His character as an emergency doctor in the popular daily newspaper STAT Although she has been busy for a year and a half, Suzanne Clément still has time to play roles in the cinema. While we wait for the release of Werewolvesa Netflix film in which the 54-year-old actress stars alongside Frenchmen Jean Reno and Franck DuboscSomewhere else when I'm therea Belgian comedy playing in Quebec this week.
We meet Suzanne Clément on her only day off of the week. This is usually the day she learns her lines for filming the next STAT episodes. But this Tuesday morning she takes the opportunity to increase the number of interviews for the Quebec release of Ailleurs si j'y suis, a comedy by François Pirot in which she stars alongside Jérémie Renier.
Could she be a workaholic?
“The STAT filming keeps me busy for a good part of the year, but we still have a four-month break – from the end of March to the end of July – which allows me to rest but also take part in “other projects,” nuances the actress in an interview with the Journal.
Last year, Suzanne Clément took advantage of this break to film the film “Loups-garous” in Prague – with Franck Dubosc and Jean Reno – and to star in “The Sticky”, an Amazon series filmed in Montreal.
This year, she's awaiting confirmation of a French film she could shoot immediately after STAT's second season finishes filming this spring.
In short, even though Suzanne Clément returned to Quebec a year and a half ago to pursue her role at STAT, she continues to receive offers from France.
“I spent a lot of time there over ten years and I hope that seeds were planted there,” she admits. I wouldn't live there all year round anymore. I needed to ground myself and STAT filled that need too. But I want to continue working there.”
“And at the same time, sometimes you have to relax. When I finished STAT last year, I went to Bali two days later. But I like extremes. This is how I live.”
Offbeat humor
K-FILMS AMERICA
In Ailleurs si j'y suis, a Belgian comedy filmed three years ago, Suzanne Clément takes on the role of a mother who begins to ask questions about her life after seeing her husband (Jérémie Renier) escape his problems by isolating herself in the forest behind her house.
“I was attracted by the film's edgy tone and humor, which is not at all cynical,” explains the actress.
“When I read the script, I felt a lot of love and tenderness for these characters. There's a little Woody Allen side to the director's style [François Pirot] approaches comedy. The characters in the film are all people who are getting old, wondering what to do with it, and running away in one way or another. It is a fable that makes fun of our great desires for change, which are sometimes necessary. There is a bit of mockery in the film, but it is a benign mockery.
After a year and a half at STAT, Suzanne Clément says she has learned to tame the hectic pace of shooting a daily newspaper.
“Last year, I mentally summarized what I needed to do before each day of filming,” she says. But my brain has adapted and I now know what I can do and in how long. I got into the rhythm.”
“We were also afraid at the beginning that we wouldn’t be up to the task. We were motivated by fear [de décevoir] after the success of District 31 and the other daily newspaper [Indéfendable] who came. We didn't know what to expect. We were fully focused on our work.”
The comedy Ailleurs si j'y suis is playing this weekend.