Omar Sy: “We took our time to bring something new to Lupine”

Three years later, the Netflix series will make its return this week, with a fourth season which will put Assane facing another Lupine. Omar Sy tells Première about his passion for the role and his vision of the profession, between Paris and Hollywood.

PREMIERE: Three years after the previous season, you are back. How does it feel to come back after this long break?
OMAR SY: For the public, season 3 ends and then… nothing more. But not for us. All the while, we’re actually still there. We think about what we are going to do. We say to ourselves: OK, we’re going back, but how do we go back? What do we want to tell? What do we want to keep? How can we develop the story and the character? Bring something new? So we never left Lupin’s universe, in fact. We were at work. Also because we want to take a real step forward: after three seasons, we are afraid of being redundant. So we took our time to bring something new.

You always said that playing Lupine was a dream. What do you still enjoy about the character after four seasons?
When the dream is good, you simply don’t want to wake up (laughs). It remains a pleasure. Especially since this character is so endless. I said it right away: I could do Lupine for years! And precisely, we must be vigilant in these cases: we must be careful not to find ourselves in the middle of ourselves, in a kind of selfish delirium where the public does not find its place. That’s why we took our time to bring something new.

What has changed the most about Lupine since the first season?
You’ll see in season 4 (laughs)! I can tell you that we have kept our edge, our genius, our panache. And we also kept all the family intrigue that is dear to the character. And then we inject other things into all that, but that will have to be discovered…

We still have the feeling that he has less desire to act clever at the start of season 4…
Yes, it’s true, but deep down, we find his initial quest: how am I going to be the father I want to be? How can I reconcile Assane and Lupin? His solution was to turn off Lupine and imprison him. So he’s behind bars and we go from there at the start of season 4.

What level are we at in terms of disguises this year in Lupine?
So on that note, we’re not slowing down! As much, we are careful not to be self-loving about certain things. But when it comes to disguises, we’re all in! Because it’s an area where everyone has fun on set: me, the costume designers, the makeup, the writers… Everyone has fun imagining Assane’s characters. And then the disguises are part of the grammar of the series. It’s a pillar of Lupine. So you might as well push the sliders.

And then this season, it’s Lupine against Lupine!
Yes because Lupine inspires. Lupine is no one and he is everyone. Since it’s no one, it’s everyone. Do you see what I mean? So at some point, someone may well decide to become Lupine instead of Lupin.

There is also the novel 813 by Maurice Leblanc (published in June 1910) which tells this…
Of course ! I had obviously read it. And it inspires the season: who is the greater adversary for Lupine than Lupine himself? Certainly, there was Sherlock Holmes (in Arsène Lupine versus Herlock Sholmès in 1908). But I believe that there is no one more formidable to Lupine than Lupine himself! And even if this opponent is just a copycat who uses the same tools…

Do you still reread books by Maurice Leblanc?
No, I let the authors do it. I was deeply immersed in it during the first season. Now I have my references. I can go find specific things to pass on to the writers if necessary. But it’s been a long time since I read an Arsène Lupine book, just like that.

Tell us a little about filming this season. Have you run a lot on the rooftops of Paris?
In the same way that disguises are part of the essence of the series, the roofs of Paris are our settings and we must find them. It’s part of the Lupine DNA. There are real roofs! Some studio reconstructions too, but it’s really both and I love doing both.

Do you feel like a different actor since the start of the series? To have evolved in your game?
The character is more precise. He has evolved. But have I evolved too? These are not questions we ask ourselves… I have a better handle on Assane Diop today in any case, that’s true. I have a better understanding of the character and am more specific when it comes to Assane.

What if we asked you to play Lupine for ten more years?
I could do it… If it were up to me, I would play it for the rest of my life. I sincerely think that we never get to know a character like Lupin. Because it’s a character playing characters. Like two mirrors facing each other: it’s infinite. But the real question is not me. It’s the public: can the public be interested for years to come?

There was the Louvre burglary last year. Obviously, everyone thought of Lupine… You too?
Necessarily. Already, we are wondering if it was us who inspired this! There is a little bit of guilt (laughs). But then we say to ourselves that it’s crazy and that reality has the art of surpassing fiction all the same! And then comes a little bit of cynicism and we say to ourselves that it makes a really good promotion for Lupine (laughs). Because people immediately made the connection, it was crazy! The number of messages I received from people saying, “Come on, give the crown back!” It’s strange to be associated with something like that. We are torn between the pleasure of realizing that the series really made an impact… and a little guilt at being thus associated with a theft!

Have you become a little paranoid when you visit a museum? Do you take a look at the security cameras? At emergency exits?
I’m definitely watching a lot more! I look at the system, the exhibition of the works, the materials used to protect, the number of guards in the room, the number of cameras… But it is above all a reflex of research for the role. Because when you want to make a “Lupinade”, when you want to write a heist, it’s good to have these notions. So yes, I get this kind of information when I go to the museum today and it’s certainly a reflex that I wouldn’t have had before. We can say that this is a professional distortion!

You constantly alternate between French and American productions. The romantic comedy French Lover by Anne Le Ny, between a John Woo film and a Joe Carnahan film… Do you think of your career like that today?
It’s not calculated at all. And it never was. Things happen like that, as they come, and consistency… we will find it in the end… if there is one. No, I don’t really think about my career. In the same way that I arrived in this profession without really thinking about it. Since I arrived like this, I function like this.

What do you find in an American production that you don’t find in France, and vice versa?
I don’t see much of a difference, except the language… (He thinks) But it’s true that in France, I have the impression that we take ourselves much more seriously. The Americans have this notion of: “Have fun”. They are more interested in taking pleasure in work. In France, we take pleasure in secret and we assume a little less the fact that we enjoy it on a set. I would even say that there is sometimes a need for a form of suffering in work. To say that it’s art and that it’s difficult… I have the impression that this is perhaps less the case in the United States.

You are currently filming the prequel to Ocean’s Eleven with Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper, in Monte-Carlo. Shooting doesn’t get much more fun, does it?
Ah yes, I’m right in it! And it’s true that they’re having fun… That doesn’t stop them from working hard. But always with pleasure and I like this way of doing things. In any case, it suits me more.

Do you still have stars in your eyes when you find yourself on set facing Hollywood superstars? Or is it a bit outdated?
Oh no, but I have stars in my eyes all the time. Even on the Lupine set when I film with Sofiane, Ludivine, Antoine and the others. Because doing the job we do is still exceptional! Especially on a series where there is a little troop side which is really fun.

After 30 years in this industry, what motivates you today?
I’m always looking for something new. A role that I haven’t done yet. Or an experience. A story. A feeling. Something that will allow me to be in research. What I want is precisely this idea of ​​challenge. As soon as I feel challenged, I go for it! I believe that will always be my driving force. There isn’t one genre or role that excites me more than another. It’s having the opportunity to create that excites me.

People who pass you in the street still say to you: “Well then… do you come to parties anymore?”
But yes! Downright ! And I think I’ll be told that for the rest of my life. And even crazier, I hear people saying it to each other. It has become a reference! And that’s quite fascinating. It’s something that has stuck, I’m quite proud of that.

Lupine, season 4, in 8 episodes, to watch on Netflix from October 23, 2026