Roy Dupuis at Cannes with "Rumours"

[abby82]

Guy Maddin and Evan and Galen Johnson's "Rumours" had its Out of Competition Gala Premiere Saturday night in the 10PM evening slot. Roy Dupuis walked the red carpet along with his co-stars and the film's trio of directors.

I think everyone can agree that at 61, Roy Dupuis can still get it. His character is described as "hunky", "buff", and "brooding".

Just as I'd hoped, he wore a black on black suit but he did it in a much more different way than usual. His jacket was almost knee length and there was a subtle sash embellishment across his chest that shimmered in the light. I feel like it didn't quite fit him as well as it could have and would have benefited from some additional tailoring. The sleeves at his wrist looked a little too loose. Roy wore his hair up as I kind of expected but I was disappointed that he wore it in pony tail rather than looping the tail in like he's worn it in Toute la vie and A couer battant.

Like all the other cast members, he got his got his own moment in the spotlight during the standing ovation at the end of the screening. There was an afterparty where he also made an appearance.

The following day at noon was the traditional photocall session and Roy was back in his usual chambray button down. It amused me that he was the only cast member who brought a bag. Roy could be seen arriving and heading to the press conference with a black messenger bag slung over his shoulder. It amused me that as the cast was making their way across the lawn to the press conference facility, Roy could be seen in the background with French actor Denis Ménochet, rummaging in his bag for something. Both men were really invested with what inside that bag. Perhaps Roy was holding something for him? Looks like he made a friend.

At the press conference, one question was directed at Roy from a Quebecois journalist and he answered in French.

Reviews for the film have been positive from the handful of mainstream medial outlets that have already published. Roy's character, Maxime Laplace, is the Prime Minister of Canada and has apparently hooked up with every major woman in the political world. When the affair ends, it takes him forever to get over the loss. His latest hookup was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and during the film he and the German Chancellor hook up in the woods. He also had a past fling with the President of the European Union. He's been described as the group's "scout leader" who leads the leaders through the woods and helps to defuse the attack by the bog zombies (!) they encounter.

Some of the more critical reviews on Twitter/X and letterbox state that the film might be about half an hour too long and while it starts off really strong, it flounders in the middle. Others think it should have been a short film or that it feels like a drawn out SNL sketch.

One of my favorite quotes that seems to capture the movie is, "It casts the G7 leadership adrift in a B-movie, essentially turning the heads of the leading liberal first-world democracies into the Mystery Machine gang from Scooby-Doo. "

Apparently the role was written specifically for Roy. The directors were interviewed for a podcast with Film Comment

The part of the Canadian Prime Minister was written for Roy Dupuis. "We worked with him in The Forbidden Room. He was, I guess, the male lead in that very big ensemble cast and we just knew that he had all the qualities we wanted and we couldn't imagine anyone else so we gambled that he'd be available and willing and luckily he was so we started with him and he said yes." After Roy's casting, the approached Cate Blanchett.

With regards to his look in the movie, they had this to say, "Roy Dupuis when he showed up he had this long hair that he had to keep because he was shooting something else afterwards, so we put it up in a man bun and we were like okay maybe we should lean into this soap opera stuff because this guy really looks like a Harlequin/soap opera star and this could really be funny if we leaned into it."

During the recording of the podcast, Roy apparently shows up because the directors greet him and the host confirms that he's there but he doesn't say anything.

The official Cannes footage of the Red Carpet, the End of the Screening, Photo Call, and Press Conference are available on Youtube with both English and French commentary. The commentary was unnecessary. It didn't add anything and I ended up zoning it out.

If you only want the Roy specific bits, one very cool fan isolated Roy's segment of the standing ovation when the camera focuses solely on him and a brief hug with Cate Blanchet before the cast enters the theater.

Two interviews Roy participated in have also been posted to YouTube. One is for the English language French 24 channel with Cate Blanchett and Nikki Amuka-Bird and the second is with directors for Telefilm Canada.

Watch on YouTube

Vulture/New York Mag

Below are a collection of reviews, with the Roy highlights.

