I had the pleasure of sharing the screen in completely absurd scenes with Macha Limonchik, Éric Bernier, Valérie Blais and Fabien Dupuis.
It was also the first time in my career that I had the “pleasure” of wearing what we called a tea bag.
The “tea bag”…
You may be wondering what a “tea bag” is. On a film set, it is a small flesh-coloured fabric pouch used to conceal a male actor’s genitals. Its purpose, as you can probably guess, is to create the illusion that the actor wearing it is completely naked.
The principle is fairly simple: the penis and testicles go into the fabric pouch. After that, everything depends on the model. If it has a drawstring, you tie a small loop to keep everything securely in place. If it uses elastic, you mostly hope the elastic is neither too loose nor too tired… and that it does its job properly.
But first… the audition
Actually, I should probably start by explaining how I ended up being called in for the role.
In 2006, the Internet was not nearly as omnipresent as it is today. I was just beginning to find my way into acting in Montreal and had absolutely no idea how this enormous machine worked. I had done background work several times since 2005, but booking an actual role was another story entirely.
Someone told me, “You need a casting photo!” Fine. I had a friend whose sister was a photographer. She would shoot my headshots on film, which would then have to be developed. Thank you, Barbara. Check.
Then I was told, “Casting directors need to know who you are if you want them to call you in.” Perfect. The administrative assistant with office-training skills living inside me immediately developed a plan. I had my 8×10 headshots printed at Best Buy with my measurements and short résumé on the back. That résumé included my most memorable background work, my “upgrade” to a role on 300, my participation in the play Rendez-vous suspects, the acting classes I had already taken — quite a few by then — and several Kino short films.
Then I found the mailing addresses of every casting director I could identify in Montreal and prepared packages in beautiful white 8.5×11 envelopes, complete with stamps I had specifically chosen because they had something to do with the arts. Check.
About two weeks after mailing everything, I got a call from Pierre Pageau, who at the time was co-casting director at Gros Plan with his associate Daniel Poisson. “Martin! We’d like to see you for a role in a series called Macha et compagnie.” That series would later become Tout sur moi.
Okay, Martin, imagine you’re completely naked and making love with Macha on the living-room couch in a friend’s condo. Suddenly you hear the friend who owns the condo coming home while the two of you are right in the middle of things, and you can’t find your clothes anywhere. Panic. After searching for a few seconds, you grab a cushion to cover yourself. It has to feel real, but also a little clownish. Go!
— Pierre Pageau
Why blur me?
How was this even happening? I had just been invited to audition for my first role in a Quebec television series even though I had almost no meaningful experience that would seem to justify the opportunity.
The explanation was actually very simple: I had almost exactly the same measurements as Claude Legault, who had just finished shooting Minuit, le soir.
Claude was supposed to play Macha’s secret lover throughout the first season of Tout sur moi, but his schedule had become too busy for him to take part in the actual filming. Gros Plan was therefore asked to find a body double.
They needed someone who could credibly play Macha’s secret lover. Because his face would be blurred and his voice altered to make him unrecognizable, the idea was to preserve the mystery of his identity throughout the season.
Nothing was guaranteed, of course. Several of us were auditioning. I was unfortunately not the only man in Montreal with a build resembling Claude Legault after his run as the very fit doorman in the excellent Minuit, le soir.
Still, apparently I stood out in the audition. Pierre Pageau congratulated me almost immediately and asked where that level of comfort in the room came from.
I simply answered:
“I just finished two sessions of audition-preparation workshops with Patrick Huneault. For two months, that’s all we did: practise auditioning.”
After that, only one formality remained: the selected audition videos had to be shown to production so they could choose the body double they preferred.
And bang.
About a week or ten days later, I got the confirmation: I had booked my first role in Tout sur moi.
Everything moved very quickly after that. My first shooting day was two days later. A driver was sent to deliver the script directly to my home, and I was asked to report to set at five in the morning so my tattoo could be covered with airbrush makeup.
My face was blurred and my voice disguised because I was playing the secret lover who would eventually be revealed as Claude Legault when he appeared in the final episode of the season.
Three wonderful shooting days followed over the next few weeks. The days were long, yes, but they felt perfect. Every time I stepped onto that set, I had this powerful sensation that I was exactly where I was supposed to be — that I had found my place.
That was not necessarily obvious given the person I was at the time: a new actor, shy, somewhat inhibited and completely unprepared for an experience that intimidating. There were also a few intimate scenes to film with the star of the series.
And yet I felt as though I were floating six feet above the ground. It was incredible to discover the world of a professional set in such a privileged way, surrounded by exceptional actors and directed by an extremely cool director, Stéphane Lapointe.
Nothing erotic about it
I remember one particularly unusual scene with Macha. She was nearly nude, wearing flesh-coloured underwear designed to create the illusion of nudity, lying on the floor while I was stretched out on top of her.
The camera was positioned directly above my shoulder, which meant I could not move naturally without risking a collision with the equipment. The director, completely unfazed, came up with a rather ingenious solution.
He asked a crew member to grab both my legs and swing them vigorously back and forth so the movement of my body would suggest that we were in the middle of having sex.
Yes, you read that correctly. This poor man, who because of the camera angle had an unobstructed view of my famous “tea bag” costume, was holding my legs and swinging them to simulate the movement of my hips on screen.
A fairly ridiculous situation — and forgive the terrible bilingual pun — rather cock-ass.
In reality, the only thing that was genuinely “hard” at that moment was keeping a straight face and not bursting out laughing while we shot the scene.
And the cast… wow
Macha Limonchik was an extraordinarily considerate scene partner throughout those days. Éric Bernier was a delight to get to know during breaks between takes, and Valérie Blais and Fabien Dupuis were just as warm and enjoyable to be around. I also had the chance to chat with Louis Champagne on my very first shooting day because we were sitting side by side in hair and makeup.
Having this role as the first substantial professional credit on my acting résumé became an extraordinary springboard. Among other things, it helped agents take me seriously very early in my career. I remain grateful to the Gros Plan team for trusting me enough to bring me in, to Pierre Pageau for directing me during the audition, and to Patrick Huneault, whose audition workshops a few weeks earlier had given me the freedom I needed to fully embrace the playful absurdity of the scene.
That role and those shooting days became a defining moment on the path toward the acting career I am still pursuing today, with a great deal of humility.
IMDb pages for the Season 1 episodes I appeared in: Episode 7 – Episode 9
