A Nice Race Great reunion between Line Renaud and Dany

‘A Nice Race’: Great reunion between Line Renaud and Dany Boon

Dany Boon’s affection for legendary actress Line Renaud is palpable when listening to him talk about the grand dame of French showbiz, whom he has had the opportunity to act alongside on many occasions since the beginning of his career. “She’s like a second mother to me,” he admits in an interview with protocol.

Fifteen years after playing mother and son in the cult comedy Welcome to the Ch’tis, the two old accomplices from northern France found themselves naturally on the set of Une belle, Christian Carion’s (Merry Christmas) new film.

Line Renaud embodies the character of Madeleine, a 92-year-old lady who asks a disaffected taxi driver (Dany Boon) to drive her to the retirement home where she is now forced to live. Along the way, Madeleine will ask him to stop at places that have shaped his life, which will bring back his painful past.

Before Dany Boon offered to play the film’s taxi driver himself, he was asked to invest in the project as a producer. At the time, he turned down the offer, judging that the script needed to be revised. But when director Christian Carion took over the film and script, Boon changed his mind.

“When Christian called me, I said to him: Write your version of the scenario and send it to me,” Dany Boon confided in an interview granted to the Journal via video conference last September during the Toronto Festival.

“As I read his version, I said to myself I can’t miss this role, which is the answer to Line Renaud, who is one of the loves of my life. I called Christian back and told him I wanted to do the film. I was also moved to witness Line Renaud’s first major role in cinema. Because it’s the first time she’s starring in a movie. With the career she’s had, it’s still amazing!

A family atmosphere

The filming of the film therefore took on the semblance of a reunion for the three companions. Christian Carion staged Dany Boon in his classic Merry Christmas almost 20 years ago. And Boon has acted in cinemas alongside Line Renaud on several occasions.

“It is the ‘ch’ti connection’! laughs Christian Carion and points out that they all come from northern France.

Line Renaud and Dany Boon in the film Une belle, of course.

With kind approval

Line Renaud and Dany Boon in the film Une belle, of course.

“We had a very happy shoot. We were all very happy to see you again. It was like family,” added the filmmaker.

“It was very moving and emotionally very powerful,” adds Dany Boon. Line lived the character thoroughly because she also spoke about her.

Christian Carion believes that the complicity that already existed between Dany Boon and Line Renaud greatly nourished his film.

“When Dany told me he wanted to play the role, I told myself that they would both bring something far beyond what was written in the script,” says the filmmaker. They indeed brought to the film a complicity and a pleasure of being together which is evident and very communicative. The whole set was happy that they were having fun. Because even in drama you can have fun. It’s obvious that their love and story runs through the entire film.”

Although best known for his roles in comedy, Dany Boon assures that he doesn’t differentiate between dramatic and comic acting. He says he’s always willing to invest in a dramatic role if the story moves him.

“I like it from the moment it makes sense,” he says. In this case, I was challenged by this character [de chauffeur de taxi] for its development and its return to humanity. I never said to myself that I would be in a drama or a comedy. I said to myself that I am shooting in a beautiful and very touching story.

  • A nice race since yesterday at the cinema.