Marc Messier loses a great friend, a “brother”. The actor met Michel Côté in 1972, in a production of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Nouvelle Compagnie Théâtrale (NCT). The two actors, then in their early twenties, played small roles, with their friend and accomplice of Broue, Marcel Gauthier.
“At the time, we were neighbors and we went to the theater together. We dreamed of having leading roles in the theater. Michel and Marcel had the idea of starting a theater troupe and they asked me to join them. Author Michel Garneau, who was a professor at the National Theater School, was like our guru. He wrote our first four plays for us before the success of Broue. »
By the time Messier knew him, Côté already had a lot of charisma and “panache”. “He was a real captain,” he said. A determined and convincing guy. He has always had a good work ethic. Michel never rested on a success. We played 3322 performances of Broue in 38 years; and we tried to pretend that every night was the first night. We always thought, don’t take the public for granted. »
The time Michel Côté impressed him the most was when they played Broue in English in Toronto and Vancouver. “Michel’s lines worked just as well in English as in French,” he said. And the English-speaking public laughed in the same places as in theaters in Quebec. »
“I have a hard time realizing that I will never see him again. Even though I knew he was going to leave, that his cancer was incurable… I find it really hard. To sum up, Michel was always good company. Affectionate, generous and very funny. »
Comedian Louis-José Houde worked closely with Michel Côté in the films De père en flic 1 and 2 as well as Le sens de l’humour. “It may seem like an overused expression, but Michel was really a bon vivant. He was a great living man who was happy to be alive and happy to make films. He had his artistic insecurities, but he remained a great optimist, someone very calm, very down to earth. It was a great encounter in my life. He was always on my mind, not just since I became aware of his illness. He was a role model who influenced the way I behave and do things. I respected him greatly. »
“In a workplace, he was the opposite of a toxic person. When we shot From father to cop, I came from the stage. It was my first big role. He greeted me with deep respect, as he did with everyone on set. He wouldn’t tell me what to do without my asking him. »
“Because of the success of Broue, I think not everyone realizes the extent of his register. There is a big gap between Jean-Lou of La petite vie and Pierre Gauthier in Omertà. You have to be extremely gifted to play in such contrasting registers. His work will stay with us forever. It is a great chance. »
“Quebec is losing a great artist, but I am losing my oldest boyfriend. Michel is my oldest friend on Earth, the one I have known the longest. The two friends met around the age of 7-8 and have always stuck together. They both belonged to the same drum and bugle corps, before playing hockey together, then in the theater.
Spending time with Michel, “it was always fun, because Michel is a joker who liked to laugh, who liked to make people laugh and who never missed his shot. But he was also a very simple man, very close to all kinds of people, the poor as well as the rich. There was no difference for Michel, he was good with everyone and he was appreciated by everyone. »
Marcel Gauthier spoke to him for the last time a few weeks ago. “I was careful to tell him that I love him, always will and that he remains in my heart. »
“It’s a monument that we have just lost,” said Luc Picard. Michel was one of the greatest composition actors in Quebec. He could totally blend into a character. He had veracity in his acting, and an amazing sense of the camera. »
Luc Picard knew Michel Côté in the series Omertà, with whom he co-starred for two seasons in the mid-1990s. Michel was a super generous guy on a film set. He always hits the puck on his playing partner’s paddle.”
Luc Picard also notes that Michel Côté really loved his job and the public. “He knew his world and knew who he plays for. I imagine that having been part of the play Broue for so long [38 years] made him take the pulse of the Quebec public. »
Martin Drainville has never shared the screen or the stage with Michel Côté – one of the greatest regrets of his professional life, he says – but the two men rubbed shoulders during the recovery of Broue.
