In the documentary series Père 100 enfants, available on Crave, I play Monsieur X in dramatized scenes—what is also known as reenactment.
This work reminded me of something essential about acting: we do not always lend our bodies and voices to fictional characters. Sometimes we step into a true story, and that comes with a different responsibility. We are there to help make it visible, without forgetting that it belongs first to the people who lived it.
When Documentary Uses Reenactment
In a documentary, not everything necessarily exists as archival footage. Some events happened far from cameras. Others cannot be shown directly, or left behind only stories, memories and testimony.
That is where reenactment can be useful. A production brings in actors to recreate, suggest or simply evoke a real situation. The goal is not to replace the witnesses’ words, much less to present a reconstruction as archival footage. It is to give viewers a visual point of reference that supports what is being told.
Giving Shape to What Is Being Told
A reenactment scene can come down to very little: a silhouette crossing a hallway, someone waiting, an interrupted gesture, tension in a room, a look that lasts a second too long. Very simple details can make a story more tangible without trying to show everything.
I enjoy this way of working because it asks you to think about the image differently. You are not necessarily trying to explain more. You are looking instead for the right presence, the right movement, the detail that lets the scene exist while leaving the documentary’s main voice where it belongs.
Monsieur X Enters the Story
In Père 100 enfants, that is the space where my role as Monsieur X fits. My character appears in reenactment scenes that accompany certain elements described in the series.
My job was therefore less about “telling” the story directly than about helping those moments exist visually. I had to find a presence clear enough for the image to work, while keeping in mind that the scene was never there to draw attention to the performance itself.
Acting Without Taking Over
Acting in a reenactment scene is particular. It does not necessarily call for a big display. Often, it is the opposite: you have to work with restraint, precision and simplicity.
You need to be present enough for the scene to live, but not so much that you become more important than the story it serves. That idea resonates deeply with me because it touches on something fundamental in the craft: the actor is in service of a story. When that story is rooted in real events, that responsibility takes on a different dimension.
Truth Lives in the Details
On this kind of shoot, much of the work is hidden in the details. The way you enter a space. Stand. Wait. Look at someone. React without pushing the reaction. Leave a room without turning the gesture into a dramatic effect.
Because viewers know they are watching a reconstruction, truth often comes from simplicity. It is not about doing more. It is about finding what is necessary for the image to support the testimony, then allowing the story to breathe.
Sometimes Acting Means Helping Carry a Story
We naturally associate acting with fiction, imagination, transformation or entertainment. That is obviously a large part of the work. But some projects remind us that an actor can also take part in something different: helping put images to a story that deserves to be told.
In this context, acting is less about taking ownership of a character than temporarily lending a body, a face and a presence to a situation being recounted by someone else. It is another way to contribute to the story—more discreet, perhaps, but no less interesting.
Lending a Presence Without Taking Ownership of the Story
This distinction matters. A reenactment scene can give shape to an event, but it never replaces the experience of the people who lived it. The actor enters the story for a moment; they do not become its owner.
I think there is something very healthy about that limit. It forces you to listen more closely, search for the right tone and constantly ask what the scene truly needs to contribute. The work becomes less about personal visibility and more about coherence with the documentary as a whole.
A Different Relationship to the Craft
This shoot also reminded me that not every role is measured by the amount of dialogue, the number of scenes or how much screen time it occupies. Sometimes the value of the work lies elsewhere: in the ability to contribute to the right tone, make a moment credible, support testimony or help a team turn a story into images.
There is something deeply collective about that. A documentary belongs to its subject, its witnesses and the people who researched, wrote, directed, shot, edited and produced it. As an actor in reenactment scenes, you enter that chain with a precise function: serve the story without diverting it.
Watch the Clip
Series: Père 100 enfants
Role: Monsieur X
Role type: Reenactment
Platform: Crave
For me, this experience remains a good reminder that sometimes being an actor simply means finding the right way to be present so that a story can be told more clearly.
