About twenty years ago, Karine Vanasse gave Kim Thúy a small notebook in which the author eventually wrote the first sentences of her successful novel. Ru. It therefore stood to reason that the actress would be involved in one way or another in the film, which is based on the autobiographical story of Kim Thúy.
• Also read: Kim Thúy talks about the film’s release Ruan adaptation of his autobiographical novel
It was the film’s producer, André Dupuy, who called her one day to tell me that he had thought of her for a role for me in the film adaptation of “Ru.”
“At first I didn’t think about being in the film because I didn’t see a role for myself,” admits Karine Vanasse in an interview with the Journal.
“The characters we play, Patrice Robitaille and me [un couple de Québécois qui parraine la famille de la jeune héroïne vietnamienne]weren’t that present in the book.
“But I knew André when we were both regulars at Ru de Nam, the restaurant Kim owned about twenty years ago. It was my favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. I probably even worked as a waitress some days when Kim needed extra waitresses. I think it’s nice that the three of us knew each other back then and are working on the film together today.”
Kim Thúy is also pleased that these two long-time friends are involved in the film adaptation of his novel.
“Karine was one of the catalysts for starting to write novels. In a notebook she gave me it was still written that I wrote the first pages of Ru. Everything is in everything!” says the author with a laugh.
“A love letter”
In “Ru,” Karine Vanasse and Patrice Robitaille take on the roles of Lisette and Normand Girard, a couple from Quebec who agree to sponsor the family of young Tinh (Chloé Djandji) in the late 1970s The “Boat People” wave arrived in Quebec.
Lisette and Normand will try as best they can to support the newcomers in their new lives, without realizing what a long and difficult journey they have taken to the province of La Belle.
“When I saw the film, I told myself that it could be seen as a love letter to Quebec and the way we welcome newcomers,” notes Karine Vanasse.
“The Quebecers in the film are sometimes awkward in the way they welcome Tinh’s family. But it is okay. They want to meet. We talk a lot about numbers when it comes to immigration, but I think this story brings us back to the human side of it all.”
Karine Vanasse believes that the film Ru will allow the general public to discover the story of Kim Thúy.
“Having seen Kim on this adventure from the beginning, I know how much it came from her heart,” emphasizes Karine Vanasse.
“That’s one of the reasons why people are so attached to her and her personality. There are a lot of people who love the person she portrays on screen, but don’t necessarily know her story because they haven’t read Ru. I think it’s interesting at this point to go back to how the story began in Quebec.”
The film Ru has been in cinemas since Friday.