“He passed the torch to Benoit Brière, Luc Guérin and me very generously, very simply. It was even Michel who suggested that we do the staging ourselves. He was proud, but always respectful. He was the stuff of guys like Yvon Deschamps, irreproachable humans. »
“Every time I played Pointu, I thought of him. What he was doing in Broue was high-flying. He was a spectacular impersonator, always right. For several months, before the performances of Broue, we told the public that we were thinking of Michel, that we wished him to recover. The audience applauded. It was good for people to show him their admiration, but also their love. The audience’s bond with Michel went beyond the stage performance. We were in love. It’s hard to imagine he’s gone. It had something of the oak, very straight, which did not show its age. »
“Charming, elegant, sensitive and intelligent”, Francine Ruel multiplies the epithets to speak of the actor she knew 44 years ago. According to her, Côté had a unique way of performing on stage and on screen. “He wasn’t playing, he was present. He did almost nothing, moved a finger, changed a detail, and it worked. »
Francien Ruel remembers the phone call from Michel Côté, in the winter of 1979. The actor wanted her to join the team of authors of Broue. For the opening of the small Théâtre des Voyagements, boulevard Saint-Laurent, in March 1979. “He told me that he wanted to have the vision of a woman in the play, even if it takes place in a tavern. »
“He had tremendous talent,” she continues. He is a great actor who was unanimous around him. There are few in the world. My great regret today is that we will not be able to see Michel interpret all these roles that he could have done as he got older. »
“I have a lot of pain,” said Guylaine Tremblay. The actress who played with him in La petite vie and in the film La vie après l’amour still talks about it in the present. “He is an immensely talented actor, coupled with a wonderful human being. A leader, a unifier. Michel is an enveloping, reassuring, family guy. He was someone who always lifted us up. »
“For me, Michel represented the image of strength and health. I thought he was going to get over his illness. But life decided otherwise. We should all collectively wish our condolences. »
Luc Dionne wrote one of his most notable roles on the small screen for Michel Côté, that of Pierre Gauthier in Omertà. The two men rubbed shoulders outside the professional circle. “His departure is an infinite sadness, because he was in such good shape. I remember that last summer, during a party at Denys Arcand’s chalet, Michel arrived in a Speedo swimsuit. He said: when you have bananas like mine at my age, you have to show them! If he could make people laugh, Michel did. »
“He really was a forerunner of popular works, whether in film, television or theatre. He was very popular because he kept it very simple. He was close to the world and the public. »
“It’s a great loss: Michel was an extraordinary actor, who dressed up very well. You changed his nose and he changed character! »
Director Émile Gaudreault directed Michel Côté in three feature films, including From father to cop, in 2008. “I had this idea of a father and a son who go to therapy and immediately, the names of Michel Côté and Louis-José Houde came to mind. For me, they were the two funniest actors of their generation. »
In his eyes, the actor was “gifted, with genius”, able to play on both comic and dramatic registers. “But he is also someone who doubted a lot, it allows work and to go further. He was not in his ideas, on the contrary, he wanted to go further, both around the table and on the sets. He was a virtuoso and at the same time a very vulnerable person. It allowed me to explore with him. »
The director of Sense of humor also says that the actor had a good team spirit.
“Michel knew the first names of all the technicians on a set. At the end of a day of filming, he thanked everyone by naming them. For these people who are in the shadows, it was very important. It gave a great atmosphere on a set. »
“I was ready to work with him anytime. He had a crazy charisma, that’s precious for a director. The camera loves it. Everything shines through in his eyes. »
Pierre-Luc Brillant has shared the big screen three times with Michel Côté, in the films Life after love, My daughter my angel and, above all, C.R.A.Z.Y.
“Michel was an important encounter in my life as a young actor. He pushed me to continue in the profession. Everyone loved working with him. He was a unifier. He did everything with a touch of humor, even two minutes before shooting a very dramatic scene. When I heard the news of his death, one of the first memories that came to my mind was the crazy laughter we had just before shooting the wedding scene in C.R.A.Z.Y, the one where I had to fight with my uncle ! We had a hard time continuing! »
Pierre-Luc Brillant has seen him a few times lately “He was picking up his grandchildren at the same daycare center where I pick up my daughter. Each time, it was as if we had had a beer together the day before. »
“Michel will be remembered very much as a great comic actor. Even in the most humorous scenes, he had this ability to get the truth out of his characters. We saw their distress and the depth of sadness in their eyes, like in Cruising Bar. It’s a great quality for an actor to be able to do that. »
Rémi-Pierre Paquin and Michel Côté played together during the two seasons of the show The theory of K.O., where the first played the son of the second. “What I take away most from Michel is his authenticity. He was an incredible artist, but he didn’t take himself seriously. He touched me a lot, because he had this local guy side, this well-placed pride of the guy from Lac-Saint-Jean! On the promotional tour, he was talking to everyone! He was close to people. As an actor, he could play in dramas, comedies, in more niche films. He didn’t denigrate any style. He was a model for me, both as a human and as an actor. »
Michel Côté was to be decorated with the National Order of Quebec in June, revealed Prime Minister François Legault. “One of our great comedians passed away today. I still laugh out loud at Broue, Cruising Bar, La petite vie, but I also remember his touching role in C. R. A. Z. Y. My thoughts are with his Véronique, his 2 sons whom he adored and all his loved ones, “a- he added on social networks.
The testimonies of the political class are also numerous. “We have just lost a great actor, a great Quebecer. Michel Côté was loved and respected. Through his many roles, he will have marked generations of Quebecers. We all just lost a little bit of ourselves,” wrote the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay.
For the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, “Michel Côté leaves an immense legacy, worthy of the man and the artist that he was. All of Quebec is in mourning, because all of Quebec loved him.”
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also expressed his “sadness.” “One of the most significant and appreciated actors in the history of Quebec. He will forever be etched in our collective memory. Also a man of simplicity and great kindness. Michel left much too quickly. »
