Céline Groussard, the revelation of A little something more

While Artus' film has just celebrated its 3 million admissions with a climb in Cannes, we meet the woman who, in her first major role in the cinema, amazes with the vivacity of her composition. A golden start.

How did the desire to become an actress arise in you?

Céline Groussard: I happen to have extremely movie-loving parents. They passed on to me their passion which developed at home in front of the TV – because I grew up in Charente-Maritime far from any cinema – and through reading Première! But when I went to Paris, it was first and foremost to do theater, with this desire to share this passion that I felt within me with others…

However, paradoxically, it is through the one woman show that you will make yourself known…

Yes, after a few years of playing in classical plays, I launched into the one woman show. And although I had a lot of fun on stage, the solitude during the performance or after the performance gradually came to me. I wanted to cross swords with others again. And there, I had the pleasure of being hired to play in the musical Grease in Mogador. There were 30 of us on stage every night for a year. My wish was more than granted!

How did you meet Artus?

By participating in the show On n'demande que à en riz on France 2 of which he had become one of the pillars and he took me a little under his wing. And at the end of my adventure GreaseArtus asked me to play in Duels at DavideJonatown that he wrote and directed and where I still had the chance to find success

This is where he starts talking to you aboutA little extra thing ?

Yes, he had started doing sketches of his character Sylvain on social networks and he mentioned the fact that he was going to write a feature film but without going into further detail. Until May 2019 – much to my surprise! – he suggested that I pass the casting for a role which was then the polar opposite of me: 26 years old, dressed eco-responsibly… But I obviously played the game to the fullest, I dissected the scenario – which gave a very precise of what the film was going to become – in its smallest corners and above all, to know Artus well, I knew that this audition was going to be improv. And there was no shortage of it! I wanted at all costs to be part of this adventure so I let you imagine my joy when, the next day, Artus called me to tell me that I had the role!

A LITTLE EXTRA TIP: A HILARIOUS COMEDY ON DISABILITY (REVIEW)

How did you work on this character of educator?

Obviously, I worked on my own based on the script but for this film, the notion of the collective took precedence over everything. We all met in Paris before filming, before being thrown into the deep end, in the Vercors mountains, really in the middle of nowhere. There, before all these scenes, there was a lot of teamwork with the educators, to adapt to the abilities of each person with a disability. Everything is written of course but from there, we deal with what happens on set. With each take, something unexpected happened. Once he chose us, Artus trusted us, let us be the force of his proposal and the film is a reflection of his generosity. And it all turned out to be incredibly smooth: we finished every day early!

We had already seen you in Astragalus by Brigitte Sy and Acid by Just Philippot. But A little something extra marks your real debut in cinema, your first important role. Were you nervous before the first day of filming?

Yes, I'm not going to lie to you because I was afraid of disappointing Artus, of not living up to the chance he gave me. But all that quickly went away. Because of the atmosphere that I evoked, the pleasure of playing together but also because very quickly, I come back to the essential, to Artus' gesture with this film; defend inclusion, but through laughter, through playing together. It may seem like Care Bears but everyone really came away changed from this shoot. He left an imprint on each of us. We were so sad to leave each other on our last day. We all cried for fifteen minutes non-stop without being able to stop! Like the end of camp when we were kids….

What do you think explains its success?

The simplicity of human relationships displayed there. The solar aspect that emanates from it. The jokes that hit the mark without then seeming to apologize for it in sweet scenes. But how could we have imagined that it would attract 3 million spectators in 3 weeks? Certainly, on the day of the release, there were signs: my parents who had tried to go see him and who had been turned away because the sessions were full. But nothing suggested the figures evening on Wednesday evening. Where every time we called a cinema, we were told: full! I will never forget that moment and what we have experienced since.

Will we see you soon at the cinema?

Yes, I finished shooting The backpacker, the first feature by Philippe Mechelen, the screenwriter of Tuche. A comedy around the Routard's Guide with Hakim Jemili and Christian Clavier. It will be released next April.

A little something extra. From Artus. With Artus, Clovis Cornillac, Céline Groussard… Duration: 1h39