Emilie Tronche: “I often imagine Samuel on my shoulder when I go through moments of doubt”

Published on June 14, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.

Emilie is sulking. GUILLAUME BLOT FOR "LE NOUVEL OBS"

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Portrait After the success of the animated series "Samuel" on Arte, Emilie Tronche offers a comic book version. And she's not done with her young hero at all.

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With his gravelly, jaded voice, 10-year-old Samuel immediately announced in the miniseries of the same name: "I have a problem. But, well, I don't really want to talk about it. Well, actually, my problem is that Basile told big Julie that I loved her..." A less tormented atmosphere with the sprightly Emilie Tronche, who greets everyone with a smile in a Montparnasse café. The boy and the young woman represent two sides of the same person. The 29-year-old director imagined the taciturn Samuel, drew him, animated him, lent him her voice and infused him with the confused emotions of preadolescence. Often, with movement as a refuge. "What he can't express in words, he does through dance," describes the woman who took up this same activity after giving up on joining a GRS school sports section. "Samuel" was a triumph, with more than 45 million views online since its first broadcast in March 2024, and fans captivated by this playground drama. Will the great Julie make a move? Will Bérénice soften? Will Dimitri stop showing off ?

After the "intense", "incredible" craze, remember Samuel, again. "I often imagine him on my shoulder when things are not going well, when I'm going through moments of doubt," confides Emilie Tronche. I say to myself: "Don't forget that he's yours and that he's there." "Samuel's Journal", a comic book adaptation of the series, revives the memory of the animated version without taking away its soul. Bottle-fed on "Lou!" or "Navels", Emilie Tronche knew how to restore...

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