In the series Zorro, broadcast on France 2 this week, Jean Dujardin realizes a childhood dream, but also experiences a test in his career…
Subscribers of Paramount++ have already been able to discover it since September 6. This time, the end-of-year event series in France is being broadcast free of charge, on France 2. The first episode of Zorowith Jean Dujardin in the main role, was scheduled this Monday, December 23, on the second channel. This umpteenth adaptation of the adventures of the vigilante is betting on the sequel since we find the hero forced to take back the mask he abandoned 20 years ago to confront a local businessman, but also to save his marriage to Gabriella.
In this Zoro with French sauce, we also find Audrey Dana, André DussollierEric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois in the casting. But it is Jean Dujardin who serves as the lead product for all 8 episodes which will be broadcast until February on the main public service channel, as well as on its france.tv platform. At a press conference just a few days before the series went online on Paramount+, Jean Dujardin confided that the character of Zorro was “a child’s dream, an actor’s wish, then an adult nightmare when the role doesn’t come”, before everything is precipitated by this new project.
Inspired by the interpretations of Guy Williams or Douglas Fairbanks, he actually plays two characters here : “an honest, courageous Don Diego, sometimes beside himself, and his devil who can sort things out more quickly than him”. And these two characters are confronted with different plots that are brand new and obviously much more contemporary than in the popular series of the 1950s : the relationship with the father, with the wife, with authority or with capitalism are explored in turn.
“I’m at the end of something with Zoro”
The challenge for the co-creator of the series, Benjamin Charbit, was to humanize a little more this hero that we all know, to deal with political questions, while restoring the Zorro that the public loves. “I felt extremely lucky to be able to have fun with this wonderful hero, to maybe twist his arm sometimes but not to damage the statue and to return it.” When the first episodes were revealed last September, he admitted to “still having nightmares” about the reaction of the character’s fans to the new version he created. “We want to be in homage, but at the same time we want to dust off. We tried to go as far as possible from what the character of Zorro can teach us about our time and at the same time restore him in his grandeur and in its values…”
Jean Dujardin did not say anything else about the scenario, but he did make the series Zoro a form of culmination or end of cycle in one’s career. The masked character is like a symbol of his first 20 years of career and above all it inspired him to move on to something else: “It’s the highlight of my hideouts. I’ve been doing this work for 20 years, I “I made masked, made-up characters, thinking that they would improve me or make me better, but that it wouldn’t be me,” he said.
“I’m at the end of something with Zoronow I will have to free myself and really take off the mask”, also added a slightly intriguing Dujardin. Especially since after having slammed the door of Safy Nebbou’s film, “Son of Nobody”, scheduled for 2026, Jean Dujardin has decided to film in the feature film “Jean and Corinne Luchaire” by Xavier Giannoli, on the life of the journalist Jean Luchaire, a figure of collaboration during the Second War world, sentenced to death and executed in 1946 while his actress daughter was sentenced to national indignity. The actor will also soon play a character of 1 centimeter in Jan Kounen’s film, “The Shrinking Man”, adapted. from a science fiction novel by Richard Matheson The mask has therefore not completely fallen.
What is the plot of the series Zoro ?
In 1821, Don Diego de la Vega became mayor of his beloved city of Los Angeles, which he intended to make prosper. However, the municipality faces financial problems due to the greed of a local businessman, Don Emmanuel. And in the face of injustice, the mayor’s powers prove insufficient…
Diego hasn’t called on his Zorro double for 20 years. But in the name of the general interest, he has no choice but to bring out his mask and his sword. Very quickly, Diego will encounter difficulties reconciling his dual identity as Zorro and mayor, which puts a strain on his marriage to Gabriella, who is unaware of his secret. Can Diego save his marriage and his sanity amid the chaos?
Which actors are in the cast of the series Zoro ?
- Jean Dujardin as Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro
- Audrey Dana as Gabriella de la Vega
- Salvatore Ficarra as Bernardo
- André Dussollier
- Eric Elmosnino : don Emmanuel
- Grégory Gardebois: the Sergeant
Where to watch the series Zoro streaming?
The series Zoro is to be seen both in streaming and on television. The 8 episodes lasting 40 minutes were first broadcast on Paramount+ from September 6, 2024. Accessible by subscription, this platform costs 7.99 euros per month, or 79.90 euros per year. Its content has also been offered since August 20 on MyCanal for subscribers to Canal+ offers.
The series was also scheduled on France 2 from December 23, 2024 and broadcast free of charge on the france.tv platform.