The name Nathalie Madore may not mean anything to you, but you certainly know her face and character in Indefensible, who is almost always referred to by her last name: Gagnon! It is she who embodies this unusual detective called by the lawyers of the law firm Lapointe-Macdonald & Desjardins. Meeting a woman who is proof that we must always believe in the beautiful surprises that life has in store for us.
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“Before I played the role of Claude Gagnon, I didn’t have a career as such,” the actress says immediately. I did advertising, teaching and coaching on film sets for 20 years. I've done a lot of it, I also taught with Danielle Fichaud a long time ago.” It was casting director Mélanie Ranger who suggested the name Nathalie Madore to the Indefensible team for the role of this colorful detective character. “We shot for two days and after that I didn’t get a response until the end of the first season. Then they sent me other text messages and it snowballed. The world loves Gagnon, I get recognized on the street and I get told that people love me, that I’m good!”
The audience particularly likes the nature of the character, who generally doesn't beat around the bush. “One day we were finishing filming in Longueuil and I was on the way to the studio when a man appeared out of nowhere and asked me: 'Who should I write to see you more often?' It's still extraordinary! I’m on a great wave.”
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The actress says she loved the character of Gagnon as soon as she read the first lines. “My instinct made me think that she could have a life if I played her the way I saw it and the way they suggested, and I thought it would be a 'pay character.' I was hoping she would come back. “I always dreamed of playing a character like this,” she admits. It's a composition, it's colorful, it has major flaws and at the same time is super lovable, it has qualities that remain hidden, it's intelligent and has courage. She has a knack for recognizing others.”
Filming for the second season of “Indefensible” ended in mid-November and will continue in the spring, but Nathalie already knows that Gagnon will be even more present. “They told me we wanted to do something more dramatic. It's not for nothing that she lives in a van, isolated from others. It's something special. I told myself it's because she's been through difficult things. She has a past. By calling people by their last names, she creates distance between herself and them because she is fragile. It's his way of protecting himself. She doesn’t like nonsense and if she adopts you, she adopts you forever,” she says.
Live day by day
At 57 years old, Nathalie is experiencing joyful moments as she sees the beginning of her acting career! “It’s my first leading role,” she says. At the age I am, it's just candy. It's a career that's taking off. They gave me a chance. They let me try something and it worked. I love him, Claude Gagnon, I love him!” When we tell her that it must be very pleasant to play such a character, who is undoubtedly a thousand miles away from her, Nathalie replies: “I would say that in me There's a bit of Claude Gagnon in it because I can be pretty fast, but. “In life I want others to do well, I'm careful, I'm polite. Nevertheless, she agrees with me in her response and her sensitivity, which can be obscured by a little harshness.
The actress has made most of her career in the artistic world, but, like many others after graduating from theater school, she also worked in restaurants. “One day a friend from theater school called me to ask if I was interested in working as a coach at Ramdam. I said yes, and that's where my career as a children's coach began. I did Les Parent, Les Argonautes, Kaboum and web series. I worked a lot. And at some point everything stopped. I said to myself, 'Enough!' I got little roles here and there, a bit of commercials, but I made a conscious decision: I wanted to build a new career in aviation and travel while continuing to do little things here and there.” , she admits.
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A logical decision, but the pandemic came and Nathalie was among the employees who lost their jobs. “And then it started, I kept getting calls, supporting roles and then Indefensible came along,” she says. But let's be realistic: it's going well, I'm enjoying it, but we don't know what will happen tomorrow. I surf it, I'm super happy and it's good for my life because it's a plus to meet extraordinary people. We have a great team and are treated well on set.”
Filming for the next season will begin in March and the actress is rightly looking forward to reuniting with the team. “We will understand where Claude comes from and learn about his personal life. People like me enough and the writers want to take my character a little further. It's fun.”
While waiting to return to set, Nathalie takes part in auditions, especially in English, and dedicates herself to an activity that she really enjoys: singing in a choir. “It's for my pleasure, I like singing and I've decided to get back into it. We have done Christmas shows and will be doing more in June. And in addition to the choir, I am a carer and help a friend who suffers from multiple sclerosis. That way you stay with both feet on the ground.”
The single, childless actress is sensitive to this sudden popularity and obviously wants her role in “Indefensible” to ensure that she gets chosen for other projects as well. “Life suddenly made me feel like I belonged. I hate the phrase “being on your X,” but I’m really into it! You never know what will happen in this business; I have often said this to young people I have taught. I also loved coaching, it was a really great job, but if you ask me what I want to do today, it’s playing.”
Don’t miss “Indefensible,” airing Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. on TVA.