Award-winning actor Rod Paradot is shaking elitist cinema industry by staying true to himself

Awarded both a César and a Molière, Rod Paradot, soon to be 23, is one of the rising stars of French cinema, which he entered somewhat by chance. Coming from a modest background, his unpolished profile stands in contrast to an industry that can appear highly elitist from the outside. In this interview, the actor assures that he keeps his "head high, but cool."

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN FRENCH ON YARD.MEDIA

"How much time do we have to talk again?" That was the very first question asked by an emotional Rod Paradot after timidly stepping onto the stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet on the evening of February 26, 2016. During the 41st César Awards ceremony, the young actor's speech—delivered just after being named Most Promising Actor—stood out from those of the seasoned winners: more polished, more expected, more prepared. For the Stains native, nothing had been planned. Not even becoming an actor.

Rod Paradot didn’t actively seek the role of Malony in La Tête haute, the film that opened the doors of the film industry to him. He was discovered by casting director Elsa Pharaon while preparing for a vocational certificate in carpentry. Since then, the actor has captivated audiences with every appearance. After winning a César for his first role, he made his theater debut in 2018 in Le Fils, immediately earning a Molière. As if it all came naturally to him. That’s why it’s somewhat surprising to see him arrive on television sets, crowned with prestigious awards, yet speaking with raw honesty, without embellishment or rehearsed turns of phrase. But perhaps that’s exactly what authenticity is. And the film industry desperately needed it.

At first, nothing predestined you to become an actor, yet today, all your performances are acclaimed. Looking back, do you think you could have done something else with your life?

To be honest, I liked carpentry because it's a beautiful trade, being able to create things with your bare hands is great, but it wasn't something I was truly passionate about either. I was struggling more than anything else in high school. So, cinema really came at the right time, especially since I wasn’t expecting it at all. When I was younger, I briefly thought about doing sketches, something humorous like Jamel Debbouze—I knew his sketches by heart, just like I do with Fary today—but I never really projected myself into it. It just happened, and it’s crazy because I really don’t know what I would have done otherwise. I think I would have ended up in animation or something like that... Maybe a travel club entertainer or something. I’m not sure what I wanted to do, but carpentry wasn’t really my thing. And it’s wild that this just fell into my lap.

Does acting now feel like an obvious choice?

I don’t even tell myself it’s obvious. I just think: "Enjoy it, go all the way, and build what you have to build. If it works, great, and if it doesn’t, you’ll do something else." It’s not an obvious path. Yes, I’m an actor today, but I could very well not be one tomorrow. Things change fast in both directions.

Did it take you a while to consider yourself a real actor?

It took me about a year and a half before I could say "I’m an actor" when talking to people. The thing is, I often underestimate myself. I think I’m not cultured enough for this, that I haven’t seen nearly as many films as other people in the industry who watch them all the time. But after making films and hearing people reassure me, saying "Come on, stop it, you’re interesting," I finally started to believe it. Now, I just have to do everything I can to keep being one.

You went from a job where you create something tangible to one where you create emotions. Does that feel less "concrete" to you?

Yeah, I have trouble stepping back and seeing what I do. Right now, for example, I perform every night in Le Fils, a play by Florian Zeller directed by Ladislas Chollat, and I see that the audience is genuinely moved by what I give them. But to me, there’s nothing extraordinary about what I do. I can’t fully grasp what I bring to the screen. That said, I can tell when I like what I’ve done and, in a way, if it’s "good." I have an instinct for moments when it works, but I’m never completely sure. Maybe that’s what makes it work.

So far, you’ve mostly played tortured or troubled young characters. Why do you think that is?

I think it all started with La Tête haute. But if you look closely, even between La Tête haute and Luna, they’re two very different roles, even if they’re both troubled youth. In Luna, my character is calm, reserved, interested in artistic things, and introspective. What happens to him makes him become more like Malony [his character in La Tête haute]. So there are always little nuances that make it different, even though people might still think "he always plays suffering characters."

Even if it all started with La Tête haute, it seems directors think you have "the face for it."

Some people will always say, "That’s the role he can play," but that’s just because a director, when writing a film, thinks about what fits best. When you see La Tête haute, you might think, "Okay, he can play this type of role." But that doesn’t mean that’s all I can do. Right now, I’m getting different scripts, and slowly, I’m changing registers. In Le Fils, for example, I’m in a well-off family instead of a struggling one. After La Tête haute, I was really scared of being pigeonholed as the angry delinquent type. But in the end, it’s up to you to make the right choices and know what you want.

How much do you identify to these roles?

You should know that whenever I accept a script, it’s because I absolutely love the project. It touches me, it’s something I’ve already felt when I was younger or maybe someone close to me has experienced something similar. It's a bit like a rapper who writes about what he’s lived through or what he feels in the world around him. Except, in my case, instead of writing it, I play it.

Anyway, your performances are so remarkable that each of your first appearances — first in cinema, then on stage — earned you prestigious awards. Does this put some pressure on you?

It puts a lot of pressure on me because I think I would have preferred to receive those awards later on. When I present myself to someone, they immediately think about the fact that I have a César and a Molière. But in the end, I’m just like everyone else. You can have a César and a Molière and still make a terrible movie. It doesn’t mean anything. But it’s true that I think I need to be careful about what I accept. For example, before I started doing theater, I had been thinking for a year about whether it might be good to take theater classes. In the end, I never did it because I was afraid of being with young actors who had only taken classes, who had never done any films, and who didn’t have any awards. They might think, "there’s a César winner with us," while in reality, I’m just like them. I might even have more to learn than them. That’s the stressful part.

