From French teen idol to Canadian crime fighter: Joséphine Jobert's North American leap

Joséphine Jobert stars in the new CBC series, Saint-Pierre, a crime drama where she plays Genevieve Archambault — nicknamed "Arch" — as a cop from Paris who becomes deputy chief on the French island of Saint-Pierre, just off the Newfoundland coast.

Jobert might be a new face to Canadian viewers, especially when compared to veterans like co-star Allan Hawco. But for French millennials? She's already next-level famous.

While Paris-born Jobert spent her teenage years in Montreal, she moved back to France at age 20, where she was cast in the popular teen series Saint-Ex, nos années pension and Foudre. 

French teen drama queen

CBC's Amy Sylla  grew up in France and spent her summers glued to these addictive teen series and obsessing over the characters and soapy storylines. Among a sprawling cast of young actors, Jobert was often the only Black character. For Sylla, who is French-Senegalese, that representation meant the world — and she became a die-hard fan. When she heard that Jobert was coming to CBC's Toronto headquarters, she could not wait to meet her childhood idol. 

"Meet her? Why don't you interview her?" we asked. Watch the sweet interview above, and read on for the written highlights of that conversation (edited and shortened for clarity).

Amy: Little Amy is screaming inside right now and in complete disbelief. I never thought that I would have the opportunity one day to interview one of my biggest teenage crushes. 

For teenagers, watching them was more than a pastime. It was actually a ritual every summer, and my parents knew better than to interrupt me when I was watching. I would dissect every single episode with my friends afterward at the beach or even in September, back at school.

What was it like to be part of shows that were so loved and even iconic for a generation? 

Joséphine: To be honest, I had no idea it was this iconic until quite a few years ago. We were so young, like I was 20 years old and I was just kind of starting in this industry.

I'm 39 years old, so it was 19 years ago. People still talk to me about this show — young people, older people. I think it's crazy. For me it's like, "Is this real?" Because, you know, I'm just doing my job and I don't really always think about the impact you can have on people. I'm just enjoying what I do. 

I'll never forget, I had a message from a fan and she said, "I just lost my father. And just watching the show every single morning helped me grieving because it was just like half an hour where I didn't have to think about the pain of losing my father." This is why you're doing it. 

Twenty years ago, you wouldn't see a lot of Black actors on screen playing normal characters, where the fact that they were Black or mixed race wasn't the topic of the story. 

You know, it was just like normal people having normal feelings and going through difficult times, just as a human being. 

Amy: Your roles tackled so many topics that teenagers were experiencing but often were too uncomfortable or too afraid to talk about. Your character Amel (Nos années pension) was a Black Muslim teenager who wanted to become an artist. You never saw that on French TV. She was a character with so much grace, navigating how she wanted to show up in a friendship, in a relationship, [while] still being able to bring in that culture and her upbringing. It was so rare.

Joséphine: I'm really proud of it. It means a lot. At the time I had no idea. Being Amel or Alice was just being a character who was in love, who had dreams. But today, when I think about it, I'm like, "Wow." Now I realize that it was huge and I'm so proud of it. 

Amy: I would love to talk about the transition, because you had an impressive career in France, and then you decided to take that leap and that bold move to transition to an English-speaking project. There are not a lot of French-speaking people who would take that risk.

Joséphine: When I got my first job for [British series] Death in Paradise, I couldn't even believe it. The thing is, I auditioned a few years before for a guest part. I had a callback, but my English wasn't that good at the time, and the callback was not good.

Years later, I got to audition for the main character: Detective. And in between the two auditions, I took an English workshop. And the teacher was so good, like a door opened in my brain, I suddenly I was like, "OK, this is what it's like to act in English."

And I kept on working on my English. I still make mistakes, of course.

Amy: I think that is really beautiful because this is something that can [differentiate] you a lot from other actors. The fact that you are able to navigate so many different environments and adapt so quickly [while] being inclusive as well.

Joséphine: Also, it feels like there are more opportunities for me as a Black actress. I remember I was filming in one episode, I don't remember which season because we've had like a thousand seasons of Death in Paradise, but I was just sitting on set and I started counting the actors, and I think we were like eight or nine actors on set, and there was only one white actor.

You would never see this in France. Never. And I was like, "Oh!" [gasps in amazement] I shouldn't be amazed; it should be something normal. But the thing is, it's not, unfortunately. [laughing]

Amy: Never! [laughing] It is sad. We're making a joke out of it now because it's just a sad reality. And now you are working in this exciting new series Saint-Pierre where it looks like you really found your niche [playing characters] in law enforcement.

Talking again about representation… How does it feel for you to play this type of role, and what do you think the audience or even marginalized communities are thinking when they're seeing you in this role?

Joséphine: First of all, when you start as an actor, you just… you do everything you can do, like you have an audition, you get the job, you do it. Now I have the chance to choose the projects I work on. So from now on, I will try to pick very wisely every character I'm playing, and Arch is one of them. And I love her so much. I'm obsessed with her. Like, I'm in love with her. 

I'm so proud because, yeah, she's Black, but who cares? She's brave, she's smart, she's badass. 

Amy: She has sarcasm as well that I love.

Joséphine: Yes, me too. When I read the script, I was like, "OK, this is my girl. I want to be her."

Amy: If you look back at your impressive journey so far and you could sit and have a conversation with young Joséphine starting out, what would you tell her?

Joséphine The whole "talking to your younger self" thing is very … it makes me emotional. Because I remember when I was filming Saint-Ex, playing Amel, I could feel that people would never — how can I express this — bet on me? They would put more hope in the other actors who were not Black. In another series, even in Foudre — the English title is "Summer Crush" — I mean, I was playing the main character, but I could feel that the producers and everyone were more interested in the other actors who were not. 

So I would tell her, "Don't worry, because things are going to go so well for you. You don't need other people to validate you. Hold on to your dreams, to your passion.

You will make it and you will be happy and you will play beautiful other characters, and you will be working in English one day. Just stay positive, stay happy. Keep the light that's shining in you. Keep it alive because things are going to work out very well."