Jean-Michel Girouard: the challenge of embodying intellectual disability in “Léo”

Jean-Michel Girouard inherited a beautiful role of composition when he was assigned the character of Yannick, the disabled brother of Cindy (Marie-Laurence Moreau) in Leo. Not being himself struggling with an intellectual disability, the actor drew on his own resources to make his performance credible and touching.

It makes life a bit difficult for Léo (Fabien Cloutier) when the latter arrives in Cindy’s life, but he is very endearing, this Yannick, fan of hockey, fierce in front of strangers and afraid of babies, but so loving. with his entourage.

As realistic as his interpretation is, Jean-Michel Girouard has not conducted any in-depth research or followed people with disabilities for several days to find inspiration. Rather, he relied on his instincts to give his Yannick his own personality and color and make him authentic.

“From the hearing, I felt that the director, Jean-François Chagnon, trusted me and gave me a big playing field. I knew that, if I crossed the line and that we did not believe in the character , he was going to call me to order. Fabien (Cloutier, author of Leo) was never far to give me directions either, ”explains Jean-Michel Girouard in an interview.

Without diagnosis

It is because, in the scenario, little information was provided on the evil which afflicts Yannick. Jean-Michel Girouard therefore did not have to document a specific medical condition, since the nature of the disability in question remains unclear.

“It cleared me from having a very precise interpretation of a diagnosis. At the start, the difficulty was that Yannick spoke with sounds, but he had a certain autonomy. What really fed me was this urge, this desire to communicate, but this inability to do so. I told myself that it must create mood swings in someone so sensitive, close to his senses. I went there more emotionally than intellectually. ”

Jean-Michel’s girlfriend, who worked for years in a day camp with young people with physical or intellectual disabilities, provided him with some leads so that he could play the characteristics of a spectrum disorder. autism, for example.

And the result was so convincing, he laughs, that the editors of “Léo” were surprised to learn that Jean-Michel was not really disabled when they met him for the first time.

Well at the theater

Living in Quebec, where he has been very active in the theater since leaving the Conservatoire d’art dramatique in 2008, Jean-Michel Girouard has done little television so far. The actor knew Fabien Cloutier in the Old Capital thanks to his profession a few years ago, and the latter had dangled him for a possible role in the series he was then writing, even before said series , Leo, is not in production. An audition later, it came to fruition, even though the producers initially envisioned a taller, beefier Yannick.

Leo helping, Jean-Michel is now recognized by the public when he goes out, especially since the series was broadcast on TVA, after his appearance on Club illico. But notoriety is not a crucial goal for the 35-year-old guy, the father of a two-year-old girl.

“I would definitely like other projects on TV or in the cinema,” he says. But I don’t have the expectation or the inclination to break into the “star system” at any cost. By not being in Montreal 100%, I do not have the possibility of opening all the possible doors; I am aware of it and I accept it. I’m fine in Quebec, I have a great career in the theater, I don’t have specific goals, but if I can find roles here and there, so much the better. ”

“Yes Leo is the only TV project I have done in my career, I can tell myself that it was unique and very special, adds Jean-Michel. Fabien’s writing leaves no one indifferent, and this type of character is not something that we play every year … ”

We can still see the first two seasons of Leo on Club illico. A third season is in development.