The Maldoror and Marc Dutroux file: why sergi López replaced Benoît Poelvoorde?

Fabrice du Welz explains to us why he changed actor for the role of the psychopath criminal, whose murders and rapes of children rocked Belgium in the 90s.

No break in history and the Belgian unconscious, the trauma of the Dutroux affair has been floating for almost thirty years above our neighbors from across the quiévrain. Highly flammable subject, of which Fabrice du Welz seizes by taking liberties in relation to reality, rearranging the facts and changing the names of the protagonists. Do not look for Marc Dutroux in The Maldoror fileyou will only find Marcel Dedieu (Impressive Sergi López, Ogresque Casteur). “” I am a filmmaker, not a lawyer, much less a judge. So I made a fictional film “Claims the director.

Originally, from the Welz had proposed the role of Marc Dutroux/Marcel Dedieu to Benoît Poelvoorde, as he explained to us in 2022: ” We have to talk about it very soon with Benoît. It is a secondary role, and all this is of course subject to its availability. But in any case, I have an agreement in principle of many actors, very in sight, including him. I note well: it is not Marc Dutroux, he is a character who has another name and who is freely inspired by Dutroux. My ambition is to make cinema, so it is certain that the villain that we will try to make Benoît embody, he will look more like Frank Booth Blue Velvet than Marc Dutroux. My ambition is to be inspired by a true story, rigorous and methodical, and after transforming it into the most exciting and most constructed cinema as possible. »»

Many back and forth later, the Belgian icon finally refused the role, surely too heavy to wear. “” There was no complete membership on his part, when I needed it ”, summarizes the director in the January issue of First (with Kaamelott – Second part on the cover), for which he gave us a long interview.

“” Benoît did not think he was able to embody it, which I can quite understand. Sergi López had to interpret another character and I then thought of him, because it is a great actor who has always been exceptional by bad (Harry, a friend who wants you good, Pan’s labyrinth…)). In addition, for a Spaniard, the case does not have the same emotional impact. »»

López confirms that he had “ obviously heard Actions of Dutroux, but that he did not know the details of the case. “” This is what allowed me to embody this monster. Having him play a Spanish with an accent is a strong choice from Fabrice. We know we are in a fiction and not in a biopic. I refused to find out about Dutroux because too much information can kill instinct. So I interpreted it as an ogre in a children’s tale, accepting this absolute lack of morality, this evil banality. I wanted to put a kind of simplicity in it, without intellectualizing: when we see him preparing an omelette, he does it like Mister Tout-le-Monde. In my opinion, this is what makes him terrifying. He is ultimately little present in the film but constantly in the head of all the characters and the public. I was very aware of that. »»

The Maldoror file is currently at the cinema, and we advise you more than strongly to go and discover this film-fucy, tense and harsh, thriller as judicial as social.