These are two big names in French cinema who are preparing to work together for the first time in their careers.

The director Patrice Leconte returns in "Culture Médias" on his collaboration with Gérard Depardieu, on a film whose shooting will begin in February 2021.

INTERVIEW

He had turned Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, but never Gérard Depardieu.

Patrice Leconte is preparing his collaboration with the famous actor, in an adaptation of a story by Commissioner Maigret.

A first therefore, whose director is delighted at the microphone of Philippe Vandel, in the program 

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Depardieu, "a big dented and tender fellow"

Patrice Leconte and Gérard Depardieu have known each other for a long time but had never found the right project to collaborate on.

"We had brushed against each other several times. There were things that could have been done. But you have to wait for the right moment, without forcing things," confirms the director.

"I am delighted, because filming this big dented and tender fellow that is Gérard Depardieu enchants me."

This long-awaited project is an adaptation of

Maigret et la Jeune Morte

, one of Georges Simenon's famous detective novels.

"There has been no Maigret in the cinema since 1958, it was with Jean Gabin", recalls Patrice Leconte.

"Depardieu, who adores adaptation, is happy to play a character as tall as himself: Maigret."

A shared happiness, therefore, between the actor and the director.

Filming is scheduled for February and March 2021.