(Paris) After a series of dramatic roles, Laure Calamy had the opportunity to reconnect with comedy thanks to a film in which, alongside Olivia Côte and Kristin Scott Thomas, she plays a very extroverted woman who, in the company of of a found teenage friend, finally realizes the trip they had promised to make together 30 years ago, at the time of the Big Blue…
In recent months, Laure Calamy has been able to assert herself in the excellent Full Time (Éric Gravel), where she played the role of an overwhelmed mother trying not to crack under the weight of her mental load. We were also able to see her interpret a modest worker trying to reintegrate her family of origin in the disturbing L’origine du mal (Sébastien Marnier), then, in the relevant Annie Colère (Blandine Lenoir), a woman of the 1970s who militates for the right to abortion. Each of his compositions has won him praise.
This time, the actress rediscovers the pleasure of a lighter tone thanks to the film Les Cyclades, written and directed by Marc Fitoussi (Copacabana, La ritournelle). In this voluntarily sunny comedy, set in the enchanting setting of the Greek archipelago, reality catches up with two friends, inseparable during their adolescence, who, finding each other after having lost sight of each other for years, think they are rediscovering the same dynamic as at the time. At least one of them thinks so.
“Comedy can also arise from a more closed character, but here I was lucky enough to be able to let go of everything by playing this exuberant woman who wants at all costs to rediscover the energy of her youth, disco music, party “explained Laure Calamy during a press meeting organized as part of the Unifrance French Cinema Meetings, held in Paris at the beginning of the year. “Besides, it was a joy to reunite with Marc because I hadn’t had the opportunity to explore this kind of very expansive comedy in quite a while. »
Laure Calamy and Marc Fitoussi indeed worked together when the filmmaker was chosen to direct a few episodes of Ten percent (Call my agent), a series in which, thanks to her character of Noémie, the actress made an impression. The director also claims that the interpreters of Noémie and Hervé (Nicolas Maury) were his two “darlings”. So he quickly had the reflex to call on the actress after having had the idea of writing a comedy built on the model of the buddy movie, but feminine this time. Laure Calamy thus slips into the skin of Magalie, a disorganized woman who demands a lot of attention; Olivia Cote in that of Blandine, a more reserved woman, who reluctantly agreed to go on vacation with this teenage friend.
“Whatever she does, Laure is always touching,” he adds. I had more trouble finding the actress who would play Blandine. Fortunately, Laure suggested Olivia, with whom she is very good friends, and the dynamic between them was exactly what we were looking for. »
In this comedy exploring the link between two women who have followed very different trajectories since their youth, the filmmaker includes a third character. This other woman, now settled in Greece, was also very important in Magalie’s life at some point. Marc Fitoussi offered this role to Kristin Scott Thomas.
“I wanted to reinvent Kristin and take her out of the stuffy image that the characters she usually plays give off,” he says. To see her appear different, with this long white hair, seemed interesting to me. She was very happy to be thought of for this type of role because we tend to confine actresses to what we already know about them. »
Laure Calamy believes for her part that if it happens that characters can sometimes display a certain kinship, the filmmaker’s gaze makes all the difference.
“It’s true that actors usually prefer not to redo things they’ve already done, but you can still portray seemingly similar figures in completely different ways. It’s like redoing your scales with a major score. In a way, Magalie could be a distant cousin of Noémie! »
