AlloCiné: Eva, who you play in La Maison d’en Face, is a more troubled character than the one we are used to seeing in your play on screen. Did you like this project?
Julie de Bona : Yes, really. It’s not the police investigation that draws me in, it’s the intriguing side of the whole story and the twisted characters. It is true that my character is different from what I usually play. There is much less positive side.
Eva makes a very bad choice (laughs). And I enjoy playing such a troubled woman more. I tell everyone that (laughs). He has a very obsessive side. She has no life without a child. And then there’s the whole swing series aspect, which I really enjoyed too. Little by little you will feel it coming, but it is not easy at first, I thought it was great.
Your character goes through the worst drama ever: losing a child. Did you have any concerns when reading the script?
I was so scared, I didn’t want to do it at first. I talked a lot about it with my agent. The series was suggested to me by director Lionel Baillieu. I did innocent with him. It was one of my first big series, I really enjoyed working with it. It was my first dramatic role, there was a lot of strength in my character. And there, after reading the script for La Maison d’en Face, I first had a complete rejection of the character. Because of the death of this little child. I said to myself “It’s dead, I can’t, I can’t”.
But that’s not all. After reading the script, I couldn’t understand Eva’s character, I thought she made an incomprehensible choice, I consider it inhuman. I told Lionel about this rejection, and I finally took the time to read the series thoroughly and my agent managed to convince me that this role would allow me to step out of my comfort zone and open the door to other types of characters. So I called my coach and we did a lot of dissociation work. And all the work was building the character away from me.
And finally, thanks to this, I was able to portray this woman who thinks that life is a postcard and who wants a child, because for her the image of family takes precedence. It is very far from me. But I began to understand this Eve, to know her and to worship her. I entered the meanderings of his obsession, his raison d’être. And suddenly I understood everything.
Getting to the set was incredibly easy. I was able to play this drama without it affecting me at all. At first I was surprised, but I played this character with a really crazy sense of fun. Whereas before, on a series like Plan B, I think I let myself get carried away a little bit, the character, the plot turned me upside down. But here, not at all.
Do you feel like continuing with even more dark, evil, Machiavellian characters?
completely. I think Eve is working on a survival instinct. Suddenly he spins and sinks into madness. But it’s sweet madness. He might try to kill someone, but he won’t (laughs). And I, in my other roles, want to go further with my characters. I think I want to play crazy or manipulative now. I liked it very much.
I think La Maison d’en Face was the first step. We gradually move up the sliders. But it’s great. It opens the door to something new. I think I explored 5% of human darkness there. There’s still a lot to learn and I really want it right now, at this point in my career.
The series has a very Desperate Housewives side. Was it assumed from the writing?
I think so. I am very happy with it. I think we should have gone deeper. I liked that the music is close to Desperate Housewives, that there are a lot of references, winks, like this street and these suburban houses where the characters live. I thought it was cool to play on it. Thanks to this, the series is not very realistic. There are so many sides, sometimes almost tragicomic, and this is what makes the series unlike what we see every day on French television.
There is great chemistry between Mark Ruchman, Thierry Nevich, Caterina Mourinho and you. Was it obvious between the four of you on set?
I knew Thierry, with whom I shot La Légende des 3 clefs almost 20 years ago. I met Katerina at the Dinard festival, we were both part of the jury and became friends. And we recently acted together in Plan B, he was the one who gave me Plan B in a brief appearance. But on the other hand, I didn’t know Mark at all, we actually met on set.
And it’s true, when I saw the series again, I said to myself that I couldn’t imagine other actors in their place in the roles of Yannis, Livia and Stefan. Katerina, she radiates constant sensuality. Perfect for the role. And the scene where they tell us they’re swinging works really well, Katerina and Thierry are great, and we’re definitely wondering what we’d do if some friends offered us such a scenario (laughs). Their services have many things in common.
Is there a scene you particularly remember? Who had trouble shooting at others?
