Meeting with the actors Audrey Fleurot, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing and Valentin Merlet. Canal + on the other side of the bars In this season of Gears, Josephine Karlsson, the formidable lawyer interpreted by Audrey Fleurot , experiencing the worst nightmare of every lawyer being on the other side of the bars. In fact, the character of Josephine was not spared in the course of the past few seasons, after the loss of Pierre Clément (Grégory Fitoussi), the rape and the attempted murder she suffered. “It is a character that one loves to do a little morfler” according to the actress. “What is so cool is that she is in an environment where it does not have the codes, where it is not in a position of strength, where usually she arive to get a shell by threading a pencil skirt and heels to give the impression that she has total command of the situation. Here she is in a position of weakness.Josephine is a warrior, but it is good to see that moment where she loses a foot, and hangs up to Edelman to the sort of there.” The feeling of vulnerability of character has been reinforced by the conditions of filming the special, in the heart of the prison de Réau at Fontainebleau : “It is an experience strong enough, the director has opted for a modern prison pretty “clean”, well away from the imaginary pessimistic of the old prisons crumbling. This is what we can do “better” in terms of prison, but it is extremely anxiety-provoking,” says the actress. “Even for those who work there all day, you are incarcerated as inmates ! And then it is very complicated to turn into a prison because it takes a long time to return an entire technical team with all equipment, it is necessary to list the lesser cable, the slightest brush of makeup… It is very heavy in terms of logistics, you lose an hour to go inside, time out, lunch break takes you half the day, there are schedules to be very accurate to be able to turn in the court… And this is quite disturbing, it is that one is among the detained. We are left to discuss with women who have killed a number of people, since it was severe penalties where it was. It is confusing to have a conversation that is entirely normal in this environment. At the end of the hallway, there were two women who were with their babies separated behind a gate, they both have given birth in prison, so you find yourself having conversations of a mom, to know if they go outside, and well not they live with them. And when you ask the people who work there what these women have done, they say, ‘well, she stumbled on two persons’, and you say to yourself, ‘ah, yes so the girl with whom I talk for a half-hour is in fact a serial killer !’ “The team has had to deal with fans a little bit special : “Gears, this is a series that is much watched in prison. Even when we went in the course, there were all the guys that were in the windows, screaming “Master, Karlsson !” I was surprised that they are aware of at this point. There is a real curiosity.” canal Of the characters anchored in reality To Valentin Merlet, interpreter of the commissioner Arnaud Beckriche, “The universe carcécal is a world a bit mysterious; what he felt Audrey, the oppression, the fact of being immersed with these people, in all fields, be it the court or the cops, one of the great strengths of this series it is true of everything that is happening. When we will turn around in the neighborhoods, in places that are a little bit hot, we in our role as cops we are confronted to this reality. As actors, we are going to tap into that and we use it a lot.” Audrey Fleurot adds : “We have access to through this series of microcosms where we would never set foot : I remember, there are some seasons we were shooting in a circle of games, it’s quite fascinating in fact. This is one of the opportunities of our profession.” Beckriche, recently introduced in the universe of Gears, is a character who does things in the rules, in accordance with the procedure. In season 7, he begins to get closer to his team, while he was very much in conflict with their methods in the previous season. However, it will discover that its allies are not necessarily where you think : “there is a theme that is very important for me in this season, it is that of betrayal. Actually The Forefoot, which is a little like his mentor and he learned everything, which he believes to have absolute confidence, will be caught up by its acts and Beckriche will fall out of the top; he will face the suspicion of his team with him, including Laura who is the first to be wary of. Compared to his next procedures, it is by the work that he is going to regain their trust.” This work, immersion in the real world is facilitated by the natural scenery, and filming is often performed in small teams. “Often the location where we are shooting, they are true; life goes on, it does not block all of it. When one turns to the Palace of justice, palace of justice continue to live, we try to be as small as possible”, according to Audrey Fleurot. “My office in the series is a real office of a lawyer, it is in the walls,” says Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, who plays Master Edelman. We have access to through this series of microcosms where we’d never have set a foot in the Lawyers, judges, cops, all agree to find the series ultra-representative of their profession. “The number of people who have told me “but it exists so much, Joséphine Karlsson !” notes Audrey Fleurot. Gears especially emphasizes the aspect twisted that may be taken by the legal profession, always on the border of morality. “I’ve done five years of law and after an internship in a law firm, I decided not to do this job,” said Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. “It’s too complicated ! I was faced with situations morally indefensible.” His character is just more proof of humanity in this season : “Edelman, it is a part of me. I’m tired of playing the cynics. The villains I’ve played a lot, it is very fun, but for a moment you feel like more of lightness, deep inside.” It also suffers from its complex relationship to Josephine : “He is weakened because he is a little lover, he is rejected all the time… It takes risk to keep it and save it, it is in this way that he becomes likeable. It is more involved because it plays to his skin.” The fate of his character still remains uncertain at the end of the season 7… From there to what the characters are tipped totally in the corruption ? “For me this would be the logical result,” quipped Audrey Fleurot, “because Josephine has explored all of the wheels of justice, she defended the big baddies, the widow and the orphan, no longer believes in justice, she finds herself in jail… I would have loved that in prison it is to make contacts, and you end up on a Josephine totally cynical and that is completely on the other side.” Find the season 7 Gear on Canal+, Canal+ décalé and VOD on myCanal : Gear – season 7 trailer VF