This Thursday, October 13, 2022, M6 is broadcasting “In Search of Eternal Youth”. A documentary in which Valérie Bonneton, together with reporter Alfred de Montesquiou, explores the world to discover the different ways to stay “young”. An actress whose talent is recognized by all, Valérie Bonneton has nevertheless had a painful beginning, in particular because of her physical appearance, judged and criticized on many occasions…
“From the beginning of my career, I bet on work and talent. I didn’t focus on my physique, otherwise, as soon as my first wrinkle appeared, I was screwed,” said Valérie Bonneton in the columns of Télé Star. Sharp words that they mark a strong temperament and an iron determination. Because before making the French laugh in the series “Fais pas ci, faire pas ça”, or moving them in more tragic films, such as “Les Petits Mouchoirs”, Valérie Bonneton had to deal with the lack of encouragement in her surroundings in the face of his comedy dreams, and the cruelty of the profession.
Video. Valérie Bonneton tempted by cosmetic surgery? “I didn’t focus on my physique”
Violent criticism from an early age.
Originally from the north of France, Valérie Bonneton grew up in a modest family and very quickly became interested in the world of entertainment. She unfortunately, got discouraged so quickly: “When she was little, she wanted to do dance and play the piano. Every time she expressed this desire, they told me: ‘Oh, you’ll get over it..’ And each time, I felt a terrible frustration. And a feeling of injustice. I said to myself: ‘Damn it, why wasn’t I born somewhere else? My life would be different.’ they emanate from the culture. But I never lost the desire to have a different life. A beautiful life, “he confided in 2021 to the Generations site. At age 12, young Valérie took to the school stage to perform “Les Fourberies de Scapin”. It is “a revelation” for the schoolgirl, who understands that comedy is made for her. But there again, she doesn’t get the encouragement that she should.
“Nothing encouraged me in this regard. I remember my French teacher telling me: ‘You from the theatre? Oh, not you!’ But I held on. And I defended my wish. After high school, I came to Paris to enter the Cours Florent. He had given me three years (no more, because my parents didn’t help me at all financially), to check that I wasn’t heading in the wrong direction.” And magic happens. In Cours Florent, the precious teachings of Francis Huster help Valérie Bonneton to gain self-confidence After the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art, the actress dreams of the French Comedy.
Unfortunately, it was at this point in her life that she was faced with the cruelty of an environment where appearance was paramount, sometimes despite talent. “It didn’t happen. I found out after they hadn’t taken me because of my physique, that it wasn’t considered classic enough. It made me very sad to know that,” he confided in 2021 in Generations. And to add, more philosophically: “I think I was lucky not to start my career thanks to a young first physicist.”
A TV hit that started it all
Perhaps it is all these criticisms of her physique that led Valérie Bonneton to build a career as an actress later, certainly, but a particularly solid one. After having long played supporting roles in comedies on the big screen, but also on the stage, Valérie Bonneton says “yes” to the role that will propel her into the hearts of the French: that of Fabienne Lepic in “Fais pas ci, Fais pas ça”. A series with unprecedented success, and a role of crazy and complaining mother thanks to which the actress can finally show all her comic power.
“For me, what makes people beautiful is their personality, their way of moving and being in the world. Before we only saw the charm under an atypical physique in men, I’m thinking of Belmondo when I say that. Today, we also see in women who would have been described as ugly. We understood, it seems to me, that beauty was determined by what emanated from an individual” she today.
Video. Valérie Bonneton moved to evoke her son’s leukemia: “I tried to transform everything”
Over the years, Valérie Bonneton has managed to impose her unique acting style on film, theater and television. And this determination, she wants more than anything to pass on to her two children, born of her relationship with François Cluzet. However, sometimes the actress finds it difficult to maintain her self-confidence, especially when she arrives on a film set: “I wonder if I will be up to the task. I still have a small feeling of inferiority for having arrived in the world of the theater and cinema with cultural deficiencies”, he confided to Generations. Indelible wounds…
Also read:
>> Valérie Bonneton leaves “In Search of Eternal Youth” in a new documentary
>> The handkerchiefs: the rare confidences of Valérie Bonneton and François Cluzet about their breakup after the shooting
>> Valérie Bonneton: the actress’s secrets to age well