Lina El Arabi: “Make a channel+series is an event for an actress”

Appointed investigating judge in the eastern plain, the young actress takes the lead in the anti-mafia struggle in this new original creation. She tells us about this ambitious project, her complex character and the unique experience of a shoot in Corsica.

After having broken everything in Scouringon Netflix, Lina El Arabi Continue to trace your way on the small screen. She is the star of original Canal +creation, Oriental plainwhich continues this Monday. A new mafia thriller from Pierre Leccia (Mafiosa), to the air of breathless Corsican fresco. The 29 -year -old actress tells us about her experience. Encounter.

First: Oriental plainthe title is therefore taken from the name of a region in Corsica …
Lina El Arabi : That’s exactly it. It is the region where we have turned, around Bastia, east of the island. I admit that I did not know this term before …

You play Inès, investigating judge. Who is exactly?
First, I would not describe it by her job. It is above all a sister who has not seen her brother for a dozen years at the start of the series. She disembarks in Corsica in an almost presumptuous way to try to reconnect with him and put the pieces of her family with him … and at the same time, she is very ambitious. It is not only kicked out of good intentions. She also comes to use her brother to climb the ladder, get her well from her hierarchy. Because it is very intelligent. It is more interesting to play a character who is not a saint, who has gray areas, contradictions.

What attracted you to this role?
Already, it’s a channel+ series! Without fayoting, since I am little, I look at the original Canal+ creations with stars in my eyes. So for an actress, making a channel+series is an event! We know that we are engaged in something quality, at least. Especially since I had seen Mafiosa And I loved the work of Pierre Leccia. He knows what he is talking about. I totally trust. And then icing on the cake: it allowed me to go to Corsica (laughs).

Would you say it’s a series on the Corsican mafia?
Yes and no. It’s more than that. It is also a series on forgiveness. Do we have to forgive your parents everything? Does love allow forgiveness? There is talk of Mafia, of course, but it is also a series that questions the integration of Arabs into Corsica. From what generation we really belong to a country? When do you become really Corsican? The mafia is almost a pretext to tackle these questions.

At the same time, it is a very realistic thriller, in the vein of GomorraNo ?
I am very happy that you quote this series because we kept talking about it on the set! This is one of my favorite series. That being said, Oriental plain is undoubtedly a little less dark than Gomorraboth aesthetically and narratively. And I hope we are not going to freak people to go to Corsica (laughs)! Because me, since GomorraI admit that I don’t really want to visit Naples …

Oriental plain is quite far from MafiosaUltimately ?
As it happens in Corsica and Pierre (Leccia) wrote the two, we inevitably do the rapprochement. But for me, it has nothing to do with it. Already because the relationship between Corsican and Arabs is central in Oriental plain. The main character is “too Corsican for Arabs, too Arab for Corsicans”. This is the starting point. And then we are more in the thriller.

Corsica is still a character in its own right. What do you keep of this shoot on the island of beauty?
It was the first time I went to Corsica. I found it beautiful, and the local people incredible. We sometimes have a priori in a region, but I went there without thinking about it too much. And I discovered people of crazy kindness. It reminded me a lot of the peoples of the Maghreb. They ask for respect, a minimum of politeness, and once you have entered their hearts, they give you everything. I spent four months turning on site. It was in the middle of summer, it was very hot, and there were a lot of people with tourists. I left Paris… to find traffic jams in the morning by going to work (laughs)! But I really want to go back. I only saw Bastia, I want to discover the rest now.

You were afraid that Oriental plain May I fall into the caricature of mafia Corsica?
No, because the director and creator is Corsica. Because the cast is almost entirely made up of Corsicans. Because the first role, Raphaël Acloque, is also from Corsica. He speaks both Corsica and Arabic, it is impressive. And then Pierre Leccia loves his country more than anything, he has no desire to betray him.

And for you, the rest of Scouringon Netflix, when is it?
There, I am in full shooting of season 2. We are running until the end of July. Marina Foïs returns, as Steve holds and Quentin Faure. And surprise: I find Raphaël Acloque who will also be in this season 2! I promise, I’m really not for nothing. He had a casting … It’s just a coincidence.

Oriental plain, season 1 in 8 episodes, to see on Canal more from May 26, 2025