After leaving the theater for seven years to devote herself to her family, Pascale Montpetit makes a big comeback by starring in the play Physician at Duceppe.
The actress plays Dr. Wolff, the founder of a renowned medical research institute, who prevents a priest from entering the room where a teenage girl is experiencing her final moments after a botched abortion. A video of the incident is causing a stir on social networks as the gesture, which was intended to protect the patient for ethical reasons, is being interpreted in different ways. Does she despise religion, men or the working class?
Can this gay doctor justify her actions based on her gender, her origins or her sexual orientation?
“It’s a debate piece,” explains the actress. It’s special because the situation is more important than the character. The protagonists’ intimate lives or pasts are secondary. Everything happens in real time, in the present, over a period of three days. »
She emphasizes that this work by the British Robert Icke presents different points of view on this incident from people, each with their own prism for interpreting the facts.
“We all have an identity, whether we like it or not,” notes Pascale Montpetit. All the identities that are forced upon us and that we choose shape us. »
Flattered
It was the director Marie-Ève Milot who offered him this great role. “I was very satisfied,” emphasizes Pascale Montpetit. As you get older, it’s very flattering to be chosen by a woman from the younger generation. »
Now that her daughter is 14, the actress says she is ready to work in the evenings for more than a month, as the theater schedule requires with rehearsals and performances.
“I wanted to be at home for my daughter, but it cost me to turn down roles,” explains the woman, who last appeared in Quat’Sous in 2016 but continued to film for television and cinema.
A solo exhibition
After filming André Forcier’s next film in Ababouiné in August, Pascale Montpetit will have a completely new experience this autumn. The actress, who also devotes herself to painting, is entitled to a first solo exhibition of her works at the Louise-Carrier Exhibition Center in Lévis in November.
“It’s really beautiful,” admits the woman, who studied fine arts at CEGEP. It fascinates me. Compared to my job, where we serve the text and the director, when you paint you do whatever you want. You are freer and more connected to your personal imagination. »
♦ Doctor will be presented in Duceppe from October 18th to November 18th.