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assa, philippine, axel and david in the french show “quotidien” (13/06) even tho it’s so long I don’t even know if anyone’s gonna read it

Journalist : Good evening to the four of you, welcome. Axel Auriant, we know each other, you already came.

Axel : Exactly.

J : Welcome back. Assa Sylla, welcome, and Philippine Stindel (he butchered her name a bit skdkdkdk), welcome. And, you’re three of Skam’s actors, David Hourregue you’re the director of Skam, of the show airing on the platform France TV Slash, it’s France TV’s platform.

D : Exactly.

J : Is that it? Explain Skam to people who know nothing about it.

D : Skam tells the daily life of high schoolers. Of high schoolers in seconde (first year of high school) and première (second year of high school) during seasons 3 and 4, and has the particularity of airing in real time.

J : How is it airing?

D : So, there’s clearly the episode, if you want to binge watch it there’s the episode at the end of the week

J : If you want to… ? (poor old dude is so lost)

D : Binge watch it. Hi sir.

J : No but for people who don’t know, I know.

D : You know.

J : Some people don’t

D : There’s the full episode airing at the end of the week like a classical TV show, on fridays at 6pm on Slash, but you can also decide to live another experience, that is to say to live each clip, each part, airing at the hour where it’s supposed to happen in the week. An example-

J : Yes, for example, if…. A lunch on thursday is going to be at 1pm on thursday.

D : At 1pm, if they plan to meet on friday for a, for a party or a date, we can be sure that at 7 or 8 pm, all of the audience is online, hoping the meeting will happen and when is it going to drop, what is gonna go down, and how we’re gonna- (they know we’re clowns they really do)

Other journalist : Are they short clips? How long are the clips?

D : It’s variable. Actually a clip can last 50 seconds or 8 minutes for example.

OJ : So you have to follow

D : You have to follow, knowing that it’s never announced. You don’t have any notification to tell you “it is now”, you never know when it’s gonna drop beforehand, and…

Third Journalist : And how is it going, how do you know?

J : On social media

D : Exactly

J : Makes us look young, to ask for this [laughs] . They all have their instagram accounts. They all have an account, the characters’ account, and so there are two issues. One, addiction (i won’t be attacked like that sir), we say that some young people are completely drugged on skam, and two, teachers can’t anymore, especially when an episode is supposed to happen at uh… two to eight.

D : We got messages from teachers. Asking us, “please, next week there’s an exam at x hour, try not to drop a clip at 7h56”. So that’s quite…

J : So you have your characters account, in fact. (he really is lost someone who has actually seen the show help him)

Assa : Exactly

J : But, are you the ones behing them? Or are there…

Axel : Not at all. No, no, there are community managers who are doing that way better than us, in my opinion. And especially, you have to be connected at the same time as the plot happens, at the same time as the episodes are airing, so sometimes you have to post at 11pm, etc, so we’re not always on social media.

[they all laugh and i think they’re teasing him cause 11pm is early for him?]

J : Are you gonna disspoint people or do the fans know? (dude we’re not stupid) [Axel looking confused]

P : Ah no they know I think.

A : Yeah

P : Well yeah

J : Who has the most followers?

Assa : Axel I think

P : Yeah Axel yeah

Axel : I think it is- No it’s Lucas, I think.

J : Yeah you have to différenciate. What does Skam mean?

D : Shame, in norwegian.

J : Why norwegian?

D : Uh… Cause it’s the remake of a norwegian TV show, who was a true triumph there. It started slowly, nicely, before completely exploding at the end of season 2. And, basically, there, I think 2/3 of norwegian people have seen the show, that’s absolutely huge.

J : So what are the themes? I can remember sexuality, want to be cool, desire to be integrated, what else?

Assa : Religion, for season 4.

Axel : Bullying- actually what’s very strong and allows a lot of young people to relate is that Skam uses the codes of today’s youth in that society, and for every problem we can… Well, being a teenager is a very carnal/pivotal (the two words are similar in french and he mixed up both) moment, where…

J : Carnal

Axel : Yeah, carnal too, exactly, as we can see in the paint, but uh… That’s the strenght of Skam, it’s that in one plot you can find, for example in Lucas’ storyline - I’m talking about my character - we can find the discovery of his sexuality, at least at that very moment of his life, bullying, every societal norm he suddenly faces, and that’s the strength of Skam, it’s to see a bunch of teens revealing themselves and supporting each others during that carnal and pivotal period.

J : We have been talking about it for two minutes, but now we’re gonna see an extract, with you [he points at Axel]

[it’s the clip where Lucas leaves the church looking for Eliott with all the flashbacks]

J : So that’s you Axel. Assa, your character, if you had to describe it in a few words?

