Do you really know Gil Alma? Before playing police commander César Wagner in the eponymous series broadcast on France 2, the actor was revealed to the public at the cinema in the film Vilaine with Marilou Berry in 2009. On the small screen, he formed a hilarious couple with Isabelle Vitari in the sitcom Our dear neighbors (2012-2017) on TF1.
However, nothing predestined the 42-year-old actor to make a career in comedy. From his real name Gil Bongibault, he confessed to having chosen his stage name while strolling in the Paris metro. “I was in the metro when I was looking for a name a little more glam… Stopped at the Alma-Marceau station, I had a click. Marceau is already taken so why not Alma?”, he confided to Closer. In order not to overshadow Sophie Marceau, the actor from Montreuil opted for Alma.
No wonder when you learn that the actor and the young Sophie Maupu were inspired by metro line 9 in Paris. “Recently, I learned from Jacques Pessis that Sophie Marceau’s father was also in the metro when he was looking for a name for his daughter. He offered her Alma, but she preferred Marceau. Crazy, right? “, he revealed to our colleagues.
Before starting his acting career, Gil Alma was a great sportsman who played club rugby. But, between sport and art, the choice was quickly established. “I did eight years of rugby. At one point, I chose to refocus on my job as an actor because the problem with rugby is that you can end up with a crooked pif or a loose knee”, he admitted in the pages of Télé 2 Semaines.
A passion that has brought this charismatic athlete into the spotlight. We imagine him confident, seductive and very courted by the fans? However, Gil Alma nevertheless has a small unusual physical complex.
At the beginning of February 2021, Gil Alma dropped the top (and the bottom) for a good cause in the show Stars à nu on TF1. Alongside several personalities, they put on a musical and naked show on the Lido stage to raise awareness among the French about prostate cancer screening.
During his passage in season 2, the comedian of Our dear neighbors admitted to being complexed by the size of his private parts, or “the Twingo syndrome”. “It’s when you compare your sex to a car. And so I compared my sex to a small car”, he laughed in front of his accomplices before resuming his seriousness. “I think there are a lot of men who have that complex. And I also have that thing with my wife. When I’m cold, I actually don’t walk past her.”
Before concluding with confidences without filter. “I’m not very comfortable with the lower part of the body”. This did not prevent the famous comedian from getting naked for a good cause at the end of the show. Something to impress his companion who shared his life for 15 years…
On the heart side, Gil Alma was married to Aminata, a lovely flight attendant and mother of his two children Sacha and Charlie. After 15 years of relationship, the couple has just put an end to their marriage. A painful ordeal for the actor.
“I have just spent the most complicated two or three months of my life. But I will always be there for my children”, he confided to Télé Star with great optimism. “I believe I am indeed a positive person. Even among idiots, I manage to find something positive. I could be a good lawyer!”, he jokes in front of our colleagues.
A real father hen, Gil Alma rarely talks about his job to his children, but one of them could take over. “I don’t talk to them a lot about my job. When I arrived home, it was as a dad and not as Gil Alma. My big boy, I detect a lot of humor in him. He has bullshit, but fine”. A role that fills him with happiness, he who lost his father at 8 years old. “I saw him at the weekend, but he was not in great shape. He destroyed his health with alcohol. At the time, I didn’t realize it and I still have a very good memories of him, even if he did not take much care of me“, he confided in Closer.
