All TV crews had a headache in the spring and summer of 2020 when it came time to resume filming between the first two lockdowns, bearing in mind the numerous health measures imposed by the government. You remember? The two meters distance, the disinfectant everywhere, the masks… It’s only been three years and it seems so far and so close at the same time!
We then learned that in fall 2020, for its fifth season, L’Échappée would incorporate the horrors of the pandemic into its storyline. Even today, the author Mylène Chollet, who tacitly took on the torch of the previously written texts of L’Échappée by Michelle Allen, defends this choice, which seemed perfectly logical to her in the context of the time.
“Remember, we had no choice but to be six feet apart,” the designer explains in an interview with Showbizz.net. “Other series didn’t integrate the pandemic but still placed people two meters away. I, as an author, preferred to integrate it. Then we let them go because we realized that people don’t want to see masks on TV. It was faster in Saint-Alice than in the rest of the world! I have no regrets because, as an author, I don’t see how I could have acted differently. »
Mylène Chollet is full of praise for all the members of the production team who, she points out, did everything they could to ensure that L’Échappée lived on screen without affecting the story and that the television viewer understood the difficulties that unfolded behind the camera have accumulated, not noticed .
“I’m always a bit dystopian. When the pandemic hit, I did a lot of research on the Spanish flu and I concluded we had three years. So if we’ve had it for three years, what should we do? So we decided to integrate the pandemic to be able to shoot faster. »
“With ‘District 31’ we were the first to quickly start filming again,” continues Mylène Chollet. “I want to recognize the courage of our team. Our technical team took over the bridle when people were still dying on the streets in Italy. You have to take the measure of what it was. Both the actors and the technical team threw themselves into it, gave it their all. We worked hard. I like to say that it took a lot of creativity. It took creative reactivity to consider that in one week we had three actors who had COVID and we still had to shoot, we had to rewrite and flip for 10 cents. And that is only possible with a team like that of “L’Échappée”, which is incredibly flexible and enthusiastic. »
“We haven’t lost our sacred fire even though we’ve only had a stick in our wheels for three years. It wasn’t easy to live with, which hopefully we won’t experience again, but I have to say there was a certain magic to see how hard we work for our audience. And I hope they take the measure! ‘ the author ends with a laugh.
Actress Anick Lemay recalls initially resisting the idea of fictionalizing the pandemic and dealing with the sword of Damocles, which was actually the coronavirus. Then she changed her mind. And all the actors of L’Échappée agree that filming with health restrictions was a real feat!
“I didn’t agree at first,” says Anick Lemay. “I thought we were going to shoot with masks and talk about COVID… And eventually it sank. Well done Mylene Chollet! At some point, of course, we stopped talking about it. It went really well. »
“I will always remember a scene with Marie-Soleil Dion where we were two meters apart, with plexiglass, and we didn’t hear each other! We were outside and we didn’t get along! It was strange”! ”, adds the one who is currently working on writing a series in collaboration with a well-known producer.
For her part, Marie-Claude Guérin, interpreter of Sonia Moreau, had to play Romeo and Juliet with Sylvain Marcel, aka Thomas Bourgoin… at a distance. She giggles as she remembers the situation.
“We knew the two characters would grow closer and develop a love story. Our time of seduction spanned six months, in the midst of COVID, and the maximum we could reach was touching hands at a meter. At some point we thought we weren’t anymore; We tried to express the beginning of a love story… a meter away, barely touching! We laughed a lot and we developed a great bond, a little bit because of that, but it was absurd. We had to look for something else in the game; we put many stars in our eyes! (laughs) It was funny. »
Chantal Fontaine, who played Lieutenant Gisèle Bayeur from exactly the fifth season of L’Échappée, also had a very funny anecdote to share about the pandemic. Read it, along with some other mementos from the show’s comedians, here.
L’Échappée ends this Monday, March 27 at 8 p.m. on TVA after seven seasons. What does the grand finale have in store for us? Author Mylène Chollet gives us a sneak peek here, and our predictions for the outcome are here.
Press appointment for the finale of L’Échappée