Sophie Marceau: this day when she almost missed the casting of La Boum

The emblematic film La Boum is the subject of a documentary. Did you know that other actresses almost replaced Sophie Marceau?

'La Boum', a film released on December 17, 1980, is a wonderful legacy of French cinema s. This feature film tells the adventures of Vic Beretton, a lively teenager, played by Sophie Marceau. More than 42 years later, the feature film is still being talked about . This Friday, January 20, 'The Eternal Boom', a documentary broadcast on France 5 reveals new secrets about this cult film e. Surprising secrets finally revealed to the public tell, among other things the hotly contested casting of the lead role . Another candidate almost had it instead of Sophie Marceau . The details.

The role of Vic was highly coveted

“La boum” is one of the hit films of the 1980s that is still talked about. The candor of young Sophie Marceau, then 13 years old contributed a lot to it .
Director Claude Pinoteau and screenwriter Danièle Thompson had trouble finding their Vic . In the famous January 20 documentary dedicated to the film, the screenwriter confessed:

'We found great kids, they are in the film, girls, boys, who we found really interesting... and then Vic, we couldn't find her. Practically every evening, Claude arrived at my house, he brought me, it was big cassettes of the time, huge cassettes and we watched together everything that had been done during the day.

The cast for this role gathered anonymous teenage girls and other young people who became famous a little later. At 17, Emmanuelle Béart auditioned for Claude Pinoteau and her casting director, Françoise Menidrey. But considered too mature for the role, she failed, just like Cristiana Reali and Mathilda May , 15 years old.

Sandrine Bonnaire who was only 13 years old, didn't get the lead role . She still got a role as an extra.

The girls who came to the audition didn't have the little spark they were looking for for the role of Vic . They began to despair when Françoise Menidrey had the idea to look in a modeling agency.

When his gaze crossed that of Sophie Marceau at 13 years old , it was obvious. But she still had to audition.

Why did Sophie Marceau almost not play in La boum?

The production of the film had a real crush on the charm of Sophie Marceau , known at the time as Sophie Maupu. But this one almost never passed the auditions.

As reported by Télé-Loisirs, Sophie Marceau was about to turn back , without taking the auditions at the Gaumont premises. In effect, she lost confidence in front of all the girls , much more experienced than her.

The competition was tough. But at some point, she told herself that anything could happen . Despite her doubts and fears, she tried her luck.

“With dad, we even almost left out of laziness to wait. In the end, I told him: 'We're going to stay, if it happens, we lose nothing'', she said on the set of Ciné Regards, in 1981, on France 3.

The former girlfriend of Andrzej Zulawski almost gave the other girls present that day a chance . The interpreter of Vic must surely be relieved to have made the right decision at the time.

Sophie Marceau's 'totally astonishing emotional potential' in La Boum

At the time of the auditions, Sophie Marceau played the scene that talks about heartbreak by Vic Beretton à son papa.

“And all of a sudden, she had me. I had tears in my eyes, behind the camera, giving the reply. She had an astonishing emotional potential,” recalls Claude Pinoteau.

According to the director, the girl “had a very dignified side, very reserved. She wasn't trying to charm like the other little girls.' . Her performance clearly stood out from the other candidates. Claude Pinoteau could not have dreamed of better.

This film will always mark the career of Sophie Marceau. Nevertheless, she confessed that she “suffered at the start of this notoriety,” she confessed in the columns of Parisian.

'I was a kid and I wasn't ready for all this,' she said.

But the fact of having won the César for best female hope and inspired many people in his role , is something she will never change.

'I can't say I've had enough, because in people's eyes I see a smile. It reveals everything that this film evokes for them: their youth, their adolescence, an era. »

Source : Gala