PublishedSeptember 20, 2022, 9:44 PM
Tom Villa“I would never have been able to do politics”
On the poster for the film “The Drift of the Continents (in the South)”, by Lionel Baier, Tom Villa embodies a politician “head to slaps”. He loved this role.
Radio host, columnist, comedian and actor, Tom Villa is a multi-talented artist. On the poster for the film “The Drift of the Continents (in the south)”, by Lionel Baier, in theaters from September 21, 2022, he has every intention of breaking into the 7th art. Passing through Lausanne, the 33-year-old Frenchman confided frankly.
Why did you accept this role of a particularly unsympathetic politician in this film?
I agreed to play him precisely because he is unsympathetic. When I read Lionel Baier’s screenplay, I thought it was brilliant. I really wanted to play it. In addition, it’s very pleasant, because for you, the Swiss, I think that this character is a bit the incarnation of the Frenchman who is a bit arrogant, a bit headstrong. He arrives, he makes no apologies for being there, he carries out his mission. It is therefore for all these reasons that I agreed to play it.
Could you have been in politics if you hadn’t been an artist?
Never ever! I don’t understand how one can get into politics. In any case in France. For me, politics is interesting up to the level of the mayor, where you can really do things for your fellow citizens. Beyond that, no one touches anything. The region, the department and then even above… I have the impression that politicians just chain meetings. It has become communicators who do not do much on the ground. And I find that there are a lot of hits to take for few returns.
How did you meet Lausanne director Lionel Baier?
It’s thanks to Franco-Swiss comedian Marina Rollman, and I thank her! Lionel had asked her for my details and she kindly made the transfer. He then sent me a very nice email and we saw each other between the first and the second confinement, at the end of 2021. We had tests, and that’s it, it was like that.
Does the theme of political refugees particularly affect you?
Yes, this is a particularly sad theme. And as Lionel Baier explains very well, the Covid pandemic has put a kind of handkerchief on these people who we have tended to forget. So, yes, it is terrible what is happening. This film sheds light on political communication in relation to all that. Lionel does not put himself in the place of migrants. Only they can tell all that they have experienced. So there is a lot of respect for these people in the film.
You have been known as a radio host, columnist and comedian. Do you now want to focus on your acting profession?
I’m lucky to be a bit of a Swiss army knife and to have plenty of strings to my bow. But, yes, fiction is something that I like a lot, that I really want to deepen. On the writing side too, I want to write about it, because the chronicle is great, but we do it and then the next day we move on to something else, and so do the people. It is perishable material. While fiction on TV or in the cinema has a longer lifespan. It can be rebroadcast and people can see it again years later.
Have you always wanted to pursue an artistic career?
Secretly, yes! I was extremely shy when I was little. I then had the chance to do theater and it helped me a lot to fight this shyness. But the road is long, and I still have plenty to do. So, there, I made a first walk, and it must continue for a long time, I hope!