Why was Suddenly Alone ultimately not made with Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby?
Thomas Bidegain had to rethink his film from top to bottom. For what ? How ? They tell us all this in the new issue of Première.
“As a couple for 5 years, Ben and Laura decided to travel around the world by boat. Before reaching South America, they made a detour to a wild island, near the Antarctic coast. While exploring, a storm falls on them and their boat disappears. Far away from the world, suddenly alone in the face of danger and the approaching winter, they will have to fight for their survival and that of their couple.”
Wednesday will be released Suddenly aloneA “survival” worn by Gilles Lellouche And Melanie Thierry. Before hiring them on this film, his second production after The Cowboys, Thomas BidegainCaesarized screenwriter ofa prophet And Of rust and bonehad originally signed on to direct Jake Gyllenhaal And Vanessa Kirby. In June 2021, we learned that Suddenlythe adaptation of Isabelle Autissier’s best-seller, would be thought of as a major international production.
Within the number 546 of First, the director tells us why he had to change his plans at the last minute. Extract.
Thomas Bidegain and Mélanie Thierry present Suddenly Seuls at the Sarlat festival (November 2023).
Meeting in unknown land
The Cowboys dates from 2015. It is the first film by Thomas Bidegain, previously screenwriter for Jacques Audiard. When he starts to imagine his next project, he wants to go in a completely new direction. “ The Cowboys was a film with a lot of settings and characters. I started looking for a story that would take place in a unique location and allow me to explore intimacy. » We then advise him to read Suddenly alone by Isabelle Autissier, the story of a couple who set off for a world tour by boat
who finds himself trapped on a desert island. Exactly what he’s looking for.
From the start of the adaptation work with Valentine Monteil, it was an English film that he fantasized about. “There was something universal about this story. An Adam and Eve side. I had in mind The Impossible. But also African Queen Or The man who wanted to be king. If my first film had been inspired by John Ford The Prisoner of the Desert, there, it was my love of John Huston who was going to speak. »
From dream to nightmare
Very quickly, the scenario pleases. Jake Gyllenhaal gives his agreement, Vanessa Kirby, just awarded in Venice for Pieces of a Woman, also. The actors find themselves in Iceland eight weeks before the first clap… and the dream turns into a nightmare. “Everything is starting to go wrong. We don’t agree on anything. » Then everything stops. Thomas Bidegain then understands that Gyllenhaal wants to buy the rights to the film to produce it. “I immediately told my producer Alain Attal that it’s OK. » Except that… Attal refuses, to the great surprise of the director who then begins rewriting the script.
“We rewrote everything in French. It was exciting because survival is an intrinsically American genre. We reduced the adventure aspect a little and increased the part about the couple. Basically, I got closer to my initial desire. » All that remains is to find your new cast. Gilles Lellouche is the first to board. “He’s quite a fascinating actor. Intelligent and very physical. It’s beautiful to see the pleasure he has in playing. » To play the heroine, the filmmaker wants a unique duo. “We had to find an actress who accepted the physical challenge linked to this filming in a hostile environment. I have known Mélanie for a long time. And beyond her talent, I know how much she loves challenges. She had never played with Gilles, whose enthusiasm was immediate when I mentioned his name. » Suddenly alone is back on track…
Gilles Lellouche is on the cover of the new issue of First. Our complete file on Suddenly Alone is available on newsstands. Good reading !
From A Prophet to Cowboys: Thomas Bidegain comments on his filmography
