On the occasion of a fan convention organized for the One Year of Here Everything Begins, Zoï Sévérin, the interpreter of Jasmine, answered our questions on what awaits his character during the next episodes of the series.
You are one of the last actors to have joined the cast of Here It All Begins. How did your arrival in the series go? Were you apprehensive about joining a program that is so popular with the public?
Zoï Sévérin: Yes, knowing that there are nearly four million viewers necessarily puts a little pressure. We want to give ourselves and do things well. In any case, I was very well received.
The character of Jasmine is very interesting and makes it possible to address, in particular, bipolarity in young adults. It must have been a big challenge not to caricature or betray the reality of this disease about which we talk a lot but which we ultimately know little about. How did you approach this aspect of your character and interact with people with this condition to prepare?
I did not meet directly with people concerned by this subject but rather through those around me. I have a friend whose mother is bipolar. She described to me from the outside how one could receive this behavior and how it was characterized in these people. I also watched interviews and took an interest in the relatives of these people to see how it is experienced on a daily basis.
The series was very well written in the sense that I was not given cartoonish scenes. I think it was handled fairly well. It allowed me to bring a touch of anger, sadness and to be able to make waves with the character. And it’s very pleasant to play that for an actress because there are a lot of colors to defend. It’s great to be able to talk about this topic.
Jasmine, Greg (Mikaël Mittelstadt) and Eliott (Nicolas Anselmo) start a new chapter in their life with Naël by settling together to raise him. How will this roommate go?
I can’t say it all, but now that Jasmine is on medication she is finding it easier to cope with her illness. What’s very cool about this shared apartment is that it actually talks about young people. How we find our bearings and the tensions that it can create to live together with a newborn baby and a couple. I can’t say more but it will be nice because we talk about having a baby when we are young and it shows how complicated it can be. You don’t think of everything a baby needs. So we talk about a lot of things: how to feed a baby, how to take care of it, etc. In fact, it shows how much of a job being a mother is. If we add the rest, that’s a lot.
Are you aware that through these social issues, in your case motherhood and bipolarity among young adults, you are somewhere helping the people who watch you on television every night?
I wasn’t aware of it at all until I got on the show and saw all the repercussions. It’s so cool to see people and talk to them because it ultimately creates a real exchange.
What do you hope for the future of your character?
I can’t wait to know who Jasmine is going to be dating (laughs). But in and of itself, as long as there are things to defend, things to play and topics to cover, everything is nice. I just want to keep what started.
