In Haute Démolition, Étienne Galloy plays Raph Massi, a young comedian whose rise and fall will be as spectacular as each other. He also finds his first “adult” role there… but probably not his last.
We have seen Étienne Galloy a lot since January: in the fourth season of Plan B alongside Pier-Luc Funk, in the sequels to the series for teens Les bracelets rouges and Lou et Sophie. But if we have the impression that his career has just exploded, the 23-year-old actor already has 11 years of experience and has played both in the soap opera L’échappée and in the film Kuessipan.
An already long journey which followed a “beautiful upward slope”, judges the young man, charming mixture of insurance and questions.
As a child, Étienne Galloy, originally from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, dreamed of playing in Kaboum. At 12, barely two months after convincing his mother to enroll him in an artistic distribution agency, he landed his first role in the web series Le chum de ma mère est un extraterrestre, written by Eric K. Boulianne. A decisive meeting since he will then embody the teenage alter ego of the screenwriter of Viking in several films, including Prank!, which will go to the Venice Film Festival in 2016.
“Without Eric, I don’t know if I would have a career. I have a certain talent, but sometimes it’s also a combination of circumstances. They don’t make movies together anymore, but “Eric is never far away,” says the young comedian. “I wrote my High Demolition stand-ups with him. »
Étienne Galloy had not auditioned for the role of Raph – he was rather aiming for that of Thomas, his manager, because he saw himself well in “his good nature and his pathos”. He wasn’t taken, but was called back to audition for the lead role…where he went backwards.
Things clicked with his acting partner Léane Labrèche-Dor, and the next day he got the role. “An excellent decision!” “, he launches. The thing deserves precision. “I mean I think I did a good job. But I never would have believed that I could do it if they hadn’t tried. »
In Haute Démolition, Étienne Galloy is happy to be able to show a “more mature” range of his acting. He also radically moves away from his characters of good-natured teenagers, “emancipation” of which he is happy.
“Looks like there was no transition. I went from playing virgin guys to guys who have lots of nudity! »
The one who quickly understood that his natural humor went well on the screen – “I like the comedy that is not played” – bet on the “nuance of your tone”. This is the kind of character he seeks and finds in productions like The Red Bracelets, Plan B, Lou and Sophie and Haute Démolition, whose quality amazes him.
“I hope the series will be seen as it deserves. That it will sell, be seen elsewhere. It’s good, well done, well edited. It is of the caliber of large platforms. »
So far, only two of the six episodes of the series directed by Christian Laurence have been broadcast by Série. Without divulging anything, let’s say that things will quickly start to go badly for Raph. But Étienne Galloy has infused him with enough humanity and charisma to be loved, even if he is becoming more and more “problematic”.
“You realize that all his motivation comes from being bullied in high school. He’s a character who could be quickly hated, but I tried to give him a good nature, a comic naturalness that makes him a little guy, not an adult who is aware of everything he does. »
Based on a novel by Jean-Philippe Baril-Guérard, Haute Démolition is a harsh portrait of the world of humor and its toxicity. Étienne Galloy realized that stars who feel “untouchable and invincible” sometimes behave badly without even realizing it.
The actor liked to embody this character unable to manage his emotions. He himself experienced bullying in his youth… which did not make him an unpleasant person. “No, I think I’m ben smath!” It did, however, leave a few sensitive topics running through his throat.
“I was bullied about my weight and I still have anxiety about my appearance. The nudity scenes are a challenge, my little abdominal fat stresses me out when I’m sitting. But crime, I tell myself that to see myself being well on the screen in this body can relieve anxiety for some people. »
It’s a bit of a mission for the actor, who is also a director in his spare time. “I want to do everything, touch everything. You only live once, you know ostie! He founded his production company and has a few projects in development, a question of nurturing his entrepreneurial side and learning to make films other than by playing. Where does he see himself at 30?
He thinks a bit. “I would like to build myself a little empire. We look at him dubiously.
“Yes, like Louis Morissette, it is an inspiration! The guy, he’s a comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, he has his offices… That’s it, at 30, I would like to have offices! Having a small team, becoming a nice empire, and when I’m not filming, developing series, films. Yes, I think I would really like that, to have offices. That way I wouldn’t need to write on my couch anymore. »