Your rise in cinema has been somewhat "random." Do you think this proves that cinema is accessible to anyone?

It’s complicated... Yes, anyone can act, but destiny plays a big role in getting a casting opportunity. The industry is mainly closed off in terms of connections. But once you get in, if you work hard and do what it takes to be good, it works.

That said, some things do annoy me. For example, a rapper trying out acting might get a big-budget film just because they’re famous, while a young actor with no films but just as much potential won’t get that chance. That frustrates me. But once the door is open, it’s up to you to push forward.

I read that you ended up working at McDonald's shortly after winning a César. Was that your choice?

Actually, it wasn’t after the César, it was right after Cannes Festival. I went to work at McDonald's for my mom. I wanted her to know that if tomorrow I decided to do a "regular" job, like working in a restaurant or something, I could do that, and I wouldn’t be waiting for cinema to live. It’s all nice to be on TV sets, to be "Rod Paradot" and everything but once you get back home, all that magic disappears. Because in the end, who are you? When you get home and cook your steak, you’re just like anyone else. At Cannes, I was a bit of a star for two days, but once it’s over, no one gives a damn about you. That’s the reality. As soon as there’s a project, you become important but you have to remember people think you’re important only because of that film. That’s the cruel thing about cinema: today, you’re here, but you might not be here tomorrow. That’s why I keep my head high but cool. Because I’m just a young guy from Stains, and tomorrow I could be a carpenter, or I could keep acting.

Didn’t you or your parents ever think, "Now that there’s a concrete opportunity to never have to work at McDonald's again, it’s better to just grab it and go for it"?

The thing is, I had no idea whether cinema was going to work out. I had filmed that movie, but I didn’t know at all how important it would become. I didn’t hear much about it afterward, and Emmanuelle Bercot had told me that after La Tête haute, cinema was over for me. So, I only worked at McDonald's to make my mom understand that I could work if I had to. But as soon as I could refocus on cinema, I jumped right back in.

In some of your past interviews, I noticed that some people criticized your French as being a bit "rough." Have you ever felt like an "intruder" in this elite industry?

Yeah, for sure. But honestly, I don’t care if I don’t speak perfectly. What matters is that I speak French and that people understand me. I do try to work on it, but I also want to keep what makes me who I am, because that’s what’s interesting. As for the negative comments, I don’t pay them much attention. There will always be people who try to bring you down. But if someone takes the time to watch my interview just to criticize me, that means I’ve already won, in a way.

These criticisms remind me of the ones Jul receives about his social media presence. I know you’re a fan of him. What do you like so much about him?

I don’t know if it’s the right time to say this, but I’d really love to meet him. [laughs] What I like about him is first the fact that he stays simple. He never tried to change or be someone else. You can see it in the way he dresses, the way he talks, the way he works on his projects, etc. I think he’s a guy who works a lot, who probably spends a lot of time in the studio. I’m not going to lie tho: out of a 16 or 17-track album, depending on the album, there are 4 or 5 tracks that I’ll really love. When it gets too commercial, I’m less into it.

Do you relate to him at all?

There are things I relate to when I listen to his tracks, where I think, "I was like that, and sometimes I still am." But it depends on the track, of course. When he drops a "Sors le cross volé" for example, that’s not my life. [laughs] But in some songs where he talks about his mom, life, how he is, how people talk about him, or those who bash him, I like that. I like when he speaks from the heart.

Regarding Jul’s criticisms, some have talked about "class contempt." Do you think that's the case?

Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. And I’m not going to lie, it’s happened to me too. For example, when I first went to Cannes with La Tête haute and I arrived at a dinner table, I didn’t have many subjects to talk about because the people there came from a very different social class. And while I was interested in talking to them, they weren’t too interested in talking to me. But it’s their loss because, at the end of the day, they could also learn a lot from me. I just have a different approach to life than they do, that’s it. But to be honest, from what I’ve seen, I feel like when you come from the suburbs or a more modest background, you’re more likely to get along with people from different backgrounds, compared to when you come from a more privileged environment.

On your side, you come from modest origins: born in Stains, son of a plumber and a civil servant, etc. How has your environment shaped the person you are today?

It’s everything. It starts with how my mom raised me, the spirit of mutual help and exchange in which I grew up in Stains. I’ve always been alone with my mom, who gave me all the love I needed and who played both the father and the mother. I could only count on myself, my mom, and my friends. So there were a lot of things I had to learn by myself. At school, I wasn’t off to a good start, I didn’t have great grades, but I still managed to find my own apprenticeship when I did my carpentry CAP. That was already something I was proud of, and that’s where I got the casting for La Tête haute. It shows that in life, you don’t get anything without effort. That’s what I’ve learned. I can’t share everything with you now because there’s a whole part of my life that I want to reveal later... But to keep it short, there were moments in my life that forced me to mature very quickly.

Speaking of "maturing": do you grow up faster when you change your life and environment, like you did?

It make you grow, period. Today, I can say that I have my own apartment, I’m comfortable at home with my girlfriend. Just the fact that you no longer live with your mom, that you have to make your food, do your laundry, handle your paperwork yourself, that you’re emancipating yourself, makes you grow a lot faster, and you learn. And knowing that I’m slowly starting to make a living from cinema, it makes me really proud.