Oct 20, 2020

French actor Gerard Depardieu to star in an animated series for adults about his life.

Here's some sudden but somehow satisfying news. The great French actor Gérard Depardieu will be a character in an animated cartoon for adults that tells anecdotes from his life. Depardieu, who came up with the idea for the show, will voice himself in the cartoon.

Depardieu seul le sait! was presented by Toon Factory, the French studio that produces the series. The tone of the show promises to be "sincere, funny, and sometimes poetic." Depardieu will be portrayed in the graphic novel Gérard: Five Years with Depardieu, a 2017 novel about his journey with Depardieu.

Just entering development, Only Depardieu Knows! will consist of 52 3-minute episodes. There will also be a number of special episodes directed by "other big names" in the bande dessinée (comics) world. Thierry Berthier, CEO and co-founder of Toon Factory, had this to say about the series:

"Only Depardieu knows! will deliver an uncompromising vision of the world as Gérard sees it, unfiltered. This unconventional man exposes his iconic personality and frankness, his qualities and flaws, his enthusiasm and regret.

Depardieu is the most famous French actor of his generation, with a career that spans half a century and has even made it to Hollywood. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Cyrano de Bergerac and has been nominated 17 times for the César Award (the French Academy Award) for Best Actor, winning twice. He played the role of Obelix four times in the live-action version of "Asterix," and his English-language credits include Peter Weir's "Green Card," Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet," and Ang Lee's "Life of Pi."

In recent years, however, his career has been marked by controversy: in 2012, he renounced his French passport for excessive taxes and became a Russian citizen at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, which greatly damaged his favorability in his native country. Other scandals include an incident in which he urinated on a plane and an investigation into rape allegations that were eventually dropped.

Top image: "Gérard: Five Years with Depardieu" © Mathieu Sapin / Dargaud