Philippe Bas (Le Saut du diable 2): “I made about twenty parachute jumps”

New high-risk mission for Philippe Bas. After the success of Le Saut du Diable in 2021, the actor returns this Monday, November 7 in a second part entitled The path of the wolves on TF1. A new TV movie split into two parts where our intrepid hero Paul Vilar braves danger to get out of a perilous situation.

While this former Special Forces officer accompanied his daughter Sara (Maïra Schmitt) and a group of teenagers for a military hike in the wilderness, they are taken hostage by mercenaries in search of priceless loot kept in the hands of the army. Trapped, a race against time begins for the hero forced to break the rules to save the young people. It was without counting on a ghost from the past who could upset his plans.

In this television film combining action, human values ​​and suspense, Philippe Bas reconnects with this role of composition, of which he ensures the co-production. “With the director and the author of the previous part, we put everything in place,” says the forties for Planet. “I wanted to embody a character who allows us, thanks to his intrinsic qualities, to be able to follow a story that will lead us to a succession of adventures, actions and emotions”.

Behind this father and former elite soldier, it was important for the actor Philippe Bas “to find him a stature and above all a past which could resurface in him and which will give him a source of emotions”. With his qualities and his faults, the character of Paul Vilar is part of “a modern western, with landscapes that were really going to express all the freedom”. A breathtaking filming setting in which the famous actor reveals the backstage.

For the first episode of Le Saut du diable in 2021, Philippe Bas explains to Planet that the filming lasted 26 days “in fairly harsh conditions as decorations”. “We were shooting in the mountains on the side of a cliff with special logistics”. In this second issue, The Wolf Trail, filming took place in June 2022 over fewer days, but with more resources.

“We only had 23 days of filming, with 25 more characters, and 40 more sets,” explains the famous actor. From Aix-en-Provence to Bouches-du-Rhône to the Var, “it was a challenge to take up with even more enthusiasm” for the athlete. A TV movie in the heart of “Colorado Provençal” in which Philippe Bas flourished. “We were lucky to have a great team and an extraordinary director, Julien Séri, who has very strong energy and the ability to work quickly, efficiently and very well”, he confides to us on this “regular the cinema”.

In the company of Philippe Bas, we find famous actors like Sara Mortensen (Astrid and Raphaëlle), Benjamin Baroche (Here everything begins) and Edouard Montoute (Tropiques Criminels). Despite the “tight timing” of filming, the former hero of Profiling has good memories. “When we were filming, it was very hot, but we were all delighted because it’s often in difficulties that people come together. There, it was great, there was a real cohesion. We were also quite relaxed, it was quite fun because we don’t have to work in pain”, and to add. “It doesn’t prevent you from sweating a lot, from giving the best of yourself, but you can very well do it with pleasure”. For this unit, Philippe Bas also gave of his person, as evidenced by the first minutes on the screen.

To endorse Paul Vilar’s military stature, actor Philippe Bas says he did a lot of sport. “I did a little more in the three weeks that preceded (Le Sentier des loups, editor’s note) to have enough energy to hold the shoot,” says the quadra, detailing the secrets of his physical form for Planet. “I was trying to do two sessions a day, running in the morning and then in the afternoon, I was doing my job. And, in the evening, I was trying to do a little muscle strengthening”.

Between stunts, chases and fights, Philippe Bas also trained to parachute for the filming. “I was going to Gap on Sundays where we were shooting by parachute,” he explains. “Today, I passed my B patent. I made about twenty parachute jumps. It is indeed me that we see in the film except for two shots with a double”, assures this great sportsman . “It would have taken me five more days if I wanted to do all the jumps because it’s complicated to turn”.

However, Philippe Bas has good memories of this leap into the void for our readers. “It’s great, I recommend it to everyone, it’s really nice”. With Le Sentier des Loups, the French actor defends a fiction that is aimed at the general public. “It’s a family TV movie that everyone can watch. It’s a chance for us, we really have to thank TF1, because it’s thanks to them that we can do this”. A third and fourth part are already being prepared, with Thierry Beccaro expected in the casting.