He is the first to speak publicly. Farid-Eric Bernard, an openly gay actor, chose 20 minutes to support Muriel Robin’s heartfelt cry on the issue of homophobia in French cinema. Mid-September, on the set of “What a time!” » on France 2, the comedian protested: “I know the French homosexual actors, they keep quiet”, because there are no outspoken gay or lesbian performers “who are having a great career”. Is the example of Farid-Eric Bernard one of those cases which should lead the French cinema community to a critical introspection of certain discriminatory practices?
“From the moment there was Savage [réalisé par Camille Vidal-Naquet], there was a kind of gap,” explains the man who shares the headliner with Félix Maritaud. The film, praised by the press and selected at the Critic’s Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, tells the story of young Léo (Félix Maritaud) who sells his body in the Bois de Boulogne in search of a little sweetness. He falls in love with Ahd (Farid-Eric Bernard), a very virile repressed gay who also prostitutes himself. The performance of Farid-Eric Bernard, who plays one of the main roles in this first film with a “final picture (…) poetic and troubled”, according to Telerama, is noticed. Described as “sensational” by Les Inrocks, he strips himself in several explicit sexual scenes which expose him, during the promotion of the film, to questions about his intimate life. The actor chooses not to hide his homosexuality from the press.
“I spend my time trying to make you look like a little straight guy”
After having climbed the steps of a very popular selection of the Cannes Film Festival, one could have imagined that a few doors would open, as was the case for a certain number of actresses and comedians on the bill. works presented in a selection of the Croisette. We think of the young Garance Marillier (headliner of Severeby Julia Ducournau), for example, or even to Pierre Deladonchamps revealed in 2013 in The unknown lake, the sultry LGBT film directed by Alain Guiraudie and presented in Un Certain Regard. In the opinion of the cinema professionals we contacted, interesting proposals should have arisen. Especially since, let us remember, Farid-Eric Bernard is a racialized actor. A characteristic increasingly sought after by an audiovisual world, pushed by the large streaming platforms, which has become self-critical about its racist biases. On paper, the sudden end to Farid-Eric Bernard’s career is difficult to comprehend. Especially in a cinema environment which completely denies any homophobia.
To support his feelings, Farid-Eric Bernard recounts an incident that took place during the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. “I am going to a dinner with my husband Fabien*, there are producers. We are hand in hand. My agent, himself a homosexual, crosses the room and says to me “Eric, you stop your circus”. With Fabien, we look at each other, we let go of each other’s hands. I don’t want to make a scene.” The same evening, the agent returns to this episode. “He said to me: ‘I spend my time trying to make you seem like a little straight guy, now you’re undermining my work and if that’s the direction you want to take, I’m not following you.’ No doubt it was premonitory, no doubt he was right,” laments Farid-Eric Bernard.
Her husband remembers. “When we were in Cannes, I was accredited by the production company, I couldn’t be there as Farid-Eric’s spouse. And the one time we went out as a +1, the agent threw a tantrum. “It’s not happening, it’s breaking everything I’m doing to find you work.” Suddenly, you understand that your +1, if it’s the same sex as you, that’s a problem. You are not into activism, you are doing something that any straight couple could do”, analyzes Fabien who readily uses the term “cognitive bias” to explain how Farid-Eric Bernard went from being a completely public to an actor labeled LGBT.
On the side of his agent at the time, the point of view is more nuanced. “I didn’t advise him not to show himself,” he defends himself. We were on the way out of Savage, quite controversial with somewhat violent sex scenes. I told him that as the film was controversial on the Croisette, we had to avoid adding controversy to controversy. It’s career management. If you ever lock yourself into this image of a gay couple climbing the stairs with your boyfriend hand in hand, it will make the front page of all the newspapers and we, behind us, will struggle like crazy to allow you to do something else. He followed my advice and behind it he had access to other projects on straight characters,” he points out. He actually toured in 2019 in The Men of Namsama Korean film presented at the Oscars in 2021, which allowed it to have four days of filming throughout the year.
The amount of fees plummets
However, the stopping point is quite clear. Farid-Eric Bernard experienced a prosperous period in 2016 and 2017 when he could count on 20 to 50 days of filming for TV films and general public series on television, and occasionally roles for cinema such as thrillers. 11.6 by Philippe Godeau, in 2013. More than enough to do your intermittent hours without worrying. From 2018, after Savage, it hardly turns anymore. Three years of absolute desert or almost. Yes, there was Covid-19. But between 2018, the year of the release of Savage, and March 2020 when France was confined, two years have passed. The amount of his fees also plummeted. It was divided in half. “You are less bankable, so you accept. I started accepting advertising because I had to eat,” he confides.
Is he a bad actor? Is it difficult on set? A diva ? Raphaël Lenglet, actor and director, who made it film in Candice Renoir on France 2, describes on the contrary a “high level of professionalism” and “undeniable raw talent”. Meriem Amari, casting director thanks to whom he landed a small role in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s next film, is full of praise. She regularly calls on Farid-Eric Bernard to respond to actors she wants to see again in auditions, named calls back. “I do these calls back in the presence of the directors and as I do not want to penalize the actors who pass the tests, I ask other actors [qui n’ont pas le profil pour le rôle en question] to respond to them. I wouldn’t call on Farid-Eric Bernard if he wasn’t good, I would shoot myself in the foot,” she insists. Each time, she confides, the directors present at the tests are amazed by her performance. “They tell me: ‘he’s great’,” she smiles.
Meriem Amari suggests a lack of imagination in the cinema sector, quick to lock actors into boxes, and a self-censorship of agents to explain this crossing of the desert. “From the moment we saw an actor in a role as important, as precise as his [dans Sauvage], that is to say a young gay man, we say perhaps that he can only play gays. I think that there are also agents who do not dare to offer this profile in other registers,” envisages the one who ensures to present it for all types of roles, even very small ones. His agent at the time, whom Farid-Eric Bernard left two years after the release of Savage, discusses strategy errors and the fact that he was only a supporting role in the film. ” After Savage, he went to an agent who did not master the work after an official selection,” he emphasizes. For Farid-Eric Bernard, the argument does not hold up. He only found a new agent in the summer of 2020. Two years, according to him, was more than enough to capitalize on a Cannes selection.
Systemic homophobia?
When we mention the argument of homophobia to professionals who support or have supported his career, the idea is however brushed aside. Meriem Amari, like casting director Sylvie Brocheré, assures that she is not interested in the sexual orientation of actors when proposing them for roles. It’s an intimate thing, according to her. “There is no aggressive homophobia in cinema, I am well placed to know that,” says his former agent. But perhaps unconsciously, there are doors that close for certain roles because producers, broadcasters or distributors say to themselves: “Oh no, that’s not possible.” Isn’t this a bit comparable to very recent times when we never saw racialized actors or actresses playing the roles of President of the Republic, surgeons, or magistrates?
Lack of imagination, cognitive biases, unconscious homophobia: reality seems to go in the direction of Muriel Robin’s criticisms without quite joining them. Can Farid-Eric Bernard access a leading role in a mainstream series or a single for a major television channel after showing his penis in a gay film? “I’m afraid this poses a problem,” laments Aisha Ponelle, his current agent. In the facts ? After coming out while promoting Savage in 2018, an LGBT film of breathtaking poetry and sensitivity, Farid-Eric Bernard has (almost) no longer worked.
* The first name has been changed.