Roy Dupuis - the Quebec Charmer

For St. Valentine’s day last year many young Quebec girls went around in tee-shirts inscribed "You are my Ovila", dedicated to their boyfriends. This has been very fashionable ever since, and demonstrates to Canada the huge popularity of the hero of Emilie, who is worshipped as much as Roch Voisine. Roy Dupuis can’t leave the house without being assailed by autograph hunters (and huntresses). The 29 year-old actor isn’t complaining.

Like the character he plays, he was born deep in the countryside and spent his childhood in the north of Quebec (6 hours drive from Quebec City) in Abitibi, a region of lakes and forests. "I grew up amongst horses and dogs. I was also very close to my mother who is a musician and piano teacher. I studied the cello for six years, but I don’t have time to play it any more."

Like Ovila, Roy didn’t see much of his father, a commercial traveller for a meat producer. Today, his parents are separated. "My father is called Roi with an "i", <meaning ‘king’, and pronounced Rwa> because he was born on the Day of Kings <Twelfth Night or Epiphany>. Luckily he wasn’t named Epiphanie! I was given a ‘y’. It’s pronounced the English way, Ro’-ee, but in old French it’s spelt with a ‘y’.

During our Canadian trip, we were guests of Roy in Montreal. He lives right in the centre of town in a condominium, on one floor of a pretty two-storey English style house, near a park with huge trees, populated by squirrels <St. Louis Square - viv>.

His favourite pastime is listening to CDs. A little Roch Voisine, a little Gilles Vigneault, a lot of Léo Ferré his favourite singer, and classical music. However Roy has hardly any time to while away at home. "I never stop filming." And no role stops him. Consequently Roy has played a homosexual prostitute in the film Being at Home with Claude. "At present, in Scoop, a new television series, I am a journalist."