"McWalter": Mister V and Simon Astier unveil a crazy secret agent on Prime Video

Several successful short films released in 2015, which, ten years later, were transformed into a film with the same hero: McWalter, named after the character created by Mister V (Yvick Letexier in civilian life), a famous YouTuber who has since diversified: comedian, rapper, actor. McWalter is a crazy secret agent who must return to service because a bomber is pretending to be him via identical DNA prints. To prove his innocence, he will have to discover who is hiding behind this setup.

To play opposite Mister V in this new original film from Prime Video, heavyweights: Géraldine Nakache, François Berléand, Vincent Dedienne, William Lebghil and Jonathan Cohen. Behind the camera, but also as screenwriter of this crazy film full of tributes to American cinema of the 90s ( The Mask, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon , etc.), we find Simon Astier. The actor of Kaamelott , also director of several critically acclaimed series ( Hero Corp, Visitors ) talks to us about this atypical project which arrives today on the platform and in more than 150 countries around the world.

What did you like about this project?

I feel like I met my second cousin with Yvick. We both grew up artistically exploring places that were still a little unknown: YouTube, for him, at the very beginning. I made series on channels that allowed me total and very particular artistic freedom. Our first loves as viewers date back to the 90s and all those genre films, action films, comedies. McWalter , for me, is that. Really, I was invited to the best birthday party and I've never had so much fun.

This isn't your first time directing, but it's your first feature film. What difference does that make?

I put a lot of pressure on myself. Series suited me well in my artistic research even though it's almost another profession. Everything goes very fast. Everything is very fast. Everything has to be done for the moment. We have to create open worlds. I loved that. And then, I admit that it took me a while to say to myself, "OK, I'm going to make this film," even though it corresponds to everything I've been trying to put in place for years. And indeed, it puts a crazy amount of pressure on myself. In a series, in our field of vision, it's impossible to take everything in. That is to say, there are lots of things that are beyond what we see, which are the next seasons, the universe that will evolve. With a film, you can put everything on a table and have an overview. I loved being able to keep an eye on the details of all the elements, all the little pieces of scenery to put them together in the order that I wanted.

You participated in the writing of the film, this also allows us to refocus even more on your universe, doesn't it?

Yvick has a very strong universe. I have a rather unique universe. And indeed, inviting myself into the writing—because Yvick has a character who is so outrageous, who has no limits—allowed me to frame him in a story where things happen, where at the end of each sequence, we go elsewhere, to another world, another setting, another stake, another danger. So it was about strengthening the story so that the comedy could develop. Whether it's the narration or the stakes, everything has to be clear so that the comedy isn't something we depend on. When we tell stories, I think we tell them better, more ardently, once we've put our own things into them.

Did directing such a cast scare you at all?

I'm always a little scared because I grew up in Dijon and every time something cool happens to me in this profession, I always tell myself with a lot of emotion that I'm a little Dijon native, I feel like I'm being hit in the face by headlights. (laughs) And then in fact they are kind, generous, loving, and they become people on your team with whom we share this common point of wanting to make the best possible film. So, yes, there is an impressive side but there is also a side "I'm so lucky to be doing what I'm doing"... Besides the casting, I had references and I had in mind that I would so much like to be in the lineage of the films that made me laugh, whether it 's Ace of Aces , or City of Fear , and that these universes meet other universes like Kingsman , for example.