It’s like an episode of : on a gloriously sunny day at the , I navigate the bustling crowds on the Croisette and enter the cacophonous lobby of Le Majestic. Up the elevator and down the corridor, I find myself at the door of , the actor who went stratospheric after being cast as chef Gabriel, the resident heartthrob of the Lily Collins-led romp. He opens it all smiles, dressed head to toe in black – a crisp shirt, pressed trousers, shiny loafers – and his blue eyes glinting despite the late night he’s had.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that he’s here filming new episodes of the frothy – the show has, of course, travelled to the before – but no, the actor is at the South of France showcase to promote another project entirely: , an eye-popping, side-splitting and gory thriller from actor-director Noémie Merlant. This is, in fact, the second time I’ve seen Bravo in less than 12 hours – last night, his new film premiered at a midnight screening and was met with a rapturous standing ovation. Waving to the crowd bashfully, he radiated Gabriel’s quiet charm.
On screen, however, it was a different story: in he plays a dashing neighbour, as he does in , but in place of Gabriel’s clean-cut, boy-next-door good looks and gentlemanly manner, he’s drenched in sweat, frequently naked, his hair longer and scraggly, and his eyes lined with eyeliner, with something vaguely menacing lurking beneath his self-assured swagger. Our setting is Marseille, in the midst of .
