At 56 years old, he readily presents himself as a “young” actor. Former director of an investment fund in Lyon, Jean-Michel Rallet has been crowding the stages of café-theaters for four years now. The man, who made millions, today makes puns with a single credo: to make the public laugh. A hell of a challenge for someone who had never been on stage, for someone who had never taken a single theater class.
An “(in)voluntary” retraining, the person concerned mischievously underlines. “What I loved most about my job was meeting people. Over the years, the profession has evolved a lot, it has become more rigid. It became procedural and I was starting to get unhappy. » Now comes the time for questions. But the shift occurred at the end of 2016. “I ended up being excluded from the company that I had co-founded and of which I was a co-shareholder. I was fired by a colleague I had hired,” he slips. The wound is deep, to the extent of betrayal. “I wanted to put words to it,” confides Jean-Michel Rallet.
A few months later, his path crossed that of Thierry Buenafuente, the manager of the café-theater The Navel of the World to whom he suggests looking at his texts. “I usually say no. But I was touched by his good nature and his unique story,” explains the person concerned who decided to take him under his wing to train him for two years. And stage your very first show (In)voluntary change of life in which it is obviously a question of reconversion. “It’s clear that if I had to make a living today, I wouldn’t make it. But I don’t do this for the money,” smiles the actor. The proof: all of the proceeds from its shows are systematically donated to associations. Discover our video at the top of the paper.