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Roy Dupuis: I have a manager down there.

FF: You do?

Roy Dupuis: Yeah. Well actually he came in and asked me. That was just before La Femme Nikita actually. And asked me if I needed someone to take care of me down there, to represent me. I said, "Yes, why not? You can send me some scripts that I’ll read, and if I find any interesting, why not? The more choice I have, the better it is for me, I guess. As for moving down there, I don’t think I need to. I think things are getting faster and faster ...

FF: Right...

Roy Dupuis: No, I’ve got my home, and it took me six years to find it.

FF: Wow.

Roy Dupuis: And it’s kind of my life project right now. That’s where I want to create.

FF: And how do you like New York? Have you spent much time here?

Roy Dupuis: Yeah, we usually go to New York once a year. I love it. I like the energy there. I like architecture. I just like to walk down the street and look at buildings, churches and stuff like that. I really like that.

FF: And do you find when you’re in New York, you’re pretty much left alone and not too bothered by people, or are you ...

Roy Dupuis: Well the last time I went, which was last year, it started to, but not that much. But some people started to recognize me, yeah. But it was okay. It was okay.

FF: And are there roles that you haven’t played that you would love to do, or are there directors that you would want to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?

Roy Dupuis: Oh, there’s a lot of directors I’d like to work with. I could give you names, but I’d forget some too. Well, I can name a few ...

FF: Okay, go ahead.

Roy Dupuis: Jim Jarmusch and Terry Gilliam from the American side. And many, many others.

FF: What would you feel about working with someone like Martin Scorsese?

Roy Dupuis: Yeah, I’d love him too.

FF: And do you ...

Roy Dupuis: I hope I’d love him; I don’t know. I like what he does.

FF: Do you have any concerns that you would be offered scripts that are too similar to the role you’re playing now, or too action-oriented, or do you have any concerns of being -- I don’t want to say typecast, but pigeon-holed in some way?

Roy Dupuis: Yeah, well, I thought about it before accepting Michael. It was like there’s been other propositions from American series and stuff like that before Nikita. And sometimes I just didn’t like the characters; sometimes it was something else. And Michael was -- I liked the character because he could be action-oriented, but he’s also very -- I think the series also -- mostly turns around psychological ...

FF: Definitely ...

Roy Dupuis: ... interplay. And that’s what Michael is, also. He’s agile, but he’s also smart and wise.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: So, I think it gives a certain range. And also sometimes in this series, we can play almost a little bit different of what the character is.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: Like when I lost my memory, or when I had my son or ...

FF: Exactly.

Roy Dupuis: ... just like that, so it gives a range.

FF: And how to you feel about the actor Alain Delon?

Roy Dupuis: Oh, he’s good. He’s good. He’s strong. He also has a very great presence, intelligent presence, charisma.

FF: Yes, yes.

Roy Dupuis: Oh yeah.

FF: Did you ever see ...

Roy Dupuis: Actually I’ve worked with a director who directed him in theater, and he talked to me about Alain Delon because he thought I had something that he had. ...

FF: It’s funny -- that’s what I was going to say ...

Roy Dupuis: Oh my. I don’t want to say that because of that, but that’s what he said about him. And he said in theater Delon had an amazing presence.

FF: The reason why I mentioned Delon is that I went to see a restored print of one of his movies called Le Samourai (recently released on VHS –editor). I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it. It’s from 1967, and it’s a French movie. And it’s amazing.

Alain Delon in Le Samourai.

It’s so beautifully shot and directed, but it has virtually no dialogue. He does it like you, all through the eyes. It’s a wonderful performance -- he’s basically a killer, but you get all the humanity and all the complexity without  -- I don’t think there’s three lines of dialogue in the whole movie.

But I thought when we saw it, and I think this was, oh gosh, maybe a year ago, that if they ever remake this movie, they really should cast Roy Dupuis in Delon’s role. Because Delon had the same sort of thing you have. So if you ever have a chance to see it, it is a wonderfully enjoyable ...

Roy Dupuis: I will ...

FF: ... beautiful, beautiful touches from the director.

Roy Dupuis: Do you know who directed it?

FF: Jean-Pierre Melville. And as I mentioned in my letter to you a while back, I have always believed that the greatest actors can convey the essence of the scene without needing dialogue. Which you do. What acting choices do you make every day to create a character such as Michael, and, most importantly, to convey his inner dialogue without necessarily speaking?