Assa : So, Imane’s character is a young woman - well young girl, black, Muslim, hijabi. She tries to live her youth while keeping her faith, her principles, her values. And she also embodies all possible forms of discrimination. Be it religious, physical discriminations…

P : About women

A : About women… And yeah.

J : We’re watching an extract with you.

[last clip of s4 when she explains to Sofiane their relationship would be very difficult because religion is so important in her life, and her family, her muslim friends…]

J : Philippine that’s your turn, your character?

P : We’re gonna say… Uh, a bit wild. She enjoys a good time (literally “une bonne vivante” = “a good liver”)

J : Wild, enjoying a good time.

P : That’s it.

J : That’s it? Can we watch an extract?

P : Yeah

[it’s the “you look like a slut” part at the party with Ingrid]

J : Am I wrong or, when you talk about it or even when you look at the images we feel that you feel a certain pride about embodying these characters?

Assa : So much. Really, I’m so… I’m very very proud, really, extremely proud to be a part of this project, to…

J : And are you part of the writing of the script? For example?

[David nods]

A : For season 4?

J : He [David] is saying yes. He’s nodding

[laughs]

Assa : Well for season 4-

J : Who got involved in the script writing?

D : From the start, we don’t build the script opposed to our actors’ energy.

J : Okay

D : Skam is of an appalling rhythm during the shooting, and I have to play a little with what they are. And the faster I’m getting closer to what they are and feel, the faster we’re impactful and close to the truth. I think that’s what the audience feels.

J : And did you take part in the script, Axel and Philippine?

P : Well, more or less yeah, while talking with David and all that, yeah we might have sometimes given him ideas.

J : Axel?

Axel : Me too, there’s a piano scene, it’s true that… I had just bought a piano and i told David-

J : I wanna play piano

Axel : Exactly, and he integrated…

J : And no drums?

Axel : No. So… Why no drums David?

D : Too simple

J : David, apparently sometimes you felt a bit overwhelmed by the width of the phenomenon.

D : Of course, cause you never prepare a TV show imagining the phenomenon it’s going to produce. All that we tried to do, and I’m really including my cast in that, it’s to answer it, not playing deaf about all of the messages that we received. It was, that was really impressive. We really felt from one day to another a sort of-

J : What are the fans telling you?

D : “We don’t feel alone anymore”.

J : Do they tell you that too? [to the actors i guess]

Axel : That’s what’s shattering/deeply moving, it’s too see- Because when we’re shooting, we’re trying to live the closest we can to these characters, but it’s to a fictional scale, and to see all of a sudden the impact that the story can have on people, it’s true that we’re very lucky. I counted 2800 letters at home, I’m trying to read and answer everything (and that’s the boy that’s recently been bashed so bad he had to leave twitter…….. go off i guess). But it’s deeply moving to see how much this story can help people to accept themselves, to accept who they are at that point of their lives, and not necessarily - Lucas’ character for example discovers all of a sudden that he likes men, but it’s beautiful to see friends that say “yes actually, I’m realizing that I may have judged my friend a bit fast, maybe I even throw insults at them”, things you say to joke but hay can actually hurt and really do harm when you’re trying to build yourself. So it’s deeply moving for us and we- Well for me at least I’m becoming way less stupid with Skam, because I understood a lot of things and I met young people, I was able to understand what they’re living today, it’s deeply moving. I’m saying that as if I was 25, while I’m-

J : Assa, what kind of letters, of words, did you receive?

Assa : I’m getting a lot of messages from young girls thanking me. “Thank you to finally represent us on tv”, “thank you cause I finally understand young muslim girls wearing the hijab”, and that’s very beautiful, that’s really beautiful to get messages like this, to see that well, it touches a huge amount of girls and even boys! Which surprised me a lot. Yeah. And, not only black or muslim girls, just simply young girls relating to Imane’s character.

J : Were there already hijabi fictional characters? Main characters in a TV show?

D : Well we searched a lot. And sadly we didn’t find any. In France, she’s the first one.

J : You’re the first one Assa.

D : We had to work a lot too so she would understand, that despite all of the inevitable symbolic aspect, we were telling Imane’s story. Because very clearly, there’s such a huge expectation, we’re talking about a phenomenon. There are no more TV shows dedicated to young people, currently. We went through 10 or 15 years with a terrible shortage of shows dedicated to young people that really speak to them. And that’s true that very very fast, we had to make Assa understand - she didn’t really need it - the importance of that moment, which was going to be season 4, while telling her “okay, you’re telling the story of only one young woman. We can never make everyone happy, but let’s tell it the closest of what you lived, and we should touch quite many hearts.”

OJ : And, are there themes you refuse to deal with? Because we see religion, sexuality… There’s everything but is there a theme where you told yourself “no, we’re not going there”?

