sofian really surprises me today.

Sofiane Zerman: I was very happy to share the set with Marina. I have great respect for his work and career. And I allow myself to be guided by it a little. I posted what I thought was good, it helped me get better. It was very natural, very fluid from the start. This duo was unlikely on paper, but we had a lot of laughs.

Marina Hands: Fortunately, because the series is so dark, we got to relax on set.

Did you meet real police officers to prepare for your characters?

Sofiane Zerman: Of course. We were taught not to snap a finger while walking with a gun. Conduct, two or three protocols should be followed for arrest and be reliable. But it was very fast. Then we did everything with a little feeling.

And it must be said that the script limits the actions. There are many differences between the laws of France and Switzerland. And when Lies arrives at this station, he is very French. He doesn’t have codes, he behaves a bit like a cowboy. Finally, the Swiss police framework shapes everything. It was quite natural.

Off season is also a real atmospheric series. A damp, icy and sometimes sticky atmosphere emanates from this snowy resort where the drama piles up. Was it difficult to shoot?

Marina Hands: Oh, yes. I tried, I haven’t tried many such shootings. First of all, because we are spinning very fast. I know it, I already knew it. But I don’t get used to it (laughs). I tell myself every time “Will we one day be able to shoot so many episodes, with so many difficulties, in more than three months?”. This was the main difficulty for me.

But there was also nature, mountains and weather. It was raining a lot. And then we had to meet Pierre Monard’s demands (laughs). His demands as a director as an actor’s director. He had an insane demand for embodiment, for work. I had to redo the scenes often. There was no staying on the surface and playing this series lightly.

Sofiane Zerman: The setting serves the story a lot, but you also have to accept it. We were in the mountains, it was an hour’s drive before going up there, there is a whole organization. We had good weather and suddenly, three minutes later, it started to rain. There was a kind of microclimate in this region of Valle where we were shooting. Sometimes it got difficult. We had to stay focused.

But Pierre led the dance. It’s really fantastic. He holds the tray with a rather insane calmness. He never gets angry, he has a little word for everyone. It seems natural, but it’s not always like that on set.

Off Season is a series with twists and turns. There is an obvious irony at the beginning, with Steren and his son. But also a twist that evens the cards again in episode 4. What was your reaction to reading this sequence?

Marina Hands: It’s tough, we can’t say too much to avoid spoilers. But I found it incredible, of course. I was captured. From the very first episode, I was captivated by the bravery. The series really takes risks, we are not in a classic thriller. I hope the public will be surprised.

In order to protect his son, who accidentally killed his girlfriend, Steren risks everything and decides to fake the death of a young woman and pass her off as one of the victims of the serial killer he is trying to stop. Was it easy for you, Marina, to identify with this character and her choices?

Marina Hands: I will not ask myself a question about identification. It’s more in terms of empathy. This inner dilemma troubled me deeply. I thought “If I met such a woman, I would fall in love immediately. I want to know where this endless mourning, this loneliness comes from. How to get out of it”. I really sympathized with this character.

Sofian Zerman: We’re talking about loneliness, and exactly, I find that the environment in which the characters develop does a lot and serves a lot of mystery around Steren.