The death of a child, of course, even if it is fleeting. I told Lionel that I wanted to play the minimum, that I didn’t want to show this death. I had a feeling that it wasn’t useful and especially a scene like this is very difficult to play. Anyway, with La Maison d’en Face we are still on two topics that are not done on television, which is not obvious: the death of a child and the exchange of partners. Depending on the scenario, it can quickly become a mess.
I thought a lot and told Lionel “You really have to be very modest about it”. I was afraid of this sequence, these are the images that stick in my head, but in the end this is the shot, we shot it very quickly, it took half an hour on set. And it was done modestly, I’m glad.
The House Opposite is an adaptation of the Dutch TV series that ran for four seasons. Would you be up for a second season if it was successful?
Yes, it’s me. But only if Eve really gets angry. The production is already informed (laughs). For me, this first season is the beginning of something. And if we don’t click, if I do a little bit of the same thing, I’m not sure I’m interested. I like that we are in a drama that changes, Eve gradually becomes unbalanced. And I really like this unusual side. So if we keep moving forward, I’ll be happy. But it all depends on what they are going to do and what they are going to write. If I don’t like it, I know I will be the worst actor. So we’ll see.
Your back to school is busy with Les Combattantes on Mondays on TF1 and La Maison d’en face on Tuesdays on M6. Do you think it’s a bit of a shame that everything is happening on the air at the same time?
Yes, it’s a bit of a shame. It’s a bit like when you have two friends’ weddings on the same day. I obviously would have preferred a few months between the two series. But there is football world cup coming in November, I think that has made the channels to wait and offer many series from September.
But I will not hide that I wanted to take care of each series in terms of promotion. And then it is a great emotion for me to release the series. Community return, exchange, we want to appreciate it, so I don’t know how to live there in two series at the same time. It is strong. Moreover, these are two completely different roles, two very different series. But it is true.
Hopefully this helps the shows rather than hurts them. And that viewers don’t tell each other “We see him everywhere, he pisses us off, we hang around”. But luckily it’s a two-chord series, I don’t have the title role like in Plan B, it’s not like you see myself everywhere. Well, otherwise I think he would have finished some of them (laughs).
You’re currently filming Season 2 of The School of Life, in which you’ll play the series’ new head teacher, played by Guillaume Labbe. what can you tell us
I am excited for this new adventure. I think season 2 will be even better than season 1 which was already great. The character they wrote is amazing. We are indeed approaching the circle of deceased poets. And since it’s one of my favorite movies, I’m excited. There is a real subtlety of character in the benevolence. He has to save these children and at the same time there is something that affects him personally. And he has personal drama playing out at the same time.
Very well written, directed by Slimane-Baptiste Berhoun, it’s a marvel. A real nice meeting. And you will see that there is a lot of humor, a lot of comedy, my character is very sunny. It’s different from the first season where Guillaume Labbe’s character had a lot of drama from the beginning, it was a bit overwhelming. Here we are about something completely different. Drama comes later for my character. But I can’t say more.
A few words about your upcoming projects?
See you soon, on the M6, at Le Souffle du dragon. I’m happy to be back with Stephanie Pilonka, who directed I Learned to Love. It’s a true choral TV movie, a women’s TV movie. And we really fell in love on that shoot with Julie Gaye, Firmine Richard, Lola Dwyer, Annie Gregorio and Berenger Crieff, who I didn’t know, and it was a wonderful meeting. There was a real storm of love between all of us. It is quite rare. And despite the subject, since we’re talking about cancer, it’s a super sunny movie. A fighter movie, definitely in a sorority. On October 11, “Pink October” will be broadcast on M6.
And then, from January, I will be in the theater. I will have to do well. I really missed it. For a long time, I read many plays without finding happiness. And there I found my happiness with Eli Semun. In Bernard Murat’s play, which is called Royal suite. It will be played at the Madeleine Theater from the end of January 2023 and I, who wanted comedy and madness, will be served. I feel like I’m going to enjoy myself and I’m excited to meet the community.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
