We know the actor Louis-Philippe Dandenault well. However, we knew less about the curious guy who loves conducting interviews, and he does that with his podcast At Dandenaulthis new passion as he continues his career in front of the camera.
• Also read: Louis-Philippe Dandenault now works with his children
• Also read: Watch the first powerful trailer for the new The Rebels
Louis-Philippe, is this podcast a new passion for you?
Yes! It works really well, exceeded my expectations! I spend a lot of time on it. I’ve had this idea for 10 years and you know, I’m turning 50 in October, so I told myself it was the right time. I rented a studio and plunged into the adventure, even if everything wasn’t perfect. Above all, I wanted to work with my children. That was the most important thing. My daughter helps me, she is a co-producer and my husband makes the clips that we publish on all platforms. Olivier is 23 and Charlotte is 21. I’m having so much fun just thinking about it! It’s a project I manage myself, so I have to work elsewhere to finance it, but it’s really fun.
What does your podcast basically consist of?
It’s called Chez Dandenault. In short, I share conversations with people I love. Sometimes they are people who are very well known, but sometimes they are a little less so. Whether they are famous or not, I tell myself that people will benefit from talking about their lives and businesses. I started with one hour episodes, now it’s two hours. We sit and talk. These are conversations, not interviews with a beginning, middle and end.
Photo: Bruno Petrozza / TVA Pu
For example, when you meet a friend and just chat with them?
Exactly. Yes, there are questions I will ask to move things along, but at some point we go somewhere else and approach many topics. I really want to share these conversations, this is not a talk show that you have to appear on. There guests can conduct business and entertainment. It’s really interesting and it’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun doing something. It was age that made me pursue this idea. I told myself I had a lot less left. So what was I waiting for to do it?
How long has it been since you started this project?
It’s been six months and it’s getting bigger. The hardest part is juggling schedules, both mine and the guests’. First I called my friends, and now I have people contacting me to say they would like to be on the podcast. I recently did one with Eva Avila, a singer who won Canadian Idol. I didn’t know her, but it was so fun and interesting! People open up, it’s an exchange and it allows us to address topics that are perhaps a little more sensitive, but with nuance. My brother came (Mathieu Dandenault, former NHL player) but we didn’t have enough time, he had so much to talk about! I really enjoy doing this.
In addition to your podcast, will we also see you in two TV series?
Yes, I participated in the second season of Classified. The character I play occupies the position that Rachel Miller (played by Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) occupied in the first season. I am the new member of the team and we assume that they all know each other a little. It was a beautiful gift given to me, I had fun playing this role. The filming also took place near us, at the DIX30… It was a dream! I worked with Mélissa again every day and we had a lot of fun.
Eric Myre
She and Mélissa have already toured together Black Lake among others?
Yes! And more than 10 years ago we saw each other in the movie On Your Mark…Party! 2, where I played his coach. We have mutual friends and we are also neighbors. With Classé Secret we were there every day. What a fantastic woman! She is pleasant to be with, she really loves her work. She also participated in my podcast. She told me that she stole a lot of things from Antoine Durand when she starred in The Duval Heirs. She had watched him work, noticed how he acted and how much he talked to everyone, no matter what position they held. On the set of Classé Secret, I called her Madame Bonheur without knowing this story about Antoine.
Will viewers love or hate your character? Secret secret?
It’s not a pretty move, and since everyone around him is very serious, I decided to give him a slightly sharp and expressionless side. I tried to bring a little humor into this world of secret agents. My nickname was Big Ham. That gives you an idea of how I played the case! One of the people I was able to work with was Paul Ahmarani, who I didn’t know, and after 10 minutes we were laughing like crazy! It was a great team and a great shoot, we rarely do something like that here. There are effects and some scenes in this series that are similar to what I saw when I worked with Americans. You watch it and think, “Oh!” In the show, I’m not just in the office, I’m in the middle of the action, and that was really nice. It’s funny because I had seen the first season and said to myself that it would be fun to be on a show like that!
Tell me about your role in the new series The rebels.
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse and Pier-Luc Funk play the main characters. Louis Choquette is the director and for 25 years it never worked out for the two of us to work together. When I was offered a role in this series and I knew that Louis would direct it, I immediately said yes. I did four episodes. It is a series that talks about all those who fall into the cracks of the system. In my case, my couple has a son who has serious mental health issues and we don’t have the money to get him checked for a diagnosis or to get him properly treated. It’s really the downfall of a small family that doesn’t have much money and is trying to cope with their teenager. It’s dark, at least what I had to do, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it!
Do you also do dubbing and voice directing?
Yes, it’s new that I’m doing management and it’s really fun. This allows me to hire friends to come sync so we have great days.
What work is involved?
We receive the film in English, I do the casting for the French version. We must try to respect who has already sung the voice of this or that actor and find the right people to do the voices of the French interpreters. It’s very interesting! I didn’t think I would like it so much. I recently shot Oppenheimer, a phenomenal film.
Photo: Bruno Petrozza / TVA Pu
Are there any other projects planned?
We, Jean-Michel Anctil and I, are in the development of a show that we have created, that’s all I can tell you at the moment. Eventually we saw each other and laughed so much one afternoon that we said we had to do something together. It’s great fun and the whole aspect of being behind a project is very interesting. Sequel follows!
You can listen to the podcast At Dandenault on different platforms. Secret secret (Season 2), Wednesday 9 p.m., in ADDIK, from October 18th. The rebelson Club illico by
21st September.
• Also read: 24 new characters to watch on TV this fall