He had made himself known on the cult show Morning Live. Between 2000 and 2002, the French jackass engaged in crazy sequences on the antenna of M6, in the company of his comrades Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine. Quickly, he made his mark in the cinema, remaining at first in the same register with The Eleven Commandments (2004). Above all, he shows his talent for satire six years later with his first production: Fatal. Alongside his acting career, in comic and then more dramatic roles, Michaël Youn, who regrets certain sequences of Morning Livethen gives free rein to his desires for staging with Long live France (2013) and Divorce Club (2020), inspired by his personal life. This Friday, February 24, 2023, the turbulent actor returns in front of and behind the camera on Prime Video with the comedy BDE. The pitch? Friends since business school where they ran the Student Office, Bob (Michaël Youn), Max (Lucien Jean-Baptiste), Vinz (Vincent Desagnat) and Romane (Helena Noguerra) meet every year for a weekend. festive throwback.
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Télé-Loisirs: Were you part of the BDE of your school?
Michaël Youn: Yes, the idea for the film came from there. Every year I received an invitation to the open house to share my experience. I always declined, while wondering what would happen if I went there, with my image of a very extreme guy, in the middle of 300 students.
How autobiographical is the film?
There are a number of stupid things we did at the time (at the SKEMA Business School in Nice, editor’s note). Between 1994 and 1996, we had destroyed a student residence by flooding it with fire hoses that had been opened in the colors, in Les Arcs. We had also descended a track at night after eating hallucinogenic mushrooms on a pylon protective mattress, and three ended up in the hospital because we collided with a snow truck.
“Failures hurt, but they are more important than successes”
Apart from Vincent Desagnatwhom you have known for a long time, did you directly think of Helena Noguerra and Lucien Jean-Baptiste to play Romane and Max?
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I don’t want to write with actors in mind anymore, because every time I do, they say no and then I’m really annoyed. With Lucien, we had wanted to work together for a very long time, since Christ(off) (2018, editor’s note). Helena is a discovery, an encounter. I really wanted to have a female friend. Let it be a film of friends with men and women, because I have female friends. And in comedies of this type, there are always only guys. The female characters often only serve as foils, the ones we left at home. It’s not reality, so it needs more modern writing, with menacing roles that are women, like Virginie Hocq, who plays the mayor of Val Thorens. We also have strong women among young people, since the president of the BDE is Manon Azem. We must move towards these more balanced films.
When you write a screenplay, are you afraid that it won’t make people laugh?
It’s not the gags that bother me. Above all, I want the story to be interesting, to make people want to watch the film. It’s complicated because you never have the assurance that it will be exciting. Even if we think so, we are obviously fallible. And for example, BDE took me two years of work (between writing, filming, editing, post-production, and promotion). So it’s hard, when you screw up. Not because we are not successful, but because it represents a lot of sacrifices. Failures hurt, but they are more important than successes.
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Do you sometimes lower the cursor in humor?
There’s no censorship, no limits to creativity, whether it’s a guy impersonating Adolf Hitler or a college student with a huge dick. I am the first customer of my work. It’s the only thing I can rely on. I’m not saying that I have infinite confidence in what I do, but that’s my yardstick.
“We’re all someone’s nerd”
Do you think that what made people laugh before doesn’t amuse as much today?
Humor evolves. What worked in the 80s doesn’t amuse us anymore. This is not why we must throw the stone at Michel Leeb, for example, who was the fruit of his time. We will see how those who castigate him today will be perceived in 50 years. We’re all someone’s nerd. Even from the days of the 11 commandments, the world has changed. But it does not matter, the movement is positive.
As you approach 50, would you say you are wiser than before?
No, and besides, I still bother others, both producers and broadcasters. When I want to do something, it’s very difficult to dissuade me. I do the same bullshit as before, but I’m more professional.
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Do you show your films to your 11 year old daughter?
She does very well on her own! She saw Fatal with girlfriends. She also watched The 11 Commandments. And she wants to do this job so I’m not going to restrict her. The other day, at a dinner party, someone asked him: “Who is your favorite actor ?” She replied, “In 3, Johnny Deppin 2 jim carreyand in 1 daddy”. I was not excpecting that at all. She’s not very objective, I know. But if my daughter doesn’t tell me that, who will?