Roy Dupuis: I guess that’s probably one of the reasons why I was accepted at the National Theatre School of Canada. I guess that’s something I have. I probably learned to work with it with time, too. Even in National School. For me it’s kind of simple, and it’s complicated at the same time. Well, it’s complicated to do because you just need a lot of energy. You need to just be real present and open at the same time, and at the same time closed.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: But -- I decided to take away every gesture, every natural normal gesture we usually use to give life to a character. Because I wanted economy of movement, and because he is also a martial arts expert, so he doesn’t move without a reason ...

FF: Right...

Roy Dupuis: ... and as for the non-verbal stuff, it is the eyes.

FF: Yes.

Roy Dupuis: That’s the only door I give him...

FF: Right ...

Roy Dupuis: ...and sometimes the body. I just go every day, every scene.

FF: And do you tailor it differently from when you do something for the stage?

Roy Dupuis: Oh yeah.

FF: And how does it change?

Roy Dupuis: The space is different.

FF: So you use the space more ...

Roy Dupuis: Yeah.

FF: But the eyes...

Roy Dupuis: But like one of my theater teachers said once in a course, he said you can cry all the tears from your eyes; if you’re not in the spotlight, they won’t see it. That’s the theater. The camera won’t come and get it. So there’s a certain technique. There’s a technique in cinema too, but it’s not the same.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: You can be way more intimate, way more nowadays even. I think the sound is better and all that.

FF: Yes, yes.

Roy Dupuis: And in theater, you can be intimate, depending on the space. In a small theatre you can.

FF: Uh huh, right.

Roy Dupuis: But in a big theater -- you know, you’ve just got to crank it up.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: I did also lots of sports. That gave me a good sense of space, how to react to an object, or even another character in the space.

FF: Interesting. And what sport most of all would you say really hones that skill?

Roy Dupuis: Well I guess all sports can help. I would say at least a sport that you’re playing against someone.

FF: Yes.

Roy Dupuis: Not just alone. You need to react to someone and to some thing. Like boxing actually is a great sport for that. I did a little bit of that – boxing training, and I did a lot of hockey.

FF: Uh huh.

Roy Dupuis: And even swimming, even if you’re just swimming almost against yourself ...

FF: And does that also help for endurance as well ...

Roy Dupuis: Yeah, of course ...

FF: ... since it’s basically a taxing job?

Roy Dupuis: I think it’s a good thing that I’ve done that before. Because series are probably the toughest thing ...

FF: Oh yeah ...

Roy Dupuis: ... in our business.

FF: For sure.

Roy Dupuis: Yeah.

FF: I remember some time ago I took tai chi for several years, and I remember that many people in my class were actors. I thought that was very interesting. I think it’s very good as far as your coordination and becoming graceful and sure-footed and body control. I thought it was ...

Roy Dupuis: Oh yeah.

FF: … interesting at the time.

Roy Dupuis: One thing that amazed me when I went to National Theatre School coordination class -- they taught us how to breathe. They taught us how to walk. They taught us how to talk. All the basics -- everything you already know.

FF: And you’re re-learning it.

Roy Dupuis: Yeah. Yeah it’s interesting.

FF: It is. And do you have a preference, not in the sense of fame and fortune, but a preference in expressing the actor’s art? Is it the stage? Is it television? Is it film?

Roy Dupuis: Right now I would say the stage. Because I haven’t done a lot for a while and I miss it. I miss the intimacy.

FF: Intimacy, yes.

Roy Dupuis: Intimacy. The rehearsal, you know? The process of reading and trying things and allowing yourself to go overboard, and, you see, when we do a series, we always have to give a performance that is good here and now, right now.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: You don’t have time to kind of try things.

FF: Right.

Roy Dupuis: I would say almost not, sometimes, but ...

FF: And then there’s not the immediate connection with the audience as well.

Roy Dupuis: Yeah.

FF: That there is in the theatre.

Roy Dupuis: Yeah. But it’s mostly -- it’s mostly the rehearsal I miss.

FF: You do, uh huh.

Roy Dupuis: Yeah. That’s another thing that Armand Gatti taught me; a line he said once that I really found very important for what an actor is, I think. And he said the act of theater is done in rehearsal. The representation is only the conclusion of the act.

FF: Interesting.

Roy Dupuis: Like we make love in rehearsal, and what the audience sees is the baby.