What was Edouard Philippe's role on Dans L'Ombre?

The former Prime Minister of France and declared candidate for 2027 co-wrote this series on a presidential campaign. And he invested a lot in the project.

Is this really “the series ofÉdouard Philippe“? As it begins this Wednesday evening on France 2, In the Shadow arrives on the public service with an unprecedented label to say the least: it was co-scripted by the former Prime Minister of France, currently Mayor of Le Havre and already a candidate in the 2027 presidential election! Obviously, his participation in the fiction carried by Melvil Poupaud And Swann Arlaudhas something exceptional. Especially since he didn't just watch it from afar.

“He participated in the writing, but he didn't really come on set. Screenwriters rarely come to the sets in general. He came once. He spoke with the actors” tells us the showrunner and director Pierre Schoellerwho developed this series, based on the novel that'Edouard Philippe had co-written in 2011 with his advisor Gilles Boyer (now a Member of the European Parliament). Both were keen to participate in the adaptation and writing of the series, even if they were not the main authors: “I have never had to endure 49.3“have fun Pierre Schoellerwhich assumes this collaboration. “There is an artistic line, a question of coherence and it is a cooperative work with people who are there as consultants. For decades, there have been cops who have come to collaborate on detective series scripts and we don't come to tickle them about that. They had the desire to get a foot in fiction and I carried the artistic line.”

Edward Philippe And Gilles Boyer are thus credited as screenwriters of In the Shadow and even more, they did not hesitate to meet the teams. So, Melvil Poupaudwho plays the right-wing presidential candidate at the center of the plot, tells us he met Edward Philippe And Gilles Boyer for script readings. “I felt they were very invested, very attentive, sometimes even repeating the actors' dialogues, when some of them sounded false. They really wanted to make the thing very credible.” And that's not all. Melvil Poupaud reveals to have gone to pass “half a day in Le Havre with Edward Philippe. He showed me around the city, his mayor's office… I found him very natural, very friendly. And then he told me: 'That's how you have to be on a daily basis when you're a politician.' So I was a little disappointed (laughs)!”

A meeting but no more, assures the 51-year-old actor who confesses to not having “really took inspiration from him, because I don't like to take too much inspiration, copy a model, to play a character. I found it more interesting, on the contrary, to detach myself from the figure ofEdward Philippeto create a new character.”

Karin Viard also had the opportunity to interact with the former Prime Minister. “I had very concrete questions, which both Gilles and Édouard answered perfectly.” she says. “They are very friendly people in life, very accessible. We created a common work, together.” And the actress then remembers the advice ofEdward Philippe :

“He told me: 'The real difficulty for you is going to be playing political meetings. Because women in meetings, as soon as they raise their voice, they are made to appear hysterical.' I really liked it (laughs). So I deliberately shouted very loudly to prove him wrong! I wanted to make Marie-France a very aggressive, sexually assertive woman in this world of men! and who is at the same time very credible as a politician. And Edouard Philippe told me something else. He told me that in politics, you are never dead until you are in the grave. , even though you have been pilloried, ridiculed in public, as long as you are not in the grave, you are not dead for politics! I loved this sentence…”

It remains to be seen to what extent In the Shadow can be assimilated to a communication tool, for the declared applicant for the highest functions of the State. The TV series as a platform to show yourself?

“I hear that these questions will arise at some point. But I believe that the work will speak for itself and that these questions will disappear quite quickly” answers us Pierre Schoeller. “Because they don’t fit the object.” And Gilles Boyer to claim a “simple right to fiction, on a personal basis. Anyone has the right to imagination, except us it seems! We wrote a novel, we were offered to contribute to the writing of a series, I don't I don’t see why we would be the only ones not to have the right to do it.”

Dans L'Ombre, mini-series in 6 episodes to watch on France from Wednesday October 30 and already available in full on France.tv.