Director Alexis Durand-Brault is working on a biographical series about Yvon Deschamps. On the phone, the famous comedian talks about a “great” adventure.
Published at 12:58 am. Updated at 6:11 a.m
“It’s nice that there’s someone who likes my stuff enough to say, ‘I’ll work on that.’ I’m very happy,” reveals Yvon Deschamps on the other end of the phone.
Alexis Durand-Brault mentioned the existence of the Fiction Project on host Guy Bissonnette’s microphone on CKVL FM last week. However, the director, who runs the production company ALSO together with Sophie Lorain, declined our interview request because the series is still “in development”. This is the second biographical drama in a few years for ALSO, behind Disobey: the choice of Chantale Daigle (which airs on Noovo from October 25th after being carried by Crave).
Alexis Durand-Brault contacted Yvon Deschamps last summer. The two men discussed the project over coffee. The director would have spoken of a series centered around the comedian’s memorable monologues, such as “Les unions, que ossa donne?” (1969), Happiness (1969), Little Jesus (1970) and Intolerance (1972). So the plot alternated between moments captured on stage and others from the monument’s past, exploring his childhood and youth in the heart of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s to understand the reasons that led him to write these numbers.
“He explained to me what he wanted to do and to be honest I didn’t really understand how he wanted to organize it! » Yvon Deschamps exclaims loudly.
PHOTO PIERRE MCCANN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Yvon Deschamps in 1974
There doesn’t seem to be any network connected to the project at the moment. All options are possible, as ALSO has produced series for Quebecor (Mégantic, Portrait-Robot) and Bell Media (Disobey: The Choice of Chantale Daigle, Sortez-moi de moi and Projet Innocence, reportedly landing on Noovo in recent years). Winter). The offer could also end up on Radio-Canada, as ALSO is also responsible for Un lien famille, a series that will air on ICI Tou.tv in 2021 and on ICI Télé in 2022.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Director Alexis Durand-Brault during the filming of Disobey: Chantale Daigle’s Choice
Back in the news
Detail to note: Alexis Durand-Brault is not the only person preparing a biographical series about Yvon Deschamps. In an interview, the comedian mentioned that in the last few months, another actor from the television industry contacted him to translate his journey on screen. However, we do not know the details of this new project, which could potentially compete with the offering from Alexis Durand-Brault and Sophie Lorain.
How can we explain the fact that two miniseries projects about Yvon Deschamps will be created within a few weeks in 2023?
According to those primarily affected, the documentary L’osstidquoi? broadcast in the spring was? The Ostidcho! has something to do with it. Directed by Louis-Philippe Eno and produced by Claude Larivée, the 90-minute feature film was a revival of the legendary show 55 years later, in which Deschamps took part with Mouffe, Robert Charlebois and Louise Forestier.
“I don’t know why, but this interview was well received. The documentary was shown two or three times on Télé-Québec… So that means at least 100 people saw it! » says the father of Quebec humor, who just celebrated his 88th birthday, with a laugh.
His brief – but much-publicized – return to the stage in July at the end of the final gala of the Just for Laughs festival would also have awakened the nostalgic mood of the creators. “The fact that I’ve come back into the news a little bit seems to have revived business among people, I suppose,” notes the living legend of show business. I was quiet at home and boom! I was told we were going to do a series! »
In trust
Yvon Deschamps has full confidence in Alexis Durand-Brault. Officially retired for more than ten years, the monument gave the director only one instruction: “As long as I don’t work, everything is fine!” »
Yvon Deschamps could join a select club of notable figures in Quebec history (mostly men) to be the subject of a fiction series. Félix Leclerc, Alphonse Desjardins, Lucille Teasdale, Maurice Duplessis, Jean Béliveau, Alys Robi, Raymond Malenfant and René Lévesque (twice rather than once) were at the center of a biographical drama. On the humorous side we mention Cher Olivier, a miniseries from 1997 in which Benoît Brière played Olivier Guimond.
The work of Yvon Deschamps was also brought back into the spotlight by Guylaine Tremblay in 2022. In a solo music show called “I Don’t Know How, I Don’t Know Why,” the actress told her own life using the lyrics but also the songs of the monologue.
Calling everyone
Which actor would you see as Yvon Deschamps in a film story? Tell us who and why.