A few weeks ago, Shirley Bousquet made her debut on Tomorrow Belongs to Us. But what’s in store for her character in the coming days?

A few weeks ago, fans of Tomorrow Belongs to Us met Erica (Shirley Bousquet), the new principal of Georges Brassen High School.

A sunny, rock’n’roll woman, Erica quickly shook up the heroes’ daily lives, and more particularly that of Bart (Hector Langevin), with whom she has a beautiful love story.

But what do the writers of the daily TF1 soap opera have in store for him?

Met at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival, Shirley Bousquet, who plays this energetic character, spoke to Allociné about the tensions to come with Sara and Roxane, her relationship with Bart and the way in which the series addresses certain current issues.

Tomorrow Belongs to Us
Allociné: After Un si grand soleil, you are now in Tomorrow Belongs to Us. What made you want to join this big family?

Shirley Bousquet: Let’s just say that in Un si grand soleil, my character had nothing left to defend since her daughter left. And then, I was offered the character of Erica, a woman full of energy, humor, and rock’n’roll who doesn’t let herself be fooled by conventions. I’ve often played authoritarian women, sometimes a little unpleasant, but this is a nice role for once. I admit I really fell in love with her. Honestly, I’m having a blast.

You’ve often played authoritarian roles. What made you completely change your style? Did you ever imagine you’d be offered such a different role?

It’s something I was hoping for. It’s funny because it was when I became a mother that I saw a change. I started being offered mother roles, which had never happened to me before. Maybe with Un si grand soleil, it opened the door. People said to themselves, “Hey, she can also play other things.” The range has broadened, and Erica is a bit of a highlight.

So, I’m not going to say that it’s my “Tchao Pantin” but we’re changing register and so much the better. That said, I must admit that the roles of “bitches” and baddies are very nice to play. They are often very rich and very tasty roles to play. I loved playing the pests in Caméra Café and slapping Jean-Claude Convenant. And then, when you have a “niche”, people inevitably think of you for this type of role. Maybe that’s why I’m still here thirty years later. So I absolutely don’t deny this journey. However, it was time to open a new page and Erica arrives at the right time.

Erica is Marceau’s mother, and you share a lot of rather comical scenes with David Mousset, who plays her. How does the collaboration work?

He’s extraordinary! It was a real crush. As a little anecdote, I was taking the train to Sète and a nice young man approached me and asked: “Are you Shirley Bousquet?” I answered yes and he continued: “Nice to meet you, I’m your son!” Then I said to myself: “What?!” I loved the way he introduced himself.

So we sat down next to each other and talked for three and a half hours non-stop! We had so much to talk about. The next day, we were shooting together and everything was immediately obvious. That’s quite rare. And the pleasure doesn’t stop there. Every time we have scenes together, we’re happy.

Erica is in a relationship with Bart. What is your opinion of this couple?

There’s a big age difference between them, almost twenty years. I think it’s a good idea to bring this up because from the first day of broadcasting, I saw on social media how shocked some viewers were to see Bart with a more mature woman. I thought, “Really? Are we still at this point?” It surprised me because I thought we lived in a freer society.

Today, you can love a man, a woman, or both. You can be gendered, genderless… You can be anything. However, as soon as it’s an older woman with a younger man, it’s not acceptable, whereas the other way around, it’s considered normal. So, I’m delighted that the series allows this subject to be brought to the table, but without making it a big deal.

Erica’s great strength is that she doesn’t care about conventions. She’s a free woman. Here, she fell in love with a younger guy, but it could have been an older man.

Erica has just met Sara and Roxane, Bart’s two best friends. They immediately realize that Erica is definitely hiding something…

Indeed, the first dinner with Sara and Roxane is not going to go well. Erica has quite a few little faults, she’s a smoker and that doesn’t work. It’s true that we live in a society where cigarettes are no longer acceptable today. And rightly so. From there to hating someone because she dared to take a cigarette out near a window, I find the situation very funny. It brings a lot of comedy.

The students and teachers have just discovered that Marceau is Erica’s son. How will this play out in the upcoming episodes?

All I can say is that Marceau isn’t the only student with a parent at the school. Bastien is the PE teacher’s son. Besides, our two sons aren’t going to get along very well. It’s more likely that it’s going to be a problem.

Could Erica make friends with the other teachers?

As soon as she arrives at school, she asks everyone to address her informally. There’s something very warm and welcoming going on at school. It’s very friendly. We’re in a very positive place.

You started with Les années fac, then Les vacances de l’amour and Sous le soleil. Ultimately, you could say you’re a regular on soap operas. Is it a format you like?

It’s a format that allows you to take control of a character. We become our own bible. We evolve along with our character. We know them better than anyone. Writers change, directors too, but we stay, and we become, in a way, the guardians of our character. We shape them over time like a house under construction to which we add rooms, a swimming pool, layers of emotions… It’s very pleasant because it’s not something you have the opportunity to do in a one-off. In a daily, the evolution is constant. It goes up, it goes down. There’s always something to defend without any downtime. The characters constantly experience incredible situations, so it’s very rich.

Tomorrow Belongs to Us is a big family. Which actor would you most like to share a stage with?

I would really like to see my friend Julie Debazac again, with whom I filmed Les Amants de l’ombre. Since that shoot, we’ve had a real friendly crush. Since I arrived on DNA, I keep asking: “But Julie, when can I see her?” But I still haven’t seen Julie (laughs).

Fan of Tomorrow Belongs to Us? The series not to be missed.
You like Tomorrow Belongs to Us on TF1, without a doubt, you will love the following soap series: the series in the culinary universe of TF1 at 6:30 p.m., Here Everything Begins at 6:30 p.m. with Benjamin Baroche and finally at 8:40 p.m. the series Un si grand soleil just before prime-time on France 3. Soon, the series Plus belle la vie on TF1 every day at 1:55 p.m., and life is even more beautiful.