Fanny Mallette had more than one good reason to attend the premiere of Gaz Bar Blues at the Duceppe Theater on Thursday night (see all our red carpet photos from the event here).
Not only was the actress in the cast of Louis Bélanger’s 2003 film, which directly inspired the production that just hit the big screen (starring Martin Drainville in the key role of François Brochu, aka “the Boss”, a gas station owner) . obsolete by his time, awkwardly trying to keep in touch with his sons, who have other dreams than taking over the family business), but his spouse Claude Despins (photo below) also embodies a main character in the directed re-reading by Edith Patenaude.
Claude Despins also gives one of the show’s best performances, in the shoes of a regular at the Brochu gas bar, always quick to annoy those around him.
Fanny Mallette and Claude Despins have been a couple for over 25 years and are very discreet about their private lives. In interviews, they rarely talk about their three children. But on Thursday, on the occasion of this important evening, Fanny Mallette was proudly accompanied by her offspring. Joseph, Gaspard and Louis, aged 20, 17 and 13, were photographed with their mother on the red carpet.
You can see a photo of the beautiful family at the end of the article. There are obvious similarities between parents and children! We know that Claude Despins is also the brother of Johane Despins, co-host of The Grocery Store on Radio-Canada.
Earlier this week, at the press preview of the series About Antoine (in which she portrays the mother of Antoine, a multi-handicapped teenager) on Club illico, Fanny Mallette confided that her sons aren’t exactly thinking about following the career paths their parents by becoming actors.
“Not right now. Maybe someday, we don’t know,” said the actress, writer and director, who is currently working on a first feature film based on her short film Aimé, which was released at the very beginning of the pandemic. It will be a dark comedy , which brings together three sisters who are evicting their late father’s apartment and shedding the burden of their bitterness. Fanny Mallette is writing and directing the film without acting in it. The project is currently in development. The creator was Fanny Mallette also proposed the short film The Last Tuesday in 2016.
