[interview] José Garcia and Isabelle Doval (FONZY)

Fonzy, the pseudonym under which Diego Costa provided there 20 years sperm repeatedly as part of a research protocol.

Today, at age 42, he is deliveryman in the fish family and leads a life of a teenager irresponsible and blundering. While his companion, Elsa, teaches him that she is pregnant, her past resurfaces.

Diego discovers he is the sire of 533 children, 142 of which want to know who is Fonzy…

Fonzy is the third film of the actress and director Isabelle Doval. This feature film is the adaptation of the canadian film Starbuck, directed by Ken Scott, released in 2011, and had won three awards at the festival of comedy of l’alpe d’huez in 2012. The United States also purchased the rights to Starbuck to make an american version.

Funny and full of life, Fonzy comes out on the screens in france on the 30 October 2013. Many well-known actors appear in the credits: José Garcia, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Audrey Fleurot, Arnaud Tsamère, Alice Belaïdi, Gérard Hernandez or even Hugo Dessioux.

• Why have you adapted this canadian film in French version ?

Isabelle Doval : It is an idea to producers. Too few people had seen this film. We loved the history but we found that we had something different to bring to it. I wanted to vitaminer this film, which speaks primarily of the life, the birth of a father, etc., The original film is quite melancholy, the mine contains more joy, energy.

Jose Garcia : people do make the effort of watching movies when there are subtitles, and it is a pity, because this story deserved to be more widely known.

• Have you taken liberties or, on the contrary, have you tried to respect the original film ?

ID : I kept a lot of elements that were very well written, but I found that there were gaps. I emphasized the passages about pregnancy of the girlfriend of Fonzy and I have given a more important role to children. I haven’t broken, which was perfect, this is not the adaptation. I removed some of the sequences, and I suggested others.

JG : It has tweaked a lot of details to adapt to our culture.

It is like the theatre, the classics, which are played hundreds of times by different actors and adapted according to each director. It has not touched the structure, but it has been improved in our own way.

• Have you made many changes to the main character, played by José Garcia ?

ID : The character of Jose is more colorful and more enthusiastic, less melancholic.

JG : I am used to, with my last few films, to interpret some of the unlikely characters that do not exist so that require absolute concentration. I liked the return to something human.

Isabelle told me that she would direct me from A to Z. I found it interesting because I told myself that she was going to reveal to me. She sees me every day so she sees things in me that I do not notice any more.

• Is it nice to be led by his wife for several weeks, without nothing to be able to challenge ?

JG : I won’t let myself go with Isabelle that I don’t allow myself with other directors. There, I was a little bit battered, but it is not serious (laughter). I was a race horse who became a walker, and I returned home to the cadre Noir of Saumur, every two weeks, which is not obvious!

ID : At the beginning, it was a bit difficult, especially for someone who is very hellion. He did not understand everything, and then he has come to understand. (laughs) I wanted that it brings what it is to serve a different type of character.

• Why did you choose the name Fonzy ?

JG : We always think at a time of life when one was in a reckless or everything was going well. It is nostalgic. It is said that Diego was arrested in the 80’s, he was watching happy Days (editor’s note: Happy Days), in France it was the only thing. There was this famous character Fonzy, the cool guy, very endearing.

• What are your next projects ?

ID : I’m in casting, to shoot next spring. The film will be called ” don’t worry, I manage “.

JG : If the lady is working, I am a father in the home, it is necessary that I deal with stewardship.

ID : We can’t make the shot to children every year from shooting.

JG : I’ve done a lot of movies one after the other. I try to leave some time for selecting the films and prepare them. And most importantly, keep the pleasure of my job, to arrive on a shoot and you want to play, and it reserves a lot.

• You have had a small role in Elusive (editor’s note: Now you see me) de Louis Leterrier. Do you want to play in other american films ?

JG : Elusive, it was a stroke of luck, a real surprise. It is Mélanie Laurent, who called me to talk about the movie. It was great, I learned a lot of things, their way of working is different. I love the States but, what I like, it’s mostly Europe and in France. I’ve already been uprooted once, it is not to be used a 2nd time, otherwise it’s not going to stay that the roots. (laughter)