Kev Adams: “My place in the industry, who cares a little, right?” (interview)
Just before he opened the Alpe d’Huez festival with Maison de Retraite 2, we grabbed Kev Adams by the mittens to talk about his film and his status in French comedy.
Kev, the last time you came to Alpe d’Huez, you were competing. There you make the opening. Is this a sign that you’ve moved up the ladder in the comedy industry?
Alpe d’Huez is a source of great pride. This festival is to comedy what Cannes is to arthouse cinema. You talk to me about the industry, but if I look back, it turns out that it took me a while to get into the industry. I started making films in 2013. And until Retirement home, in 2022, none had been selected here. God knows we sent some though! It just didn’t want… When Retirement home was taken in competition I was super proud.
But you left empty-handed…
Yes and I’m a competitor so I was a little bummed. But we were very, very close to winning the public prize. When the festival team asked us to open this year, I said yes! It is an eventful place, even honorary, often taken by Philippe Lachaud.
Honorary, but a little late then, right?
There are a thousand recognitions in this profession. Before the Alpe, I had plenty of others, and things that I dreamed of as a kid. The Grévin museum, the Telethon… OK, it’s late, but it’s nice and above all, perhaps because it took time, I feel like I deserved it…
In the meantime, your career has changed. Before you subscribed to comedy blockbusters like Aladdin. But in recent years, we’ve seen you in more humble projects – both Retirement home…
They are totally different films and I accept them as such. I didn’t write Aladdin. I had a lot of fun playing them but it’s less like me. I don’t regret anything, on the contrary. Finding myself riding the magic carpet in harem pants and scoring above Disney was crazy at the time. With Retirement home, for the first time I was given the opportunity to co-write a film. And when you’re in the script, when you’re faced with the blank page, when you’re taught the mechanics of writing… it changes everything. Above all, I realized at that moment that the comedy I wanted to do was the one that makes you laugh and think. Without excess, I reassure you, I am not giving in to auteur comedy, far from it. It remains popular!
For years, you dreamed of being an essential figure in comedy. I have the impression that that has changed too. Where do you see yourself in the industry?
My place in the industry, we don’t care a bit, right? I try to do projects that I like without asking myself too many questions. Trying not to do too much. The great evil of our time is the desire to make too much cinema. I see many of my colleagues arriving with the desire to make a series of films. I understand: we dreamed of this place so much that, when we are there, we want to enjoy it. I’m not judging, but I believe that cinema is also cool when it’s rare. And since it’s a dream, I now try to limit myself to one film, or even two maximum per year. And I am moving towards other universes. It’s going to take time and that’s a good thing. It’s like the Alpe: if it’s too easy, it’s no fun. Today, I have other writing desires, I’m working on thrillers, darker films. Not long ago, some critics said: “ He won’t last long in the cinema, he’s burnt out… “. I’m still here, we’re opening the Alpe, it’s a victory! It’s up to me to suggest new things and surprise. The profession like the public.
How did you cast your new “expendables”?
Frankly ? Very naturally, as we meet, depending on affinities. I met Chantal Ladesou on a TV show and I got along so well with her that I proposed to her directly. She is taking a special place in French comedy. We like these kinds of characters in France, these actors who are easy to imitate, who have something natural, strong, powerful, funny.
And Macias?
Ah that’s a crazy story. He’s my grandmother’s favorite singer. But when I say favorite singer, it’s on a level that’s hard to believe. A while ago, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she told me that her dream was to go to Enrico’s concert. I know his grandson, so we talked and I asked him if it was possible to do better than the concert. Let him come home for his birthday, for example. And that’s what he did: a private concert for my grandmother. Great, very professional, very cool. When he left there, he told me he loved it Retirement home and that he would like to play in the sequel. As the discussion progresses I understand that he hasn’t even seen the film and that he is completely mythologizing to try to get a role in the sequel! And you know what: it touched me. This is the Enrico we imagine…
But the lethal weapon of the film is Jean Reno.
At the base, there is the real character of Lorenzo. We met him in a retirement home in Arles. I meet this pretty crazy guy who, on the first day, tells us a crazy story. He was a chef at the Elysée for 21 years. He saw everyone pass by, from Pompidou to Mitterrand, he knew their favorite dishes, their secrets. The guy is fascinating and I tell myself that we have a great character for the future. The next day I go back, I see him and when I talk to him about the ministers, he says to me: “ But what are you talking to me about, sir? I have never been a cook, I was an airline pilot at Air France for 30 years “. I’m hallucinating, I wonder if it’s me who’s gone totally crazy. But I come back to see him regularly and when I go several days in a row, the guy tells me a different story each time. I find it fascinating. One day he was a secret agent, the next day, he was the first to swim across the Atlantic… until a nurse explained to me that this guy was an HR director for 30 years, and that when he lost his wife, he started inventing things for himself life. It’s his way of grieving. I find it upsetting. And that’s how we wrote the character of Lorenzo, saying to ourselves that he would be a great patriarch for this second film.
But what does this have to do with Reno?
Very quickly, he is the one I have in mind. I meet Jean for the first time in Paris but nothing happens… He likes what I do, but it doesn’t go any further. My agent tells me that I need more, that I seduce him. And seduction in a café in Paris in two hours doesn’t exist. So I go to his house in New York. I meet his children, his wife. And I read him the script with my intentions, with the message. And I see it lights up a little. At the end he said to me “ OK “. I come back from New York happy, I immediately go to a show and as I go on stage, my cell phone rings. Jean Reno : ” I think you’re a well-rounded boy and you’re full of ambition. I’m sure we’ll meet again but at this time, I’m not going. » The cold shower. Back to zero. I admit that we considered other people – Alain Delon in particular. But very quickly we blocked. We needed someone credible in the role of this guy who invents his own life… And we had no one. And then one day, my agent – who is also his – sends him Retirement home. He looked at it, and called me right after. He had exceptional words. “ There are things that I like, others that I like less. But whatever. What matters is that you never make fun of people. There is respect for elders. Come on, you know what: I’ll give you a chance “. It was wow. Not only did he understand the spirit of the film, but I also had Jean Reno in Retirement Home 2. With that, nothing could happen to me (Laughter).
Retirement home 2, February 14 at the cinema.
Retirement home 2 opens the L’Alpe d’Huez festival with fanfare
