Audrey Fleurot embodies the heroine of
HPI
, a new series broadcast by TF1.
Her character is a housekeeper in a police station who me, her incredible powers of deduction in the service of the police force.
“When I got on the project, there was already the rebellious, unmanageable and awesome side of the character.
But, I wanted to radicalize the comedy tone, ”explains the actress to
20 Minutes
.
Morgane Alvaro, 38, has 3 children, 2 ex, 5 credits, 160 IQ and a strong taste for the panther print.
After making a splash in
Le Bazar de la charité
, Audrey Fleurot plays the extraordinary heroine of
HPI
, acronym of Haut Potentiel Intellectuel, the new police comedy of TF1, available on Salto and broadcast this Thursday at 9:05 pm.
While she officiates as a cleaning lady in a police station, her incredible deductive abilities will be spotted by the police who offer her a consultancy position.
The catch?
She has a serious problem with authority in general and cops in particular.
Audrey Fleurot tells
20 Minutes
how she slipped into the skin of Morgane Alvaro.
It seems that you arrived very early on this “HPI” project, was the role written to measure?
It was not written to measure.
When I arrived on the project, there were already all the ingredients that interested me the rebellious, unmanageable and brilliant side of the character.
But, I wanted to radicalize the tone of comedy and I had the opportunity to do so and bring it back to my own humor.
This is what I brought.
What did you like about Morgane Alvaro?
I'm quite fascinated by adults who behave like they're 5 years old.
There aren't many, but there are.
It's a kind of crazy freedom.
It is very embarrassing for those around them, but there is also something fresh, very jubilant about behaving like a child.
It is as if Morgane had gone through codes, education.
As an actress, it must be exhilarating to play such a character ...
Completely!
That is why I said "yes".
I felt it was going to be very recreational!
It's very cathartic to play such an excessive, funny character, with this completely outrageous dress look.
This is something I couldn't handle in life.
This character says what she thinks, dresses according to a taste of her own.
She has a big mouth side.
She is at the same time brilliant, endearing and unbearable.
It's a lot of fun to play.
She's bursting with energy, it's a real tornado ...
On the set, I was forced to maintain a permanent state of dissipation to try to improvise things.
There are a lot of things that I improvise, that I find in the moment.
I have to maintain a constant state of fun to try and come up with some bullshit, I want to say.
So, I try to be as less focused as possible!
How did you build this unlikely look?
It was very important to me.
A good part of this character is due to this look.
I wanted it to be referenced, to refer us to images.
There is a mixture of bad taste, pin-up, disguise.
It's the idea of panoply, like when you are 15 years old.
I like the idea of a 40 year old woman continuing to dress like she was 15!
This mixture creates a strong identity without it really existing.
I like the idea that it is a little unique.
This very outrageous look is actually a protective shield.
The more she shows, the more she hides in a certain way.
Morgane is HPI, how did you approach this characteristic?
I have looked at a lot of blogs and been on the Internet a lot.
Alice [Chegaray-Breugnot, co-creator and co-writer of the series], has an HPI dad and has met many specialists.
She really documented herself, but all for the benefit of storytelling and comedy.
We do not claim to be making a documentary on HPI.
People with HPI can be overwhelmed by everything they feel.
We feel this emotional crack in Morgane Alvaro ...
It was important to feel that behind this clown, there is a real flaw.
His behavior is a parry of a very strong emotional fault.
Family, it was not easy, her mother is complicated ... And then, there is this founding myth: the man with whom she was madly in love and with whom she had her eldest daughter, disappeared overnight.
She is convinced the police are involved.
This is the anchor of his rejection of the police.
Obviously, HPI people experience things more intensely and are very sensitive.
Morgana has this shield because she is more fragile than she looks.
It is really linked to this original emotional fault.
Morgane Alvaro is a sort of female Sherlock Holmes, are you a fan of the detective genre?
It's not a genre that immediately fascinates me, but, via comedy, it interests me much more.
I find that we have found a tone where we do not take ourselves seriously, even if the investigations are well put together, it was important for me.
On a 52-minute episode, it's important to see Morgana in her private life, so there's half an hour left to conduct an investigation where she has to wow us with her 160 IQs.
It is therefore a real challenge to complete a well-crafted investigation.
So we have this slightly meta tone.
We have all seen a lot of detective series.
We are very referenced in relation to that and we have fun with these codes.
This is also what I like.
Speaking of codes, the duo that Morgane forms with Karadec (Mehdi Nebbou), this meticulous cop, is reminiscent of buddy movies like "Lethal Weapon" ...
That was the idea!
What I like is that we reverse the traditional male / female relationships.
Often, the male character is adulescent and the female character, psychorigid.
There, it's the opposite, it's more modern.
Do you see a feminist dimension in the series?
Yes, but without being supported.
That's what I like.
The fact of taking as heroine a single mother of three children is already a kind of manifesto.
His celibacy is not depressing.
We could say to ourselves that she goes from odd job to odd job, that she is a bit of a hassle all the time on call with her three kids, but she gives back strength, enthusiasm, joy, humor and intelligence.
Did you undergo any special training to camp this police consultant?
Not at all !
What I think is really good is that she's not a cop.
She will never have a gun and will never wear gloves.
The more it is out of sync, the better!
Above all, I don't want her to become yet another cop.
She will never follow protocol and it is exhilarating.
It's up to us to renew the form, but it will always arrive at a crime scene with a kid, chouquettes or a dog.
I have no interest in professionalizing it.
And then, I have years of
Gears
behind me, so the police procedures, I master them quite a bit!
Do you want to find this character for a season 2?
I really want to !
I keep my fingers crossed that the series meets its audience.
There are plenty of things to do with this character… I want to dig into politically incorrect, funny, emotional.
Also, I like long series and living with the characters for quite a long time.
What are your other projects ?
Just after
HPI
, I shot another series for TF1 called
Mensonges
, an adaptation of an English series.
I have just finished a 3X52 minutes for Arte which is called
Winter Spirit
.
There, I am about to start filming Les Combattantes for TF1.
It is not a sequel to the
Bazar de la charité
, but it is the same producer, Iris Bucher, who had the idea of bringing together the same three actresses that we follow in another period.
The series is directed by Alexandre Laurent who was already behind the camera for
Le Bazar de la charité
.
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Series
TF1
Comedy
Police officer