Fascinated by Gérard Depardieu, his game, his legendary banter and his schizophrenia as an actor, Édouard Baer paid tribute to the actor in the show "Icons" with Michel Denisot, Saturday.
On Europe 1, the author even compares him to two of the biggest names in classical music and literature.
INTERVIEW
It is the story of a "not reciprocal admiration" far from disturbing the one who is not admired.
On Europe 1, Saturday, Édouard Baer evoked the character of Gérard Depardieu, one of his models and the one Isabelle Nanty describes as "big everything", because of his legendary versatility.
A "genius", in short, to whom the author of the
Élucubrations d'un homme suddenly struck by grace
pays a vibrant tribute to the microphone of Michel Denisot.
For him, Gérard Depardieu is "more than an icon": "He's the most wonderful, he's the darkest junk, he's a child…"
An undeserved genius?
To illustrate Gérard Depardieu's fascination with him, Édouard Baer takes the example of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
"In
Amadeus
, the film, there is a character who is Antonio Salieri, the other great composer at the time of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who is very Catholic. He respects all social rules, religious rules ... But He's just Salieri. And then comes Mozart, who is a kind of young guy who doesn't give a damn, who lifts up girls 'skirts. But it's Mozart. Antonio Salieri invokes God, and says to him' it's not possible , God! Me, I did everything, I sacrificed my life and you gave the genius to the other, it is not possible! '", Illustrates Édouard Baer about this work in which the rivalry between the two composers has been exaggerated.
"
That's a theme, too. The famous one: why him and not me?
"
And the artist to transpose this configuration to the inevitable "Gégé": "I think that there is someone who could be like that with Depardieu", an exuberant character as possible.
"'But it's not him, but no! But me, I learn my texts! Me, I work every day! Me, I do sport! Me, I am nice! Why is it Depardieu who has the genius ?'
That is a theme, too. The famous: why him and not me? ", Unfolds Édouard Baer, as if subjugated by the innate talent of Gérard Depardieu.
>> Find all of Michel Denisot's interviews in podcast and replay here
Depardieu, Baer's feared partner in the theater
Compared to one of the greatest composers in history, Gérard Depardieu is also compared to an absolute icon of French literature: Marcel Proust.
It all started with a family fondness for writing.
"My father would have liked to be a writer," says Édouard Baer.
"And then, he didn't dare because he had too high an idea of literature. That's what I was also told. 'If you were Proust, it would be known'. So, From there, if you're not Proust, you don't do anything! It's as if I'm in a theater class and the other student is Gérard Depardieu. Well, I'm quitting the theater , basically, because I will never be Gérard Depardieu. "