Last Wednesday, 9 a.m., in a Parisian hotel. In front of his coffee, Artus looks in good shape despite the nights being too short. The day before, he was in Montpellier to carry the Olympic flame – “Nothing spectacular. I walked 200 meters with a big match. » On Wednesday, he will be in Cannes to climb the Festival steps with the team ofA little something extra, shot with 11 amateur actors with mental disabilities and a handful of professional actors (Clovis Cornillac, Alice Belaïdi, Marc Riso). A form of consecration which was accompanied by a controversy caused by the refusal of major luxury brands to dress the happy little troop. “I think it’s always more elegant for a brand to dress Brad Pitt than to dress Artus and even more so actors with disabilities,” lamented the comedian on France Inter.
The “suit gate” is launched. In the process, the small world of luxury is rushing to put out the fire, from Dior to Lacoste to Ralph Lauren. “We put their noses in their poop, all these brands which advocate living together in very beautiful charters on inclusion”, laughs Artus. According to our information, an exchange last Sunday between Artus and Aurore Bergé, Minister responsible for Equality between Women and Men and the Fight against Discrimination, would have unblocked the situation, with the entry into play of François’ Kering group -Henri Pinault (Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga…).
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Brands and big producers are now biting their fingers for not having seen this box office star coming. With more than 2 million admissions, his film has established itself as the biggest French success since the pandemic after Alibi.com 2 (2023) and Asterix and Obelix – The Middle Kingdom (2023). One in three spectators went to see the film in the first week. In the second week, A little something extra even outstripped Planet of the Apes – The New Kingdom with 992,121 spectators. “We encountered a lot of refusals from producers. One of them even told me: “We know they exist, we’re not going to show them anymore.” But the more people told me no, the more I wanted to do it.” underlines Artus, whose film will ultimately be produced by Cine Nomine.
He agrees, “getting better would be complicated”. In the wake of a triumphant tour with his One man show (100,000 places sold between January and April), the comedian with a professional cooking baccalaureate makes a sensational entrance as a director, after having demonstrated his talent as an actor in The Legends Office and around twenty comedies. He was touched by the messages sent by Gilles Lellouche, Pierre Niney, Gérard Jugnot, Jean Dujardin… “Patrice Leconte even wrote to me “welcome to the family”. » With its plot as simple as it is clever – a father (Clovis Cornillac) and his son (Artus) rob a jewelry store, then crash into a bus of young people with Down syndrome and autism – and its reasonable budget (6 million euros), the film is a hit in large urban centers as well as in towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants.
The key to its success? “It would take a whole bunch to understand it,” smiles Artus, who is delighted to see, during the screenings, “old people, young people, parents dragged by their children, white people, black people, Jews… The film comes at the right time because the times are so stressful. » In a society more polarized than ever, A little something extra unites around the acceptance of difference, seen as an asset and not a threat… “At first, I was afraid that the actors would be used as show animals. I was quickly reassured, confirms Daniel, a Swiss retiree on vacation, leaving a Parisian room. They all have strong personalities, talent and real roles. » On the associative side, the reception is also positive. “I found the film caring and deeply humane, even if it evokes more than it shows the harsh reality of the daily life of people with a mental disability, assures Luc Gateau, president of Unapei (National Union of Associations of Parents of Maladapted Children). It’s a bubble, a feel-good movie, and it’s very good. »
What if the other key to success also lay in the public’s appetite for films tackling disability? Patients (2016) by Grand Corps Malade, Exceptional (2019) of the Nakache-Toledano tandem, Everyone standing (2018) by Franck Dubosc have they not happily exceeded one million entries? Without forgetting The Aries Family (2014, 7 million) and Untouchables (2011, 19 million). More confidential works have also met their audience: Mr. I know everything on autism (2018, 400,000 entries), With all our strength with Jacques Gamblin (2013, 650,000 admissions). “This theme is less repulsive, because it is treated better and better in cinema and ultimately conveys universal values,” underlines Julien Richard-Thomson, president of the Union of Cinema Professionals with Disabilities (SPCH).
Artus confides that he was touched by the issue of disability from his childhood. A classroom meeting with Victor, who has autism: ” I loved him so much. I invited him to my birthday. His mother had called me to make sure we weren’t going to make fun of him. That day, I understood that disability could, for some, be a problem. » The comedian will take time before broaching the subject on stage. In 2019, during the Montreux Comedy Festival, he made the room ripple with his sketch Handisporta peak of trashy humor… “I was convinced that I was going to get busted on social networks. The next day, the video was online on the Disabled Sports Federation’s Facebook page. » Two years later, during the broadcast Impossible Duets by Jérémy Ferrari, he plays Sylvain, a village idiot and serial killer who would make Émile Louis look like a budding delinquent. To the police officer who questions him, he responds: “I am not disabled. Mom says I have a little something extra. »
His absolute reference? The eighth day (1996), masterpiece by Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael, with Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor with Down syndrome. “They received the Best Actor Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, he recalls. This film marked a turning point but, since then, very few directors have highlighted actors with mental disabilities. » Let us still mention the sports comedy Each for all by Vianney Lebasque (2018), Exceptional with the actor suffering from autism Benjamin Lesieur, Almost (2022), directed and performed by Bernard Campan and the philosopher Alexandre Jollien, cerebral palsy. “I didn’t want to make a film about “able-bodied people”, where, from time to time, we see people in wheelchairs in the distance, Artus explains. I wanted to put them at the center of the film. It’s a complex logistics, it takes time to adapt to everyone, but their good humor boosted the whole team. »
According to Julien Richard-Thomson, A little something extra could well move the lines. “Producers will no longer be able to say “it’s too complicated, disability scares people”. » Because the journey of an actor with a disability is always a matter of the stations of the cross. Stanislas Carmont can attest to this. Actor within the Théâtre du Cristal company, he established himself, at the age of 25, as one of the revelations ofA little something extra. Also a journalist at Papotin meetings (the magazine run by young autistic people), he landed his first real role in Artus’ film: “I have an agent, but I won’t hide the fact that she has a lot of trouble finding castings. » Nothing to discourage the young man, passionate about the Presidents of the Republic to the point of conversing with the solemnity of an RPR baron. “I really want to have a career, it’s my passion and my best therapy. »
While waiting for better inclusion, Artus is already measuring the impact of his little extra thing. “Associations have noted an increase in donations since the release of the film,” underlines the sponsor of the Paralympic Games and Handicap International. When will there be a screening at the Élysée, with which contacts have been made? “Maybe, I hope, I would like to, I have never been there, but nothing is set yet,” assures Artus. He sees his film as “a starting point and not an end”. His real objective? Create a vacation center, “like a Club Med adapted to young people with disabilities, but open to able-bodied people”. Or the scenario ofA little something extra. In real life.
