“[Forcier’s] world is one that I very much appreciate. I’ve always thought of him as our Fellini, even though I don’t like making that sort of comparisons. André Forcier is André Forcier. I only make that comparison to help people who don’t know what his films are like.”

“I wouldn’t say I’d do absolutely anything with him. But almost… Forcier is his own universe, a vision of the world. It’s unique. It’s difficult to say no to that.”

“Rather than tell stories about great wars, for example, he will tell a little tale based in a period. In this case it’s the end of the 20’s, in the United States and Montreal. I believe that my character was born out of a photograph of a golfer from that period.”

“He is in his own script, in his own world. You set sail in his boat. You just have to watch him for a short time to find the energy in the scene, to find out what he wants. It wasn’t difficult for me to dive straight in, to understand, if you like, this madness, this wonderful madness, his poetry to be exact. André is a lover, a great lover of life, and of people. He’s very passionate and it’s often love stories that he writes. Love is very important in his films.”

“André’s writing is the sort of writing that you can’t easily change. We actors keep to the script. It’s like being in the theatre. You can’t change one word of André’s without discussing it with him. Sometimes he’ll change things but never because the words he’s written don’t read well.  It’s always because they no longer fit the story after there’s been a change.”

“With a character like this all I had to do was to stay as close to [Forcier] as possible. The more you listen to him, the more you let him talk about the film, the closer you get to the character. He’s the one who’s made him up. He’s the one who’s had all the visions. All I can do is to listen to him, to see what he want to be put into the character. He’s a very intelligent man who thinks a lot.”

Les États-Unis d’Albert  had to be translated from English to French to suit the demands of the co-production, and that’s when the question of accents came up. It was Roy’s idea to mimic the accents used in dubbed films of the era.

“When I was younger all the American films that you saw had been dubbed in France. It was the same in the 30’s. So I imagined my character as if he had been dubbed in the style of the times, and it was accepted by the co-production.

“I knew [Éric] was still a student. It was quite  shock when I learned that. In the theatre you work hard at rehearsals. Afterwards you switch off when you’re not onstage. But a day’s filming is much more demanding than a stage rehearsal. On a film set you have to learn how to conserve your energy when you’re not filming. If you don’t, you’ll be worn out by the end of the day. That’s one of the first things I pointed out to Éric after watching him for a bit.”

For a film such as this, which is a journey in itself, Roy appreciated being on location in Mexico with the entire crew.

“It makes it easier to stay in André’s world. [ …] You find yourself more of less in his boat. In fact, the sand dunes where we went for the shoot have left me with images that I’ll never forget.”