Anny Duperey, Alexis Desseaux, Franck Dubosc, Valérie Lemercier, Jacques Le Carpentier, Virginie Lemoine, Emmanuel Gayet… All of them have starred or are still starring in big films, or have been or are still setting the boards on fire. But they also have something in common in that all of them have gone through the regional conservatory of Rouen (Seine-Maritime), and especially through the class of Jean Chevrin, professor of drama at Rouen and Paris, director and actor, who died in 1987.
Thirty-eight years after his death, Gérard Contremoulin published a biography of the teacher who left an indelible mark on all his students, “Jean Chevrin, playing, teaching, playing…” (Wooz Éditions). On this occasion, Rouen will hold a tribute evening, this Friday, November 28. Several former conservatory students will then attend, including Patrick Chesnais who will come and testify.
“Jean Chevrin gave me wings for the future”
In the midst of rehearsals for this very special performance, Patrick Chesnais went back in time, to the beginning of his 60-year career, before these “110 films and 60 plays”. “Honestly, if I had not been asked, I would have been an orphan, because Jean Chevrin gave me wings for the future. Therefore, it is important to participate in this work,” he said.
The actor recalls his childhood bedroom, “where I built a theater and where I directed friends. In fact, a friend’s father was a policeman who encouraged me to go to a drama conservatory. Despite difficulties from my parents, who had just gone bankrupt, and my brother, who was in prison, they enrolled me. I was 16.”
During the admissions audition, Patrick Chesnais stood out… for his stage fright: “When I entered the stage, I stretched myself completely. I’ve been working all summer Animals sick with plague. I feel like I have achieved some success.”
The actor still remembers what Jean Chevrin said to his group on this occasion: “We are at the provincial conservatory to love great texts, learn to move, speak in public and flatter the artistic fiber in you. Most of you, I hope, will continue to do amateur theater. Some, very rarely, will become professionals. And, by chance, we have the opportunity to meet someone who will make a career of it. Patrick Chesnais will be one of them. »
“He then called my parents so I could continue my journey,” continued the actor. Two years later, through the “love of acting” that Jean Chevrin taught him, Patrick Chesnais entered the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, one of “30 accepted out of 1,000 candidates.”
“He talks to you as if you are unique”
Thus, decades later, Patrick Chesnais recalled a man “who was very important to everyone he met. We were all marked. I moved from one world to another. I came from a working-class environment, I was terrible at school, disappeared and, suddenly, I turned to works of art. Molière, Shakespeare, Marivaux, Guitry, etc. »
A transition that would never have happened without Jean Chevrin’s learning methods. “This very kind man made you love the greatest texts. This was without any reproach. He spoke to you as if you were unique. Besides, when I entered the Paris Conservatory, I returned to Rouen on Saturday, like a star, with melons,” he laughed. “Jean Chevrin loved following our journey, our careers. We were the product of his teaching. And people loved Jean Chevrin. Two years with him were a credit to the art of drama. »
