Jean-Philippe Perras defends one of the most important roles of his career in the series "The Emperor", which follows the journey of an aggressor in full construction.

Christian Savard, his character, has it all. A good face, ambition and a career on the rise in the world of advertising. In addition, he is happy at home with his girlfriend Olivia (Geneviève Boivin-Roussy). But a monster is about to emerge under this perfect image.

When we meet him at the beginning of the series directed by Adam Kosh, Christian has a one-night stand with his colleague Manuela (Noé Lira). We are first shown a moment of passion that seems altogether banal, but our point of view changes drastically when other images present a Manuela who was not at all consenting.

Ten years after this misadventure, Manuela has turned the page and is now working for Christian, who is leading the way. In 2015, we are then at the dawn of the movement

The actor, who has had a career for ten years, was initially hesitant to “plunge into that energy”. But he did his homework and asked the author and director several questions before the audition to find out how the project was going.

“This series is necessary because it makes you think. Christian commits violent acts, he assaults women, but he is also a human being with his flaws and weaknesses. It's a "show" of nuances," said the 36-year-old comedian, who became a father at the same time as the filming of "The Emperor" was announced last May.

His Christian is "complex" and he "does terrible things", relates his interpreter. “He needs to be loved at all costs and to have value in the eyes of others.” We will thus explore his childhood – he lost his mother very early – in order to understand why he is so abject at certain times and “why he needs to make everyone dependent on him”, without being totally aware of it.

A benevolent platter

The set took place in benevolence and when a delicate scene was shot, silence reigned, "in the sense that there was respect for what was happening, an understanding also that we were going into difficult areas", testified the actor.

"We went far, but it's okay because we were in a controlled environment, because we were confident and the set was extremely benevolent. This is what allowed us to push the reflection even further and above all not to fall into the trap of saying: "he's a bad guy in front of the good guys".

According to the actor, from the first readings everyone was able to discuss openly. “We talked in particular about the choreographies of the attacks that we were going to shoot to make sure that everyone is well.”

Jean-Philippe Perras will be in the ambitious “Mégantic” series, expected in mid-February on Club illico. His group Gustafson is working on a second album and will compose the music for a circus show for the Théâtre Advienne que peut.

Produced by Sovimage, the series "The Emperor" will be broadcast from Wednesday, January 11, at 8 p.m., on Noovo.