"The Flame" immolates the concept of alpha male on the altar of humor

Jonathan Cohen plays Marc in the reality show parody "La Flamme".

-

• Jonathan Cohen signs the new original creation of Canal +,

  La Flamme

  , presented this Friday at the opening of the Canneséries Festival and broadcast this Monday on the encrypted channel at 9 p.m.

• In this 9x28 minute series, he has fun parodying the dating shows of the

  Bachelor

  type

  , the single gentleman.

• He told

  20 Minutes

  behind the scenes of this hilarious series with an exceptional cast which notably brings together Geraldine Nakache, Leila Bekhti, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Florence Foresti on the screen.

The new original creation of Canal +,

by and with Jonathan Cohen, presented on Friday at the opening of the Canneséries festival and broadcast on Canal + on Monday at 9 p.m., has fun parodying the dating shows of the

type

.

Behind the scenes of this hilarious series with an exceptional cast.

The idea for

was born in 2012-2013 when Jonathan Cohen discovered the American parody series

, produced by Ben Stiller, which follows a single firefighter in search of true love.

An "American format"

“When I saw the American format, with these American comedy actors that I adored, I found this extremely brilliant playground.

I thought it would be great to have that at home.

Since I was 20, I've been watching this kind of comedy.

My dream is to make one with what constitutes us as French ”, explains

Jonathan Cohen

to

.

Without really believing it, the actor contacted Red Hour Films, Ben Stiller's production company.

"I thought it was impossible, but we sent them an email and they replied," he is still surprised.

A "false reality show with its codes"

With his lifelong accomplice, Jérémie Galand (

) and Florent Bernard (FloBer, ex-member of Golden Mustache), Jonathan Cohen imagined "a false reality show with its codes" with wacky characters and crazy situations.

"We will always be below the real 'bachelors' as to the follies that go on inside," he believes.

No criticism of the acid reality TV like the satirical American series

 : “What we wanted to show were the comedy situations inside.

We don't judge reality TV.

Who are we to judge?

I've seen plenty of reality TV shows and I like that, ”explains the actor, who says“ being addicted ”to

A Bachelor "deeply off the mark"

"This is not a criticism of reality TV shows, but there is ultimately a criticism of a certain look of a man," said the actor.

In

, Jonathan Cohen plays Marc, an airline pilot, who will search among 13 women, locked in a sublime villa for nine weeks, the one who will ignite his heart.

An archetypal alpha male, he is rich, handsome, single, self-centered, immature and stupid.

Jonathan Cohen did not write the role for him: “I had a hard time imagining myself as a good-looking kid, as an ideal man with a dream figure.

Because, casually, he's so stupid that if there isn't the physical counterpart, it can't work ”.

“I did a lot of sport, I kept myself really well, I had coaches to try, I said“ try ”to be plastically more beautiful,” he confides.

#LaFlamme presents its new single: Marc.

Find it from October 12 on CANAL +!

pic.twitter.com/ZQYQ9mA5Id

- CANAL + (@canalplus) October 6, 2020

“My character is absolutely not in keeping with today's times.

He has a backward look at things, a little backward, a little stupid.

He is cutting corners, thinking he has the science behind, or has a truth behind him, when he is deeply missing the point.

It tells an interesting story about today's society, about this shift in the advancing world and a gaze that remains fixed on its achievements, ”analyzes Jonathan Cohen.

The Bachelor “still tells this endless story of fairy tales, the ideal man and the ideal woman”.

"Actresses and comedians whom I esteem more than anything"

Géraldine Nakache, Leila Bekhti, Doria Tillier, Camille Chamoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Florence Foresti, Ana Girardot, Céline Sallette, Léonie Simaga, Laure Calamy, Marie-Pierre Casey, Youssef Hajdi and singer Angèle embody the 13 women who will try to seduce Marc.

"As soon as I had the rights, I went to see the actresses, even before I started writing," he says.

To find their character, the actresses took part in the interview game like a reality TV casting.

“I wanted creative spaces where the characters come in a very natural way without going looking for them,” comments director Jonathan Cohen, who was “afraid of not being up to the task of directing actresses and comedians that I value more than anything.

"

A "space of freedom and creation"

Improvisation was also in order on the set.

“Sometimes there are moments of grace, of magic, and sometimes we screw up,” recognizes Jonathan Cohen.

“Between the way the roles were written and this space of freedom and creation, there was something to have fun on all the roles”, enthuses Camille Chamoux.

“We were all happy to be there.

There has never been a problem with ego once.

For half of my scenes, I am not in it because I laugh heartily ”, rejoices Adèle Exarchopoulos.

“Jonathan seeks to give fun without worrying about doing badly or missing a joke.

Suddenly, when you are facing someone who wants to have fun, you lower your arms and laugh with him.

We are drawn by this generosity, ”also congratulates Dora Tillier.

Vincent Dedienne, Pierre Niney, Vincent Macaigne, Ramzy Bedia, Stephan Wojtowicz, Olivier Baroux, Laetitia Casta, François Civil, Seth Gueko, Gilles Lellouche, Noémie Lvovsky, Gilbert Melki, Helena Noguerra, Orelsan and Marina Rollman complete this titanic cast.

A real "headache" on the production side to match each other's schedules.

A "girl with a heart to take" in season 2?

On the screen, we enjoy seeing the complicity of this band in such bizarre roles: Adèle Exarchopoulos as a woman with a monkey heart (really), Camille Chamoux the sex in the air (really, really), Leïla Bekhti in psychopath or Laure Calamy as a bigot.

Despite some somewhat dated gags (like this transvestite among the candidates, also present in the US version), we laugh heartily thanks to the absurd lines of the type "What is your biggest fear in life?

- Le Puy du Fou.

"

If the success is at the rendezvous, Jonathan Cohen already has his little idea for a season 2: "A girl with the heart to take and that dudes pretending?"

We want to work on it.

"

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• Series

• Canal Plus

• Parody

• Bachelor

• Reality show