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The new French movie Largo Winch, adapted from the famous Belgian graphic novel, combines intricate human relationships with adrenaline-pumping action stunts. bc chats with leading actor Tomer Sisley about how a comic becomes a star, a loathing for conformity and a face full of cockroaches.

How have you found transitioning from being a comic to an international action movie star?
I don’t see it as transitioning because I’ve always been an actor. I did stand-up comedy because I couldn’t get the parts that interested me and I wanted to get myself out there so people get to know me. But it’s not as if I’m a stand-up comedian who suddenly got offered a part in a movie. I just saw it as going back to my real job, meaning being an actor. It was a big opportunity to do this movie. I was very lucky to do it, because you can have a lifetime career as an actor and never get that kind of part. I know how lucky I am.

What parts were you looking for that you didn’t get?
Any interesting parts. I was struggling to pass casting to get a lousy part in a shitty TV series. I just didn’t get interesting parts in the movies. As an actor, it’s a shame that that is how it works. You depend on the desire of somebody else to give you work, and if that director or producer doesn’t know you, or knows you but is not interested in you, then you’re stuffed. You won’t get work. It’s tough, but I think that’s the way it should be because then you have to fight for what you want.

Are you afraid that that you are going to be always associated with Largo Winch for the rest of your career?
Not at all. I had a lead in a sitcom 15 years ago, I was associated with that. I did the stand-up comedy and got famous for it and I was associated with that. Now I did Largo Winch, and I know I’m going to be associated with that. I don’t care. It’s my job to do different things after that, so you will associate me with something else. So, no, I’m not scared at all.

What was the most challenging part during the shooting?
Doing the scene where I had cockroaches on my face. It was the only thing that scared me.

Not the language, not the stunts?
Nope. Having 50 cockroaches running around on your face is not fun! I had a fear of cockroaches, but no one knew I had that fear and I didn’t show it. When they said they brought the cockroaches for me, I had to ask them several times whether they were serious. When I realized that they weren’t joking, I took a really deep breath and said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ And I’m very proud of it. I had to work on myself to do that.

You’ve said that you find a lot of similarities between yourself and Largo Winch...?
Largo is an adolescent, trapped in an adult’s body. I am. He doesn’t know his roots, he is an adopted child and doesn’t know who his parents are. I’m not adopted but I have too many roots. I was born in Germany, my parents are Israeli and my grandparents are from Russia and Yemen. I lived in France, and attended an American school. What am I? So I have that problem. He was a lonely child, I was a lonely child. He’s a rebel, I was a real rebel. He hates conformity, I hate it too. I can go on and on. There are so many similarities, it was really surprising.

Was that why you were attracted to be a part of the movie?
I would have been anyway. Largo Winch wasn’t the kind of movie that you can refuse. In any case, I’m very lucky to get this part, but I’m even luckier that this part fits me so well, and that I’m so close to the character. That’s probably why the director, Jerome Salle, asked me to do it and not anybody else.

What do you want people to feel after they watch the movie?
I hope I’ve touched them by acting as sincerely as possible. The kid inside me loved the action, jumping from the cliff, driving fast and all that. But as an actor, I was more interested by the relationships between the actors and within the character himself. For me it’s a story of a guy who thinks that he doesn’t get enough love from his dad and acted very immaturely. But when he realizes that he is wrong, it is all too late. The movie is about how he seeks redemption. I’m really interested in the complicated relationship between the different characters. If I managed to make anyone see and feel this tension, even if just a little bit, I’m happy.

What can people anticipate from the sequels?
The first movie is about him getting power. The sequel offers a more metaphysical question. Now that you have the power, what do you with it? What is the right thing to do? And the story is going to answer that.

Largo Winch opens July 9, 2009. Read the review in bc’s film section.