“I have never worked so hard on a record. I come back to it, I refine things, I want it to be very consistent with what I want to defend today,” says Emmanuel Moire to 20 minutes. Five years later Odysseythe 44-year-old artist makes his return to music this Friday with Be a man, a song that announces his new album scheduled for the end of the year. “I consider myself lucky to be able to make a record again and to have the opportunity to speak again in song,” adds the one who plans to return to the stage at the end of 2025… May the faithful of the TF1 daily series Tomorrow belongs to us (DNA) are preparing for it: Emmanuel Moire should be a little rarer in the coming months in the intrigues…
Did you itch to return to music?
It takes a little time between each record to experience things and to want to tell other stories, which touch me and which I haven’t already covered. In recent years I’ve been doing other things, but I’ve never stopped making music. At one point, I piled up ideas for melodies and lyrics and it started to make up the album that was going to happen. And then, I have to be honest, when I see my friends promoting their new titles, their tours, I admit feeling a great lack of all that.
Why did you choose “Be a Man” as your first single?
This was evident quite early on with my creative team. It was one of the first songs finalized and it sets the tone well for the positioning of the record. When I design an album, I tell the story about myself, what I experience, what I see, what touches me, what revolts me. I have always written about the quest for meaning, for oneself. The overall movement that emerges on this record is a bit opposite: it is self-acceptance with all its facets. Rather than looking for a better version of yourself, tell yourself that you have to make do with what you have and that it’s already not bad. There is a kind of letting go, of claiming singularity. With age, experience. There are things that calm down. Be a man enters into this dynamic: accepting my sensitivity, my vulnerability in my masculine identity. The title also sets the tone in the music. For people who know my work, we’re still at my place, but it’s changed a little…
This year marks your twenty-year career. How do you view these two decades?
I have a rather benevolent outlook. I feel proud too. Twenty years ago, before all this started, I felt the euphoria of what I’ve loved to do since I was little – telling stories and putting on shows. At one point there was a turning point where I moved to the other side with a reputation that was built over the course of meetings that were no longer intimate but public. I didn’t expect to experience all this. Looking back, I think I’ve had some great dates, in very different places that I never thought I’d go to. I am proud to have remained the child, the young adult that I was, I do not have the feeling of having changed direction and values.
Since 2021, you have played in “Tomorrow belongs to us” (“DNA”), the daily soap opera on TF1. What does this experience bring you?
She came to fill the actor’s part in my house who was suffering a little. I always felt like an actor and performer, even in song, but I didn’t feel legitimate in acting. I followed two years of acting training, just before Covid and the offer of Tomorrow belongs to us came my way. I didn’t necessarily want to go into a daily series but I don’t regret it at all. Obviously it’s not easy because the pace is very fast, it required me to constantly work on my ability to adapt. I had to find myself doing what I like to do with a very intense shooting pace. This further fleshed out the performer that I am: I questioned myself about what I wanted to say, about my approach, about the meaning that I wish to give to what I create. In the design of the disc, it changed a lot of things. I feel thicker.
Do you have anything in common with François Lehaut, whom you play in “DNA”?
I like playing a teacher because I respect the notion of transmission. It’s a real responsibility when you have this role with young people. We have to find the best way to teach them knowledge and make them think for themselves. I admire that. On the other hand, there are plenty of things that I had to play last year that are the opposite of who I am. My character was faced with situations where he was lost and couldn’t accept his feelings at all. Cowardice is not me at all, I can’t cheat with my emotions, I express them very easily.
With the release of the single, then the album, the faithful of “DNA” should therefore expect your character to disappear for a while…
I’m not filming during the month of April because I’m on promotion. We are trying to find solutions. I don’t want to make a choice, whether with DNA or other fictions. The idea is to keep playing. I really enjoy filming. I love this excitement. Now we will have to juggle schedules. Last year I was very well served in terms of storytelling, there, I think my character will slip away a little and come back later. It’s the lot of everyday life, one thing is one, one thing is the other. There, it’s good that I pass the torch a little (laughter).
Someone told me that you would like to be a guest judge on “Drag Race France”. It’s true ?
Guest judge, I don’t know, but I love it. I missed season 1, but I still saw Paloma’s victory. When the second season of “Drag Race France” arrived, I got into it from the start and I loved it! It’s not at all my world but I liked this intimate part, everything that these drag artists deliver on their journey. I find myself there. We have similar experiences: self-acceptance, the way others see us, what we do with all that, the courage, the tenacity it takes to embrace our personality and our artistic desires. I was amazed by many facets of all these drag artists, by their talents. This show moved me and I laughed a lot. It’s great that France Télévisions is doing this.