William Sheller in The Poet’s Bride: “I loved acting… but I’m not about to do it again!”

At 77, the singer makes his delightful debut as an actor, in the new film by Yolande Moreau, as a priest… an ABBA fan. He tells us the story of this first time.

Premiere: Before Poet’s bridehad you ever wanted to act, alongside your career as a musician and singer?

William Sheller: No way ! When I was a kid, I did theater. But then music grabbed me and anyway, between albums and concerts, I already had enough work! (laughs)

How then do you find yourself in The Poet’s Bride ?

Thanks to Facebook ! I have admired Yolande’s work in the cinema for a very long time, of course, but also in the theater in the troupe of Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff. I particularly loved That’s wonderful where his comedic potential lit up the show. I’ve been wanting to ask her as a friend on Facebook for a while but I didn’t dare. And then one day, I took the plunge. And she answered me straight away! Then, shortly after, I received an email from his producers asking me if I would agree to play a priest in his next directorial film. I said yes straight away!

Without even reading the script?

I had no idea what the story was. But the prospect of working with Yolande, of spending time with her was enough for me to accept. She herself came to bring her script home to me. I read it and I was not disappointed! (laughs) The madness of the whole thing, the zaniness of this priest… All of that immediately makes you want to join this universe. It also happens that I know the world of ecclesiastics well because I was raised by priests…

THE POET’S BRIDE: AN ENCHANTED AND ENCHANTING PARENTHESIS (REVIEW)

How did you work to compose this character?

My songs are always characters who tell a story. When I sing them, I have to get into a character each time. But the exercise was different here because without the music, it’s not the same thing. So I needed Yolande to first give me her idea of ​​the tone of the character so that I could slip into it. And in the end, everything went well! Because Yolande knew how to talk to me. When she corrected me, she always started from the character and explained to me why in this scene he had to react in this or that way, have this or that intonation. It was always clear and warm. Getting into the shoes of this guy happened quite naturally and I was surrounded by a team who were really nice and patient with the beginner that I was. Because since I didn’t take any tests, no one – starting with me – knew if I would be up to the task.

Were you nervous for your first scene? A stage fright different from that which you may experience during your concerts?

On stage, the ball of stage fright that invades me a few minutes before behind the scenes disappears as soon as I arrive on stage because suddenly I am no longer myself but another person or more precisely the different characters in my songs. It’s obviously different in the cinema. I was certainly used to the camera with the different clips that I was able to make. But there was still in my head about The Poet’s Bride this worry about what I was going to give. Especially since there is no audience to respond because, on a set, everyone has their own task. My first scene was my meeting on the banks of the Meuse with the character of Yolande. I got started. We did two takes. I listened a lot. Yolande breathes all the soul of her film onto the set. She has this ability to have made a non-actor like me into an actor, that’s saying something! And they seemed to like it. So, I really liked it too, especially surrounded by actors of the level of Grégory Gadebois… but I’m not about to do it again! Except for Yolande of course.

In this film you have a cult scene, the one where this priest sits on the organ in his church and plays… ABBA. How was this scene created?

Everything was written and this is the music she wanted! I’m not a big Abba fan but it was wonderfully offbeat especially on a totally out of tune organ that hadn’t been used for years – and that wasn’t easy, I assure you! Instead of Abba, I offered him I will survive. But I quickly understood that it was ABBA or nothing! (laughs) And she was right because the scene works wonderfully. Anyway, for Yolande, I would have done anything

How did you feel when you discovered the film? What does it feel like to see yourself on screen?

It’s horrible ! I don’t like watching my TV appearances any more. I know that Gregory Gadebois never sees his films finished and I understand why! It was on the second viewing that I got to see the film, I think.

You have composed several film scores,Erotissimo from Gérard Pirès to Arlette by Claude Zidi. Is this an exercise with which you plan to reconnect?

No because I’m not really cut out for that. I struggle to create music that can exist behind the images without taking up too much space and drowning it out. But I am currently working on creating music for a play by Aristophanes.

The Poet’s Bride. By and with Yolande Moreau. Also with Grégory Gadebois, Sergi Lopez, William Sheller… Duration: 1h43