"Cate Blanchett plays the stylish, domineering German chancellor, intent on keeping the group together but also unafraid of a quickie in the woods with the hunky, man-bunned Canadian prime minister (Roy Dupuis), who himself is an indecisive milquetoast still carrying torches for his lost loves."

Screendaily

"One of the film’s running jokes – is the depiction of Canadian premier Maxime Laplace (Dupuis) as a heartbroken but ever up-for-it hunk...But badinage and amicable misunderstanding seem likely to delay work on this crucial document, together with evident sexual tensions: Maxime and British PM Cardosa Dewindt (Amika-Bird) have had a previous liaison, while Hilda seems only too keen to help the brooding Canadian get over his current amorous woes."

The Wrap

"The Canadian prime minister seems consumed by his marital problems."

Daily Variety

"Canada’s buff, manbun-sporting prime minister Maxime Laplace (Roy Dupuis) edges toward a nervous breakdown over a numbingly dull “carried interest scandal” at home, not to mention an extinguished romantic liaison with his U.K. counterpart Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who keeps insisting they can complete their statement while they claw their way out of the woods."

Hollywood Reporter

"In other ways, the leaders resemble middle-managers enjoying their annual conference with its catering, photo opportunities and time off from troublesome spouses — a particular concern for Canada’s prime minister Maxime Laplace (The Forbidden Room’s Roy Dupuis, rocking a man bun with an undercut like an aging pop star). Broad hints are dropped that Maxime had a fling with the United Kingdom’s otherwise goal-directed prime minister Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird). This year he’s caught the thirsty eye of host-country Germany’s elegant Chancellor Hilda Ortmann (Blanchett, showing off strong comedy chops, even in the way she Germanicizes her vowel sounds)."

Deadline Hollywood

"Hilde, the German chancellor, is trying to maintain her position as official hostess, but it is the Canadian PM Maxime who becomes scout leader, prodding a giant brain when nobody else dares and volunteering to swim across a river to retrieve a raft that may take them to safety, presumably stirred by a trace memory of forging into the frontier. When Maxime, on one of his lone forays into enemy territory, discovers Célestine (Alicia Vikander), the president of the European Union, sitting in a pool of moonlight going through her notes and babbling in Swedish about the dawn of a new era (introduced by the giant brain rather than any miracle of unification wrought by Brussels), it is as if he is meeting a forest fairy. Sometime in the past, Maxime had a tumultuous love affair with Célestine. Maxime seems to have tumultuous episodes with every woman in politics. Even Hilde is driven to seduce him with some sexy talk about encouraging the private sector."

World of Reel

"Maxime, the Prime Minister of Canada (Roy Dupuis, sporting a man bun), still isn't over the recent fling he had with the British PM Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird). The German Chancellor (Cate Blanchet, as always, the standout) tries to take advantage of the split by shagging with him in the woods. There’s also a little bit of Trudeau in Dupuis’ Canadian PM — at some point he attacks one of the leaders who claims he isn’t a real feminist (“I LOVE strong women!”)."

The Telegraph

"The Canadian prime minster (Roy Dupuis) is first to snap. Really, he’s a wreck before the apocalypse even gets going, guzzling wine and fretting about the collapse of his marriage even as the group try to draft a “provisional statement” that sets out a shared vision for the future in managerial buzzspeak. Yet – with a 10-ton wink – it’s Canada who will become the tortured action hero of the piece, dramatically fording a river to the strains of Enya’s ‘Exile’ and bedding Germany in a leafy glade."

The Guardian

British PM Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird) is stressed because she had an affair at the last G7 summit with troubled Canadian premier and ladies’ man Maxime Laplace (Roy Dupuis), who also carries a torch for European Commission secretary-general Celestine Sproul (Alicia Vikander) and has a moment with Hilda."

The CBC

"Rumours starts off relentlessly hilarious, leaning on a string of wonderful barbs and brilliantly comic performances that are perfectly calibrated against each other; including Blanchett and Dupuis, the latter amplifying Trudeau's sultry vibes."

The Upcoming

"Canada’s prime minister (Roy Dupuis), whose sex appeal masks deep insecurity and anxiety. Ménochet, Dupuis and Ravello are just brilliantly comic and get the best lines."