Checked shirt, boots and jeans, Hélène de Fougerolles portrays a Sat larger than life in new season 7 which starts this Monday on TF1. The actress thus takes over from Mathilde Seigner (season 1) and Natacha Lindinger (seasons 2 to 6) in this adaptation of the Danish series Rita. At the opening of the six new episodes, this literature teacher, as insolent and rock-and-roll as ever, is back at the Valadier school. And she hasn’t lost any of her outspokenness! Alongside the main actress, we find Fred Testot, Chantal Ladesou, Charlotte Gaccio, Thierry Neuvic, Fanny Gilles, and a newcomer, Amaury de Crayencour. After playing a recurring role in Balthazar from 2018 to 2020, Hélène de Fougerolles is delighted to play a character again in the long term, even if portraying Sam was not so obvious in the first days.
What do you like about Sam?
He’s a free character, who has so much to play. A little lame sometimes but so endearing. I don’t know how long I was gone but what luck to be able to play a role like that!
Is there some Sam in you?
There probably is but I thought it would be much easier to find. When filming started, I was really struggling. I’m much more gentle, I apologize a lot, I say “sorry”, “thank you”, all day long, which is not at all the type of house for Sam. Maybe what The one thing we have in common is riding bikes… I thought there was more of Sam in me. At the same time, she will end up looking like me (laughing). I hope I managed to put a little of myself into this character, to put a few flaws. She used to have them but they were less obvious. Today my sensitivity has spilled over a little onto the character.
How do you work on a character that already exists?
The costume helped a lot. There is a very masculine side ultimately with his somewhat cowboy boots, his pants and his checked shirt. Apparently, I got the hang of it and how to walk pretty quickly. For the rest, I was lucky to get sick in the first week. I caught a cold and my voice became much deeper. Oddly enough, it helped me a lot. Because, to be very honest, it was very difficult at the beginning.
For what ?
It was so far from me! Then, you have to believe that I found the way to speak, to be, to play. Afterwards, it’s fun. With Captain Bach in Balthazar, this is my second time doing a recurring role. It was extraordinary because for four months a year, I lived in someone else’s shoes. I really live my roles like that. There, I have someone else who lives with me, next to me, another person who is a little bit of me but not completely. It’s quite funny.
What guides you in choosing your characters?
Pleasure, and this is the case in life in general. I really have this side, a bit like kids, where I have to have fun. Otherwise, it’s not fun and I don’t want to go there anymore. This concerns the character but also the team. On a set, if I start having bad times, it’s no longer work, it’s suffering and I don’t even want to go there anymore.
Are you satisfied with the variety of characters offered to you?
Honestly, on television, I have a blast. I played an investigating judge suffering from partial amnesia in the TF1 thriller, The Missing of the Black Forest. Right after they give me Sam, who is much sexier. I adore ! I have lots of things to show, to play. I’m very lucky as an actress.