Paris (AFP)

"I like mixing genres, going from laughter to tears": Thierry Lhermitte wields counter-employment as a person, offering parentheses at odds with his image of charmer with comic tongue-in-cheek as currently on stage in the role of "Nazi hunter" Simon Wiesenthal.

"It is a chance to have the opportunity to amuse or move", confides to the AFP the actor who until March 29, before a tour in French-speaking countries, brilliantly rediscovers the dramatic register.

On the poster of the Antoine Theater, Thierry Lhermitte wears for the first time on stage "Fleurs de soleil", the book in which Simon Wiestenhal tells how he was confronted in June 1942 with a dying Nazi seeking forgiveness.

"He wanted to die in peace with the forgiveness of a Jew ... I thought I should refuse him. Was I right or was I wrong?" Wondered in this work published in 1969, that which has helped bring over 1,100 war criminals to justice.

Alone on stage for the first time, with only a screen on which archival images are projected, Thierry Lhermitte, 67, tells in the first person the unfathomable questions of the author: "can we forgive the unforgivable?".

"I was overwhelmed by the book by Simon Wiesenthal discovered by chance during a suggestion on my reader, a few years ago," said the actor.

"I then had it read to friends including producer Jean-Marc Dumontet. A year later, he told me that he had it adapted for the theater, and immediately offered it to me. wondered for a long time if I was legitimate ... I understood that I could be a smuggler of history, "added the actor.

- "understand, learn and share" -

"With a comedy that makes you laugh out loud, people show their gratitude to you. There, it is something else, and it is particularly moving. I had never felt that ...", confides Thierry Lhermitte again. "In the age of Twitter, which leaves room only for slogans, Wiesenthal's text is in the public interest."

And would he have forgiven him? "I believe that I would not have forgiven, regretting the rest of my life. But, on reflection, I think that forgiveness is only possible after justice and the repentance of the culprit".

In 2012, Thierry Lhermitte and Patrick Timsit had shared the boards with "Unknown at this address", another drama on Nazism by Kressmann Taylor. Last year, the actor was also noticed in the role of a grandfather suffering from Alzheimer's disease, in "La Finale", feature film by Robin Sykes.

Godfather and spokesperson for the Foundation for Medical Research, Thierry Lhermitte has also been a columnist for France Inter for two years on subjects related to health, in the program "Grand bien vous fait!".

"Scientific advances fascinate me. I like to understand, learn and share", explains the actor who will soon be showing three films including "Men on the verge of a nervous breakdown" by Audrey Dana and "Do you do Saint Tropez? " by Nicolas Benamou.

"I always like to shoot unbridled comedies", assures the unforgettable hypocritical volunteer of "Santa Claus is a junk" who is currently writing the satirical adaptation for the cinema of the series of Inspector Derrick.

Will a fourth part of the adventures of the Bronzed be born? "Certainly not! This is neither topical, nor planned! But with my acolytes, we would be delighted to find ourselves one day on a completely different story. The door is open!".

© 2020 AFP