D : We’re expected on this, and I’m including my authors of course, lead by Niels Rahou, the head writer. Actually, there’s real expectations from our audience that precisely, we don’t keep ourselves away from a lot of things. Of course, everyone warned us when we were about to start season 4, saying “are you really sure”. I remember a talk in the bus in between Imane and Sofiane, where she talks about her love for Allah, about her religion and how it makes her feel like a better person, and she faces Lais, Sofiane played by Lais Salameh who’s a believer in life, who explains her dogmes and everything, he thinks it breaks people apart, he doesn’t believe in it, and i remember when we were filming that part, my perchman who was looking at this and telling me “are we really… shooting this right now?”. There was a fear, but there’s such a need that we feel through the messages we receive. If you knew the amount of messages, of topics that they hope we’ll touch on through the show.

TJ : And what themes, precisely? What themes are coming back, are asked for?

D : Everything… Season 3 triggered a sort of earthquake, at least that’s a bit how we lived it, of people who absolutely wanted us to talk about them and about their right not to know, at 17. We’re at the time of Parcoursup (a french internet platform where you apply for uni after your last high school year), you’re asked to know exactly what you want to do really fast. To say : “I have the right not to know if I’m straight, gay, bi, pan”, well it’s going everywhere, and it’s true that now I face so many young people at screenings telling me “here, I’m trans, and I would love it if there was a trans character”. And Skam only repeats a damned evidence that we had forgotten, it’s the importance of representation. We’re all very happy to see, me included, that 10 millions of people are watching girls play football, because we tell ourselves “that’s it”, now little girls are gonna tell themselves “I have the right to mark a goal. I have the right to. I’m gonna go for it.”. We’re maybe gonna see mixed plays in schools. The importance of representation in Skam, is exploding to out faces to each screening and each time a clip drops. They need it.

J : Did it change you? You personally. Philippine?

P : Oh la, uh… No?

J : No?

P : No not much no, I don’t think so, but yeah it feels good to be part of a TV show like that, which yeah represents everyone first, and which allows- because it’s true that teenage years are a period where you need to express yourself about a lot of things, you need to try a lot of things, and to see that well, even on tv there are people who try a lot of things that way, I think it feels good. For me at least, everyone I’ve met told me “with that I made myself a lot of friends” actually, cause that creates a lot of networks, and the fact it’s on social media probably helps yeah.

J : So if you want to understand teens, or at least a small part of teenagers, watch Skam, and it’s on the platform France TV Slash.

Game about their playlist :

J : So, what do I have… The most beautiful song of all history. Starting with you Assa. It’s that.

[Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland - Dilemma]

J : The most beautiful song of all history for you Axel that’s that.

[Barbara - L'Aigle Noir]

J : It’s another genre, Barbara. The most beautiful song of all history for you Philippine, that’s that

[Charles Aznavour - La Bohème]

J : not bad, not bad!

D : Brown noser (?? Is that a true word).

J : And finally the most beautiful song of all history for you David that’s that.

[Dinah Washington & Max Richter - This Bitter Earth / On The Nature Of Daylight]

J : The song to dance, for you Assa

[Beyonce ft. Jay Z - Crazy In Love]

J : But what is that choice Axel? That’s that

[Jermaine Jackson & Pia Zadora - When The Rain Begins To Fall]

J : The song to dance for you Philippine it’s that

[The Black Eyed Peas - Hey Mama]

J : Black Eyed Peas. And for you David the dancing song is that

[Colouring - Time]

J : The song for a love night for you Assa, it’s that

[Ciara - Body Party]

[Axel and Philippine being shook]

A : You didn’t imagine uh? Well yeah

J : Axel it’s that

[Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World] (boy is sophisticated)

A : I have a little turntable at home

J : And Philippine that’s that

[Vegedream - Mama He] (……… deux salles deux ambiances)

[they all laugh, Assa is finished]

P : That’s it

J : Why not, Vegedream. And finally David that’s it

[Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy] (and now i feel like if I was at a family dinner with an oversharing uncle)

J : And finally, your guilty pleasure song - knowing that Axel you chose Pia Zadora earlier so I don’t know what you chose worse. Guilty pleasure song is that one for you Assa

[Arne Vinzon - Les Otaries]

[they all laugh]

J : So Axel, what’s your guilty pleasure song

[Cheb Rayan - Dana Dana]

OJ : It’s great! It’s good it’s good

A : See? It passes guys

J : And Philippine that’s this one

[Matrang - Medy3a] (sweetie I love you but this is less shameful than your previous song isn’t it)

J : And the song… Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah! I think no one had ever picked that one.

D : My pleasure

[Gold - Plus Près Des Étoiles]

J : Ah it’s a Toulouse reference ?

D : Of course

J : Oh yeah okay. It was the playlist of your guests. Thanks to the four of you for coming on Quotidien, Skam France on France TV Slash, thanks a lot to the four of you, and uh, enjoy the next season!

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