INTERVIEW- Tomer Sisley ("Like my son"): the actor's confidences about his blended family

Solène Delinger 14:00 pm, March 20, 2023

Tomer Sisley is back this Monday, March 20 on TF1, at 21:10, with Comme mon fils, a TV movie based on a true story. The 48-year-old actor, who recently said goodbye to his character of Balthazar in the eponymous series, plays this time Victor, a thug on the run. This soft-hearted offender will break the armor in contact with Charlie, a little abandoned boy that he will take under his wing. Man and child will thus learn to become father and son, to love each other and to be inseparable.

Tomer Sisley, dad in real life, had no trouble slipping into the skin of Victor, ultra accomplice with Charlie. Interview.

You bowed out in Balthazar on February 23 on TF1 and you return barely a month later, this Monday, March 20, with the TV movie Comme mon fils, still on TF1. So you never stop?

It's good to work, isn't it? (Laughter). But this has absolutely nothing to do with Balthazar.

Indeed, you are totally changing register with this film, of which you are also a co-producer. Why this choice?

Co-producing or producing a film is going a step further in artistic control. I really learned that with Balthazar. In the end, you can do what you want, as much as you want, if you do not agree with the producer, he has the final word. When the producer refuses to invest more money in a scene, in the number of extras, in a set or costumes, special effects, it is you, as an actor, who suffers. And the viewer also suffers. For Comme un fils, I was able to choose the director and his film crew, but also the sets. That's why I wanted to produce this film.

Victor, the character you play, is a rogue on the run who takes under his wing Charlie, a little abandoned boy. Victor is tattooed, raw formwork. How did you slip into his skin?

I timbrated my voice a little more to make Victor a bear because that's the image I had of him. The physical transformation also helped me: I had four hours of tattoos that I was given every week. They were semi-permanent tattoos, which remained for about ten days. When you get up in the morning and see tattoos of a mermaid or Jesus on a cross, you are already someone else. Your physical envelope is no longer the same so it takes you elsewhere.

READ ALSO- After "Balthazar", Tomer Sisley soon back on TF1 with a TV movie

"My father was never away"

As my son offers a reflection on filiation. Victor didn't ask for anything and finds himself taking care of a child who is not his and even ends up loving him. Are the bonds of the heart necessarily stronger than the ties of blood?

I think so. Blood ties are those with which we start in life. With the bonds of the heart, there is still an element of choice.

You have a blended family yourself. Your wife Sandra has a son Dino, from a previous union. Do you consider him your own son, just like your two children, Liv and Levin?

I made that mistake for the first few years. I was trying to make myself believe that Dino was my son. I had just omitted this little detail: it is that he is like my son, but he is not my son and he will never be my son. From the moment I accepted that, we both built an extraordinary relationship. And it's unique because it doesn't come from the cards that were beaten and that we were given at birth.

And you, what was your relationship with your father?

My parents physically separated when I was five. Because we lived in Berlin and my father, who was a dermatology researcher, had taken a more interesting job in the south of France. I experienced this separation with my father very badly. I missed him terribly. I remember seeing him everywhere, in the subway, on the street, as soon as there was an adult with a beard. But he was never absent. He never broke the link with me. I would go to see him on vacation, he would call me and he would write to me. Three years after he left, my father picked me up in Berlin to spend a year with him in France. When he came, my mother told him, "Well, it will be for more than a year," and I settled down with him permanently.

"I'm delighted to put Largo's costume back on"

Did this very strong bond with your father inspire you to play the role of Victor, who is himself very protective of little Charlie?

It was mainly the fact that I raised three children that made my job easier. Obviously, it helps in the relationship with the kids.

How was the shoot with Jordan, who brilliantly plays the role of Charlie?

As with all children, we had to be patient (Laughter). And, above all, we had to manage his fatigue. There are very strict rules for minors. But, four hours of filming is still a very long time for a six-year-old kid. And it's complicated to explain to him that you have to repeat his text ten times because yes, he's right, it's not fun to do it. But, we were lucky to have a little piece of extraordinary actor.

Filming for Largo Winch 3 began in early February. How's it going?

Pretty good. What I remember is a dislocated shoulder, and a broken forearm (Laughter). We started in the hard with two weeks of shooting, a stunt and a long chase, and also in the cold with -22 degrees. But all this is behind, there we take a little break and then we continue with Thailand. I'm really excited to put Largo's costume back on.