A new episode of “Bellefond”, the series hosted by Stéphane Bern, is broadcast this evening on France 3. The star host, mocked for his acting debut, decided to respond.
A brand new episode of Bellefondentitled “Under pressure”, was scheduled on television this Tuesday, January 21, on France 3, at 9:05 p.m. The opportunity for viewers to find the lawyer Antoine Bellefond, played by Stéphane Bern, in a new plot. In this 2nd episode of season 2 (if we count correctly), Bellefond and his trainees must defend Khader, suspected of the murder of his friend Max, found asphyxiated during a night of camping. Meanwhile, the crime’s other suspect, Amira, is defended by Christine Rigault (Claire Nebout), a formidable lawyer who was once Bellefond’s bête noire when he was prosecutor. A legal battle then begins to discover the truth.
This role of Maître Bellefond, criminal lawyer in Marseille played since 2022 by Stéphane Bern, will have caused a lot of ink to flow in a little over two years. It must be said that the star host of France Télévisions did not immediately appear very comfortable in this new actor’s costume, even if it was a lawyer’s dress. After a few TV films here and there, the lover of history and crowned heads launched somewhat by surprise into this legal series on Channel 3. An exercise which earned him and still earns him numerous criticisms and mockery.
“I’m catching up on all the theater classes I didn’t have when I was young” (Stéphane Bern)
Guest on the set of C to you on France 5 on January 15, Stéphane Bern decided to respond to the criticism, a little annoyed. He even ranted against his detractors, believing he now had the legitimacy to play Bellefond: “We’re always making fun of him. I’ve just read the reviews, they say: ‘For once, he’s convincing…’. How many TV films will I have to make after a while?” The host regrets in passing that “the hosts who do comedy” (we also think of Jean-Luc Reichmann in the role of Léo Mattéï) are “still very frowned upon”.
But the host-comedian intends to silence the evil tongues through hard work. “I arrive with a lot of humility, I work. I catch up on all the theater classes that I didn’t have when I was young and I have coaches who make me work,” explained Stéphane Bern. He particularly praised the directors of the series Bellefond “who let nothing slip through”.
Efforts paid off since the audiences of Bellefond are currently doing well with nearly 4 million viewers on average. Enough to fully legitimize Stéphane Bern in this new role as an actor? The channel in any case seems to have answered the question, two new episodes of Bellefond already being ready and two others in preparation.