Since autumn 2022, Michel Laperrière has been entering our living rooms from Monday to Thursday with the character Me André Lapointe Untenable. This tailor-made role comes at a great time in his long and successful career.
Photo: Patrick Seguin
“We know a little more about what to expect after completing the first year of Indefensible, but it is still a “discovery,” he says of his role in the daily. Michel Laperrière states that he is not the type to make suggestions to writers about his character; what he should do or how he should react to a certain situation. “I leave that up to the writers, they pretty much know where they want to go. Sometimes I have ideas that I share about what direction André Lapointe might take, but these are just suggestions.
Apparently friendships and great bonds were formed on the set of the TVA daily. “I had worked with Anne-Élisabeth (Bossé) on a theater production a long time ago and had barely met Sébastien (Delorme) when I was filming District 31 for a few days. We didn’t really know each other, and it was a great discovery for everyone. It’s very pleasant to work with them, we help each other a lot, there’s a good team spirit.”
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Michel admits that he has gotten used to the frequency of filming on a series like “Indefensible.” “We can’t look at the crowd, we can just go there week after week. Not everyone does all the episodes (120 in total), so we occasionally have a few days when things are quieter. Learning texts, knowing them and being prepared is a discipline, but there are things that are more difficult!”
On the subject of Nour Belkhiria, whose role as Inès has risen in the rankings since last year, Michel admits that he knew her before Indefensible. “We shot the film “The Review” together for a few days and it worked well. She’s easy to work with.” When I ask him if, given his experience, he’s the type to give advice like he could have done with Nour, the actor replies that it’s not in his nature. “I don’t give advice like someone who knows, who thinks he knows and tells someone else how to do it. I’m more of a guy who talks about the character or a scene, and I would say it’s more of a team effort than advice.”
Discipline and good mood
Michel Laperrière has had several opportunities over the years to demonstrate his expertise through the various characters entrusted to him. At the beginning of the 1980s, viewers first discovered him in Banana Peel, then in a number of successful shows such as Chop Suey, La misère des riche and Blanche. His role as Bruno Hamelin in “The Return” and that of the friendly Roch in “Stories of Girls” made him a well-known face to the general public. After a career spanning more than 40 years, the versatile actor still enjoys taking on challenges, whether on stage (Ladies Night) or on television, where he played the role of Joe in “5th Row” in recent years.
From dramatic roles to those he played in comedies, he always knew how to entertain people, such as when he starred in “5e Rank” – even when he had scenes that crossed over into drama – and especially in “Madame Lebrun and “The Blue House”. Michel admits that he doesn’t really miss not being in a comedy for a while – except for the play “Ladies Night” – since he played Me André Lapointe.
“We still have a bit of a lighter side. My character likes to laugh at things to lighten the drama, and between us we laugh so much! We have a lot of fun and laughing on set, including with the technicians, is not uncommon. So I can’t say that I miss acting because it’s not just the character you play that you can have fun with, but also the people you work with. And since we have a great team, I’m very, very happy with my fate.”
He adds that people often approach him to talk to him about his role as a lawyer. “It’s very nice, people are very attached to the series and like the character. If you have a role that you enjoy playing and the love is shared by people, it is still a good time to spend with the world. There are also a lot of lawyers who talk to me about it who appreciate the series, and it’s enjoyable. It is very rare, I would even say exceptional, for someone to make a negative comment to me.”
The talent for eternity
When it comes to the many roles he has had to play, the actor is modest. “If you want to do this job, you have to look at it as a marathon. It’s not a sprint and I’ve never been what you call “flavor of the month.” But at the end of the day, if you look at it that way, as you say, 40 years have passed and I still have great projects and great suggestions. I was lucky because I had roles in affairs that lasted a long time, like Girls’ Stories, or in children’s shows like A Grenade with That? I always managed to have fun and that’s the most important thing.”
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Photo: Frederic Auclair / TVA
He particularly enjoyed playing the role of a killer in the excellent dramatic comedy “So I Love You.” “Ah yes, it was candy. It wasn’t that hard because it was well written, and it was very different from what I had done before.
Proud of his wife
As we know, Michel is the partner of actress Chantal Lamarre. As parents of two now-grown children, they traveled to Japan this summer to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Many people make nice comments about his partner. “You think she’s great and you’re absolutely right because what she does is absolutely unique, personal and inimitable. There aren’t many models like this. You bring her into every situation and have to get up early to accommodate her. She is very cultured, she works a lot and I have great praise for her. We have been together for 25 years. We don’t have any plans in that direction, but if someone asks us to play together, we won’t say no!”
Photo: Richard Champagne / The
One thing is clear: retirement is not tomorrow for Michel Laperrière. One of the things he hasn’t touched yet is writing and perhaps even directing. “I dabbled in it a bit a long time ago, for children’s television, and I think my strength would be mainly in directing actors. I don’t have the technology that directors do, but with the right support it could be possible.”
Don’t miss Indefensible, Monday through Thursday, 7 p.m., on TVA.