"A good actor, to last, must remain discreet in his public life": Melvil Poupaud returns to the cinema in a comedy that suits him well

Comedy seems to have attracted you in recent years, whereas this was not the case at the beginning of your career. What prompted this shift?

As I get older, I'm less afraid of judgment, I let myself go more. Being a father has also reconnected me with a childlike side. In Dominique Baumard's film, my character has a big child side, like Pierre Richard, Charlot or Louis de Funès. This naive view of the world makes for some delicious comedic characters. I also discovered this comic aspect with the series OVNI(s) , where I played a Cartesian scientist overwhelmed by absurd events involving extraterrestrials. During this shoot, I realized that I had an ability to make people laugh, to move like a clown, with spontaneous physical reactions. Comedy is very much about the body: when you're comfortable, you let it express itself, without intellectualizing.

Your gestures and facial expressions, sometimes deliberately cartoonish, are striking. Is this something you consciously work on?

Yes, in The Rules of Art , from the very first scenes, my partners and I felt that we could naturally shift into comedy. Dominique saw this and encouraged us in this direction. We laughed a lot on set; our characters had very rich comic nuances. When you're in that frame of mind, you can improvise while staying in character, exploring unexpected directions.

Finding the right balance, avoiding overdoing it… How can we achieve this?

First of all, you need a good script. Then, it's a question of tempo, of accuracy, like in music. Just because you laugh on set doesn't mean it will make you laugh on screen. The trap is to overact, to grimace. Some comic actors bet everything on that, but I wanted it to remain natural. In this film, the editing was crucial. Dominique knew how to balance the credibility of the story, which is quite crazy, and the burlesque aspect. He avoided making the characters too picturesque or pathetic, which could have detracted from the comedy. It's really a question of dosage.

Compared to a film like "Love and the Forest," the acting seems almost the opposite. The direction of Valérie Donzelli and Dominique Baumard even seems polar opposites. Did you get this impression on set?

The further I go into a role, the more satisfied I am. I don't like half measures. Over time, I appreciate strong flavors, strong expressions. I've played a series of very different roles. L'Amour et les Forêts did well, so I'm associated with dark roles, but I've also done lighter things. I hope Les Règles de l'art will work; I want to explore the comic vein. Feeling the audience laugh in the theater, like during previews, is very gratifying. Seeing that my choice of facial expressions or postures works creates an osmosis with the spectators. It's almost addictive, like making friends laugh all evening.

You've worked with great filmmakers like Raoul Ruiz and François Ozon. Was it a challenge to get accepted into a cinema considered more popular?

In the 1980s and 90s, auteur cinema, cinephile cinema, was fascinating, with figures like Rohmer or Ruiz, who didn't make many entries but were pillars. This landscape has changed... and me too! At 52, I feel less intimidated by these tutelary figures, many are no longer there. Now, on sets, I'm often the oldest, which changes the dynamic. I'm also freer in my body, more comfortable taking risks, trying things, without necessarily being more sure of myself... Let's say I'm more daring.

Was it difficult not to be locked into an image of a dark seducer, a dandy?

It would have been tempting to capitalize on the graceful image of my roles with Rohmer at 22-23, but it was a trap. Once trapped by an image, it's hard to escape. A good actor, to last, must remain versatile and discreet in his public life. Not having social media allows me, for example, to preserve this freedom.