People

Currently airing on Canale 5, Montmartre is a lavish historical drama that transports viewers to Paris during the Belle Époque, using the atmosphere of late 19th-century cabaret culture to explore themes that feel strikingly contemporary: female emancipation, social precarity, sexual identity, inclusion and the search for freedom.
Set in 1899, the series unfolds in the vibrant and contradictory world of Montmartre, where beauty, scandal, poverty and ambition coexist. At the centre of the story are three characters — Céleste, Arsène and Rose — whose destinies appear separate but are in fact connected by a hidden family bond. None of them knows that their story is only just beginning.

Céleste Tessandier, played by Alice Dufour, is a cancan dancer who performs out of economic necessity. Her main goal is to finance the search for her missing siblings. In order to survive and continue her quest, she agrees to take part in what becomes a scandalous first striptease number, a gesture that will place her at the centre of public attention and gradually transform her into a symbol of female visibility and resistance.

In an exclusive interview with Formatbiz in Paris, Alice Dufour spoke about the responsibility of playing Céleste, a character who is not only the emotional heart of the series but also the figure around whom many of the other stories revolve.

“Louis Choquette, the director, gives enormous importance to preparation,” Dufour explains. “We did a great deal of work before filming: table readings with the actors, rehearsals, and a lot of dance preparation. Even though Céleste is the main role, and even though there is a strong ensemble dimension, I approached the part quite serenely because we were very well prepared thanks to him.”

This preparation was crucial for a role that required not only emotional intensity but also a strong physical component. Céleste belongs to the world of cabaret, music and dance, and her body is constantly exposed to the gaze of others — first as an instrument of survival, then as a form of power. The series uses this trajectory to explore how a woman can move from being looked at to choosing how she wants to be seen.

For Dufour, one of the most interesting aspects of Céleste is that she is not presented from the beginning as a political heroine or a conscious feminist icon.

“What is interesting is that Céleste is not a rebel by nature,” she says. “She was not born with this desire to fight. She was not born a feminist. It is her story that leads her to want to fight for women’s rights. At the beginning, her fight is to find her family. Then she becomes a dancer, then a famous dancer. And when she has a voice, she must not hide it. She must use that voice, and she must use the light that is on her as a woman to defend other women.”

This evolution gives the character a deeply contemporary resonance. Montmartre may be a period drama, but its themes echo current debates around gender, class, sexuality and identity. The series addresses feminism, the struggle for women’s rights, homophobia, racism and social inequality, while grounding these issues in the emotional journeys of its characters.

Céleste’s path is mirrored by the stories of Arsène and Rose. Arsène, played by Victor Meutelet, is the heir to an automobile factory who refuses an arranged marriage in order to live his homosexuality freely. Rose, played by Claire Romain, is a young laundress forced by her fiancé to work in a brothel. Together, these three characters embody different forms of marginalisation and different attempts to reclaim agency in a society governed by rigid hierarchies of class, gender and respectability.

The cabaret at the heart of the series, L’Éléphant Rose, recalls the legendary venues of Montmartre such as Le Chat Noir, one of the symbolic meeting places of Parisian bohemia at the end of the 19th century. This world of artists, dancers, aristocrats, workers and outsiders offers the perfect setting for a story that combines melodrama, historical intrigue and cultural relevance.

According to co-producer Aline Panel, the ambition was to create “a very romantic story inspired by the great literary myths of the 19th century,” with a particular focus on social class. Co-producer Estelle Boutière adds that while the feminist theme is clearly present, the series is ultimately about “emancipation and inclusion.”

The production also placed great emphasis on historical accuracy and visual ambition. Boutière described Montmartre as a rare and prestigious project, one that required not only financial resources but also set designers and costume designers capable of “performing miracles,” as well as a director able to recreate the atmosphere of cabaret and cast actors who could also dance and perform music. Historian Lucie Rondeau du Noyer supported the creative team with detailed period research, from medical instruments to social etiquette. The set design department collected around 700 documents, including photographs, paintings, drawings and book extracts.

Céleste herself was partly inspired by Blanche Cavelli, the performer associated with one of the first complete striptease acts, which reportedly took place on March 3, 1894, at 75 rue des Martyrs in Pigalle. This historical reference reinforces the way Montmartre blends fiction with real cultural memory, using the cabaret stage as both spectacle and battleground.

The cast also includes Thibault de Montalembert, well known internationally for his role as Mathias Barneville in the cult French series Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent), alongside Alice Dufour, Victor Meutelet and Claire Romain.

Asked whether Montmartre could continue with a second season, Dufour clarifies that the project is conceived more as a collection than as a direct continuation.

“There will not really be a second season in the traditional sense,” she explains. “It is more of a collection. The first story was Montmartre 1900. The next one will focus on another district of Paris and another period. It will be set after the war, between 1919 and 1939, during the Années folles. These are always post-war periods, periods of hope. So viewers will be able to dream again.”

As for whether Céleste, Arsène and Rose might return twenty years later, Dufour remains cautious. “I don’t know,” she says. “I don’t think that is the idea. I don’t know whether the casting will be the same.”