Franck Dubosc: “I know I could never complete an order”
Everybody’s Standing returns to TF1, facing La Finale on France 3. What’s the connection? Franck Dubosc…
Updated October 30, 2023: In 2018, Franck Dubosc was chosen to chair the Alpe d’Huez comedy festival, when he presented his first film as a director, Everyone standing. A success, the creation of which he recounted in Firste.
We are sharing this interview again during the rebroadcast of this comedy this evening on TF1. She will face the big winner of that year (honored by Dubosc on the festival stage, therefore): The finalwith Thierry Lhermitte and Rayane Bensetti.
Everyone stand up: Franck Dubosc makes a funny and personal first film (review)
Interview from January 17, 2018: Call him Mr. President. Franck Dubosc chairs the Alpe d’Huez festival until February 20.
FIRST: Franck, what’s it like to put away your flip-flops in the locker room?
FRANCK DUBOSC: You are one of my first interviews on the festival, but I feel that this one, I will be entitled to it often on the slopes… Patrick Chirac has already made the trip to Alpe d’Huez, I remember. We presented the three Camping there and every time, it was crazy.
The difference is that this time you are the president. Do you have pressure?
Of course ! But it’s good pressure: I really hope we’ll be impartial. This is what I was thinking about when putting together my jury. You will have to make the right choices.
That’s to say ?
Let us not make a mistake in philosophy and judge films without ulterior motives. I know from experience that the most difficult thing is not to judge the film of your friends, but that of your enemies.
Franck Dubosc, president of the Alpe d’Huez jury
Do you have any names?
From what I know of the competition for the moment it will be more like friends… Dany (Boon), The Tuches, the family what! But I have to be careful: if it turns out, I’m going to win a guy who finds himself facing me next year!
What will be your mantra as president?
It’s simple: don’t chase the buzzy little film. I don’t want to get into these things that I sometimes see at festivals, where the small film has more chances than the big, popular film. Behind that, there is the idea that we must give new people a chance because we would inevitably be moved by the new generation. It’s true: let’s be open! But you also have to leave room for veterans or regulars.
Dany Boon has already won, then?
I knew the press was going to fall on me. (Laughs.) Me, as an actor in popular films, I’m always a little scared to go to Alpe d’Huez because you can quickly become an easy target… It’s a super festival. benevolent, but our jury must ensure that it remains so. And therefore, avoid the obvious. The only film that deserves to win is the funniest. Let’s stop thinking about numbers or fashions.
What comedies stood out to you last year?
I have very broad and very popular tastes. Obviously, there was The meaning of the party, by Nakache and Toledano. But like the public, I love what Philippe Lacheau and Tarek Boudali (who, in 2017, presented Alibi.com). They dare, they really go far and I like that. It’s super intentional comedy… it really impresses me.
Is this an example that you follow in your first feature?
No. This film will only resemble me!
Why get into directing?
If I had followed my youthful desires, I would have become a director. As a child, I was bought a camera and I made films with my friends. But, very quickly, I understood that directing meant being a chef and that, I didn’t want to do! I didn’t want to make enemies. And then, I traced my path as an actor… In my career, I have often been asked why I don’t direct. And I realized that those who asked me the question were generally financiers. My answer was always the same: “I’m an actor, not a director, that’s not my job. » But deep down, I told myself that if one day I had the right pitch…
And this is the case of Everyone standing ?
I had this idea of a guy who pretends to be disabled and falls in love with a real disabled person… It’s something a bit special, and I said to myself : “OK, what if I take care of this one? » I wrote the story alone, and then I asked myself if I wanted to direct it. There was something that tickled me. I felt like I could carry her to the end. It resonated well; it was really very personal.
Christian Clavier explained to us one day that he had switched to directing by default. Without his name, a subject that he loved and that Jean-Marie Poiré was supposed to film would have remained at a standstill.
I didn’t want to do it for the wrong reasons. It’s funny: I sometimes see my friends’ films and wonder why they did that… There, those who have already seen the film all tell me: “It’s the one that looks most like you. » I hope it’s positive. (Laughs.) I know I could never complete an order. I don’t have the qualities for it. We should put a director’s touch on it, and for me, my touch is first and foremost in the script.
So it has nothing to do with acting frustration?
Oh no ! I didn’t go and help myself. It’s just that I had this need.
A bit like Dany Boon with Welcome to the Ch’tis ?
Not in the same register and not at the same level, but I believe that we actually have the same desire. In Welcome to the Ch’tis, we feel that Dany is attached to others, and I would like that to be felt in my film. I have the impression that there is the same naivety of the gesture. It’s a first time so we’re getting to know each other. I’m in the middle of color grading at the moment, and when I see my film, I discover certain faults, but I want to keep these faults. Around me, many people try to erase them, but these imperfections resemble me… Deep down, I think that a part of me doesn’t want to learn too much, for fear that the technique will make things sterile. The only school that is worth it is the cinema that we love. And the desire I’m talking about.
Is the title a tribute to François Feldman and his Telethon blunder? (In 1996, invited on set, the singer launched “Everyone stand up!” » to an audience of children in wheelchairs.)
Originally it was called Get up and walk. I didn’t really like it and then one day, while having dinner with François, who is a friend, it came to me like that. Everyone standing. It still looks better, doesn’t it?
Everyone stand up – Franck Dubosc: “My character is a big idiot, ultimately”
