Cannes 2024: Bilal Hassani makes his film debut with “The Drama Queens”

In his first role, Bilal Hassani impresses drama queensscreened in Cannes, a crazy, queer and punk film, where it portrays, for more than 50 years, a paralyzed fan of a pop diva who has become a YouTuber destroyer.

This feature film, presented at Critics’ Week, allows Bilal Hassani to “open this door as an actor,” he confided to AFP on a beach in Cannes on Saturday, May 18. But above all, it feels “a great honor to be part of this story” written and directed by Alexis Langlois, a non-binary filmmaker.

“When I started writing six years ago, I discovered Bilal on YouTube, where he talked about his coming out and how he did poorly at university, and I thought to myself that YouTubers are a bit like the storytellers of our time,” explains Alexis. Langlois. Sitting next to the singer.

“I said yes right away.”

That’s good, Bilal Hassani was a fan of the short film at the time. Terror, my sisters! By Alexis Langlois. Then, the two artists got in touch through the networks. It is producer Alexis Langlois who is campaigning for Bilal Hassani to play the lead role in the film.

“When Alexis called me, my psychologist advised me to do a little theater to separate myself a little from (the star) Bilal Hassani,” continues the singer, who has just left Alter ego, New single. “Alexis met me and introduced me to the film, I said yes immediately and when I read the script, I laughed a lot, cried and shook.”

France’s representative at Eurovision 2019 experienced the filming as “child’s play.” This 1h55 film flies like a meteorite with references ranging from cartoons to fantastic cinema from the 70s, without forgetting a soundtrack that features a provocative electric grenade taken by Rebeka Warrior.

“Let off steam by being unpleasant”

It’s particularly tasty to see Bilal Hassani play a hysterical YouTuber, driven by evil intentions, knowing that he himself is a victim of online hate.

The singer sees “no parallel or mirror” with his life, but took the opportunity to “let off steam by being unpleasant.” “This character who is a fan of a singer suffers from loneliness and that’s why he becomes a bit of a monster, we can’t totally blame him,” describes the singer-songwriter.

He was also a “fanatic who took refuge in the love of his idols”: “I didn’t leave my room for four days when Michael Jackson died.” “I already had a fan who slept on his doormat, it’s a little complicated, but it’s not a big deal,” he concludes.