“Aline”: behind the scenes of the incredible transformation of Valérie Lemercier into Céline Dion – BFMTV

To slip into the skin of the Quebec singer, renamed Aline in her film, Valérie Lemercier had to multiply the tips and tricks.

In Aline, in theaters this Wednesday, Valérie Lemercier plays Aline Dieu, Celine Dion’s cinematographic double, from childhood to adulthood. If the actress and director slipped easily into the incredible wardrobe of the Quebec diva, perfectly imitating her gestures, playing Céline Dion as a little girl required some special effects.

To make it as tall as three apples, we had to cheat with the decorations.

“[Valérie Lemercier] wanted us to do special effects almost à la Méliès, testifies the head decorator Emmanuelle Duplay. We enlarged several objects with which she was in direct contact. [Dans] the shoe store, we enhanced this little window in a totally artificial way, so that when we film Valérie, we have the impression that she is very small. “

Protruding ears and false teeth

For this rather special makeover, Valérie Lemercier had to cheat with her figure. “When I’m 11, 12, I crush my breasts completely, and on top, I add little ones that grow. After that, I put them forward, because she is breastfeeding the twins. . It was fun to have the body that evolves. There was a whole system placed under the clothes to have the body of the age. [d’Aline Dieu]”.

If she claims to have never trained in front of a mirror to reproduce the gestures of Celine Dion, the actress explains having “looked so much” that she is imbued with it. “I’ve seen her so much, after that comes out on its own.” The resemblance is obvious, but the actress retains her face.

“They didn’t put latex on me to make me look like her,” she points out. “I just peeled my ears off the whole movie. years. My forehead was also reduced, [parce qu’] her hair is lower than me. “

To complete the reconstruction, Valérie Lemercier slipped into the film, without aiming to be exhaustive, “some very important dresses”, evoking for example the one that little Céline wore at 5 years old, when she discovered her talent, or the crazy dress from her marriage to René.

“Valérie always pushes the plug, for the details”, indicates Catherine Leterrier, costume designer of the film, showing a microphone of the time, equipping a stage outfit of Aline Dieu.

For the director, talking about Aline Dieu and not Celine Dion – an idea of ​​Brigitte Buc, with whom she wrote the film – allows her to have a certain distance, which is beneficial for the film. “It allows you to put a little of yourself in it, it allows you to invent things. It is not a Wikipedia file”.