Montreal Gazzette

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=110 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="52d5fca0.jpg" border=0 width="95" height="202" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Montreal Gazzette <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#9900CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>September 22, 2001</B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="526d5690.jpg" border=0 width="469" height="361" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="52704210.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="33" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><B><IMG SRC="52704210.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="33" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis happy chez lui again</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>BRENDAN KELLY, Montreal Gazette, Saturday, September 22, 2001 </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Article and Image Scanned by: Soieange</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>It was a striking scene. The setting was an ostentatious home in the tony suburb of Rosemère, just north of Laval, complete with in-ground swimming pool, an expansive, carefully manicured lawn and a private tennis court. Canadian actor Michael Ironside - who's starred in everything from Scanners to Starship Troopers - was standing at the side of the pool, dripping wet, wearing a speedo and a bathrobe.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Just inches from Ironside stood Roy Dupuis. The star of the television show Nikita was decked out in scruffy leather jacket and pants, and his biker-chic look was topped off by long, unruly hair and a face that hadn't seen a razor blade up close for a couple of days. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>This odd couple were in a major-league argument, part of a key scene being shot for the Hell's Angels-inspired miniseries The Last Chapter. In the CBC/Radio-Canada drama, Ironside and Dupuis play fictional biker bosses Bob Durrelle and Ross Desbiens, respectively, who start out as pals and then have a falling out. In the scene they were shooting this week, things are turning nasty. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Director Richard Roy kept shooting the argument over and over, the kind of seemingly endless repetition that's the norm on most film shoots. But there was a significant twist here: from take to take, Dupuis switched from French to English. The $9.5-million, six-hour miniseries is being shot in both of Canada's official languages, a highly unusual undertaking. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Producer Claudio Luca notes that it is like producing two six-hour projects, with twice as much shooting and two separate post-production processes. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It is rare for CBC and Radio-Canada to collaborate closely on such a pricey project. And oddly enough, this drama, penned by Québécois author Luc Dionne (Omertà), was initially developed at the CBC in Toronto. Radio-Canada came on board later. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis is doing all his own dialogue in both French and English. Later, after the director finally wraps the scene, Dupuis fires up a Camel Light and says he is happy to shoot a project in both languages. He is also one of only a handful of prominent francophone Quebec actors able to work easily in either language, with almost no trace of an accent in English. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Sometimes having to do everything twice isn't fun," Dupuis said. "And it's never exactly the same in the two languages. It does demand a lot of energy and concentration. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"But at the end of the day, it's worth it. It'll be better in both languages. I've dubbed almost all of the TV series that I've done, and it's very frustrating for an actor to dub his work. You lose a lot." </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>He Dubs Both Ways </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis is an equal-opportunity dubber - he's dubbed into both languages. He has dubbed his French work into English, including the phenomenally popular period series Les Filles de Caleb and the gay-themed movie Being at Home With Claude.  He has also provided his voice for the French versions of his English TV shows, notably the miniseries Million Dollar Babies and Nikita. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis has always moved easily between the two languages. One of his first major English-language roles was in the sci-fi thriller Screamers, directed by Christian Duguay and shot in Montreal in 1995 - and even then he sounded uncannily un-French. He learned his street-savvy English as a teenager when he spent three years with his family living in Kapuskasing, Ont. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis first hit star status here in Quebec thanks to a string of top-rated series: the historical works Les Filles de Caleb and Blanche and the newsroom drama Scoop.   His brooding, physical presence on screen set him apart from most of the actors here, and he added a sensual spark to a number of Québécois pictures in the early 1990s, including Being at Home With Claude (considered by most to be his stand-out film role so far) and Cap Tourmente. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>But he virtually disappeared from the Quebec film and TV scene over the past five years, spending almost all his time in Toronto starring opposite Australian actress Peta Wilson in the stylish espionage series Nikita. The show, which aired as La Femme Nikita on networks south of the border, ended production last year. But it has become a cult success story in the U.S. and many other countries around the globe, with Dupuis regularly receiving gushing letters from fans everywhere from Russia to Latin America. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Now Dupuis is finally back shooting in his home town, and he couldn't be happier. After spending 41/2 years commuting weekly to Toronto, Dupuis appreciates being able to return home to his 1840s farmhouse just outside of Montreal after a day on the set. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>But he is also pleased to be working on more challenging fare and acting in French. Aside from The Last Chapter, he is shooting the film Un Homme et son Péché, a high-profile remake directed by Charles Binamé of one of the classics of Quebec culture, based on the 1939 novel by Claude-Henri Grignon. Currently in production in the Lanaudière region, the period piece also stars Pierre Lebeau, Karine Vanasse and Rémy Girard. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis spent much of the summer renovating his house in the country, something he's been trying to do for years but simply didn't have the time for because of his day job on Nikita. He's enjoying the freedom of not being attached to a series, which is one reason he isn't particularly keen to sign on to another long-running TV project. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"I think I've done that," Dupuis said. "You never say never, so we'll see. But I want to stay chez nous for a little while. I want to be able to go home at night after shooting. I also miss the theatre and I'd like to do something on stage. But it has to be a new work." </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Exploring a Text</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis, who studied at the National Theatre School in Montreal, hasn't been on stage in seven years. He is currently talking to people about starring in a new play, perhaps early next year. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"What I really miss is the rehearsals," Dupuis said, his green-blue eyes flashing with something like emotion for the first time during the interview. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"I don't really miss acting on stage. I miss the gang in a rehearsal hall, this sense of family, exploring a text, pushing things to the limit. Also, there's no doubt theatre writing is more audacious, less censored than TV writing. Anything is possible in the theatre." </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dupuis also talks of taking off with a camera and shooting a little documentary. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"I just feel like being able to choose what I want to do," he said. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Last Chapter will air on CBC and Radio-Canada next March. Un Homme et son Péché will be released in Quebec theatres in December 2002. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="529ce1c0.gif" border=0 width="206" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ROY DUPUIS ARTICLES"><U><B><IMG SRC="52a8c3c0.jpg" border=0 width="140" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>                                                         </B><A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="RD Interviews and Articles 2002"><U><B><IMG SRC="52b8c3c0.jpg" border=0 width="140" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>