Raphaël Quenard will play Johnny Hallyday: “I was amazed by his performance, his looks…”
“I told myself that if any actor could play Johnny in the cinema, it was him,” explains Laeticia Hallyday.
The cinematographic landscape is not lacking in biopics, but for the French, one was perhaps missing on the one who was the idol of young rebels in the 60s and 70s. While the project emerging in 2020 under the direction of Olivier Marchal (36 Quai des Orfèvres, Bronx), ended up being aborted so as not to get bogged down in family affairs, then taken over by Jalil Lespert (Yves Saint Laurent), ex-partner of Laeticia Hallyday ending in That I love you where the “Taulier” is performed by the Belgian, Matthias Schoenaerts, another version of the life of Johnny Hallyday will soon see the light of day in a “an official biopic”. And to embody the French icon still adored by an army of loyal fans, a name has already been announced: Raphaël Quenard.
When Johnny Hallyday was on the cover of Première
While the exhibition on the artist closed a few days ago in Paris, his widow, Laeticia Hallyday took the opportunity to reveal to Paris Match that among all the means put in place to perpetuate the legacy of the life and work of the star who died in 2017, a move to the cinema is planned: “A film worthy of the rocker and the man I loved madly, sometimes painfully, for twenty-three years.”
But who to play our national Johnny? It is by seeing Yannick by Quentin Dupieux during a flight from Los Angeles to Paris, Laeticia Hallyday received the illumination: Raphaël Quenard, winner of the César for best male revelation, will be Johnny Hallyday. He’s going to light the fire.
“I was bowled over by his acting, his looks, his way of occupying space, of speaking, his spontaneity, his almost animal charisma… I said to myself that if an actor could embody Johnny in the cinema, it was him.”
The choice becomes obvious, as much for her as for the director Cedric Jimenez (Bac Nord, November) at the helm of this project which he imagines to be very rock n’ roll:
“Telling rock through Johnny is an extraordinary, exceptional project, that of a lifetime. It is a dream and an enormous responsibility to bring to the screen a character who ignited the crowds and counted in the lives of four generations to the point of changing it for some, to fully thank him, we will have to allow ourselves, like him, to free ourselves from conventions.
Tom Hanks was a big fan of Johnny Hallyday
He, the son of nobody, has been on a roll lately. The actor is perhaps the only one who has not rubbed shoulders with Johnny, but for him, his music has rocked his life. Very involved in the project, he would even share, according to Laeticia Hallyday, similarities with the artist. Quenard as Hallyday? Do we believe it or not? The makeup tests are, according to what is said, shared by Paris Matchvery convincing.
Behind this choice, the desire to play the star is there. For this, a long journey awaits the actor: between vocal coach and journey to the heart of the places that marked the life of the legend. For now, this biopic has no title or plot. Will it follow a specific period or will it extend until its end? Will we see his musical career just as much as that on the big screen? First appearing in Devilish in his youth, he also played a role in The specialist in 1969, and toured under the direction of Claude Lelouch in 1971 and Jean-Luc Godard in Detective.
The release of this biopic is scheduled for December 8, 2027. In the meantime, the curious can still watch the documentary, Johnny by Johnny, released in 2022 on Netflix and which immerses the viewer into the singer’s intimacy.
Johnny by Johnny: the intimate trailer for the Netflix documentary series
