Stéphane Freiss returns to the small screen. This Tuesday, March 21, the actor plays in Le Village des endormis on France 3. In this new TV movie by Philippe Dajoux, crowned best director at the 2022 Luchon TV Festival, the fifty-year-old plays the mayor of a town hit by a mysterious phenomenon that affects its inhabitants.
What is the plot of this thriller? “As a murderer, Lucas, escapes during a prison transfer, a strange phenomenon suddenly turns the life of a village upside down. One after another, residents fall into a prolonged sleep,” the summary reads. . “It is in this climate of panic and anguish that Mathieu, captain of the gendarmerie on the verge of divorce, must find Lucas and investigate a series of crimes”.
A strong TV movie for Stéphane Freiss, inhabited by his character on the set. “I wouldn’t have accepted this fiction if this mayor hadn’t been so angular. Some scenes made me feel like I could play Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, it was fantastic!” he exclaimed to from the magazine Télé 7 Jours. If the Caesarized actor best male hope (in 1989 in Les Chouans!) distinguished himself through the roles, his passion saved him from many torments in his childhood.
Yet surrounded by the love of his family, Stéphane Freiss was only 12 years old when his parents separated. A heartbreak for the teenager at that time. “I was not prepared for this. The void was abysmal”, he recalled for Paris Match in 2010. While his brother lives with his father, Stéphane lives with his mother, before attending several boarding schools during his schooling.
A trauma that will make Stéphane Freiss depressed. “At that moment, I was seriously depressed. I was running away. I was deeply melancholic. Without friends, I had dark thoughts. I lived inside myself. I was neither endearing nor playful enough for people to others are interested in me”, admits to our colleagues the one who will smile again thanks to the Cours Florent. A click that will launch the vocation of the actor.
Before making a career in cinema, Stéphane Freiss shared the life of actress Macha Méril. The latter had returned to France at the age of 43 after a long stay in America. Their story goes back several years since the actress, 20 years her senior, had taken the young talent under her wing. “I was his Pygmalion. I introduced him to literature, cinema, fantasy. To life what! It lasted seven, eight years”, she explained to Paris Match before mentioning the cause of their breakup. “There too, there was pressure from the mother. My problem this time was that I was not Jewish,” according to his comments quoted by the Purepeople site.
A few years after their breakup, the actor found happiness again. In 1993, he crossed paths with Ursula, a sublime Argentinian, on a film set. “We met in Turin, on the set of a TV movie where she held the only extra role of her whole life! I was 32 years old, she was 18. She was a student in art history”, says- he nostalgically, still for Paris Match. “When I saw her, I was petrified by her beauty, her grace and her sweetness. I remember saying to the first assistant of the film: “You see, this girl there will be my wife.” Three years later later, he was the witness of our marriage”.
After 25 years of marriage, Stéphane Freiss announced in spite of himself his separation with the mother of his three children, on the set of I love you etc; broadcast on France 2. Asked by Daphne Bürki, he wanted to correct an error by the host on his sentimental situation. “She is no longer my wife,” he said before trying to dodge the subject. “We are not going to tell everything because 25 years of life are long, almost 26”. Then, he will later confess the underside of their separation. “We met, there was passion. The problem is when the passion starts to disappear and then we are overwhelmed by life”.
Discreet at the moment about his love life, Stéphane Freiss prefers to consult on the education of his three children. From his marriage to Ursula, they are the parents of Camille (born in 1996), Ruben (born in 1998) and Bianca (born in 2007). With Paris Match, the famous actor admitted to being “a very authoritarian father”.
“I want to instill in them respect for values, show them that nothing falls right into the beak. I don’t spoil them too much,” he continued with the magazine. This did not prevent the actor from showing his affectionate side with his children, especially for his first daughter. “I want to say to Camille, the eldest, who is leaving childhood behind: “I recognize myself in your fragility, which was mine at your age. I promise to make an effort to be more forgiving.”
Now 27, the daughter of the director of the film You Will Choose Life is following in her father’s footsteps into the spotlight. She took her first steps in music in Nouvelle Star (season 11 on D8), before being revealed on TF1 in season 7 of The Voice, under her artist name Liv Del Estal. She was coached by Zazie who will propel her to the gates of the quarter-finals. After having published several singles and an EP, the young woman turned to comedy where she played in more fictions such as Alice Nevers, H24, Validé and Une si longue nuit.
