Adèle Exarchopoulos and Vincent Lacoste: Elementary does not give a “moral lesson”

They bicker nicely during the interview. Their complicity is obvious. "It's cute, your macaroons on your white dress!" Vincent Lacoste points out to Adèle Exarchopoulos, who replies tac-au-tac: "I usually put them on my ears, so I look like Princess Leia in Star Wars!" These two took great pleasure in dubbing the French voices of the two heroes of the 27th Pixar animated film, Elementary. It is with enthusiasm and complicity that they answer questions from Le Figaro.

LE FIGARO. - What did you like about dubbing an animated film such as Elementary?

Adèle Exarchopoulos. - I first had a voice casting where I was shown some images and some emotional scenes. But I admit that it was an absolute dream for me to dub a Disney-Pixar. That's the only thing I've asked my agent for years!

For what reasons ?

Because Pixar films bathed my childhood, my adolescence and are still part of my life today. I watch them with my son and pass on my passion to him. I like the wonder and accuracy of animated films. I find a powerful philosophy behind the fun aspect. In fact, cartoons reassure me. It de-stresses me...

And you, Vincent, what attracted you to Elementary?

Vincent LACOSTE. - I've always been a huge Pixar fan. These guys are geniuses! Their films accompanied my childhood. I was very happy to embody a Pixar character such as Flack.

How was the recording?

A.E. - I remember that the stage manager helped me a lot. As I was not used to, he reassured me and directed me perfectly. In general, when we participate in a casting, we necessarily take refuge in our comfort zone. We try to be natural. In the realm of animation dubbing, this doesn't work at all! Try to get people to say in the most mundane, everyday way possible, “Come on! Come Flack d'eau...» to a little flame that you see on the screen... You'll understand right away that it doesn't work! (Laughs). To bring the character to life, you have to go about it in a totally different way. It's much more playful and powerful. It's both more nuanced and more focused… Let's just say that with a great scenario like that of Elementary, everything is easier. I only had to rely on words and situations. For me, dubbing a character like Flam was done in energy. In live-action cinema, we are very used to waiting. While in animation, we are in the energy all the time!

V.L. - For the dubbing of the film, we had to be in constant energy.

Who is Flack, this character made of water belonging to the Aquatics tribe?

V.L. - To slip into the skin of such a protagonist, I had to detach myself from a part of my personality. Often, I practice the second degree without realizing it. Here, I quickly understood that it was necessary to completely remove this point of second degree to play Flack as close as possible to the scenario. Flack is an incredibly sincere boy. Which makes it super moving. He is a character that must be played all the time in the first degree. Flack is very nice, lively, frank, direct and loyal. This requires a drive, a great permanent energy. It's not easy, but it was super fun to do. I think that's also why we didn't dub our scenes opposite each other. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to keep our seriousness for five minutes, our grimaces are so expressive! (Laughs)

And according to you, Adèle, how could we qualify the character of Flam?

A.E. - For me, she is a little girl very attached to the family. She is committed to complying with the wishes of her parents who want her to take over the family heritage, succeeding her father in her father's shop. Flam is someone who quickly lets herself be inflamed by her emotions, as soon as she is confronted with an injustice or misfortune. It has great purity. She is a very caring young woman. She didn't necessarily ask herself the question of what she would really like to do in life, she is so devoted to her family. Her life will be turned upside down when she meets Flack...

V.L. - This film is about rejection between communities. Everything starts from a deep ignorance of the other. I think it's a film that fights against racism by showing children, casually, how to try to understand the other, how to reach out to the other. That's what's great about this movie. He brings it all up. But the children do not realize that the four elements represent different cultures, different communities, which will manage to live together, and all this without heaviness, without moral lessons.

What's your favorite Pixar?

A.E. - I had a huge crush on Up there... If not out of greed, I can watch Nemo or Ratatouille regularly.

V.L. - Me, the Pixar of my childhood is Mille et une pattes. And my favorite character was Marcel the ladybug. But now my favorite Pixar is Elementary of course! (Laughs).