Thierry Wilson brings The Mama Mia Family to Nîmes – Exclusive Interview with Objectif Gard

Objectif Gard: You go up and down the hills, with no less than five shows in your suitcases. Does this job still make you laugh or dream?

Come : Oh, you know I started theater late, in 2014, after a career in music hall and cabaret. On stage, it’s never the same. That’s why it’s a live show! I adapt to regions, cities and their expressions. I am alone on stage. I have great freedom, I can improvise… Besides, my manager is tearing his hair out (laughs) ! If I played The Lion King, which has been on Broadway for 30 years, I wouldn’t have the same pleasure. For me, it’s not a job. I feel more like I’m putting a smile on people’s faces and trying to make them forget their worries.

How do you view Nîmes?

I am lucky to have a loyal audience in Nîmes. Each time, my shows are always packed. It was by making my debut at Atria that I was able to go to Montpellier and Béziers. France Bleu Gard Lozère also trusted me, which made me known here…. Even though coming from Marseille, we are cousins. We have the accent!

Have you ever, while you were in civilian clothes, spoken without meaning to, like Zize?

My partner often tells me that I sometimes say some of his words… As for the accent, I also have it in real life.

Do people recognize you in the street?

With the Internet, you can see photos of me as a boy. So people sometimes recognize me. It is surprising. And then, by doing radio on RTL with Laurent Ruquier, obviously I am better known. Very early on I realized that I was someone different, because of my sexual orientation. But it didn’t have to be a burden. My mother and father taught me to love myself as I am. I have been very lucky.

Between Zize and Thierry Wilson, who do you prefer?

Freud would have found that very interesting… Zize is very different from me. But he’s my creature, like Jean-Marc with Jeff Panacloc. Still, I don’t say unnatural things. Making a female character is tricky. In our show, there is no vulgarity, no contact with the public. I would have been blamed for it. You know, having worked with Michou, who gave transformationism its credentials, it really is an art: an imitation to perfection, mimicry… We’re not going to jump on people’s knees!

To get to where you are, what were the biggest challenges you had to overcome?

Silent (laugh) ! Do not react to haters on social networks even if I have very few or in my relationships with certain people in showbiz. You know, I realized I was going to be an artist when I was 12. I hung out at the Toursky theater in Marseille, in a poor and disadvantaged neighborhood. They were seen as drug addicts, acrobats… However, they were real artists, poets without ambition for notoriety.

This time, you will present in Nîmes The mama mia family. Zize marries her son. A tragedy when you don’t like your daughter-in-law, right? Does this promise a real release for all mothers-in-law who are in this situation?

But not at all ! (Laughter) It’s a show that we come to see as a family. It is very funny ! But at the end of the show, she’s my daughter-in-law, we like each other. In this show, open to all, everyone will find something. That’s what is good.

And you, do you get along well with your mother-in-law?

Oh yes. Here too, I am very lucky!

After marriage, do you know what happens next?

During confinement, I was afraid of being bored. As a result, I wrote albums, a book and a play. So yes, I already have the sequel! But this is another story. I finish The mama mia family on January 12, 2025 at the Olympia after more than 1,500 performances. The rest will come later…

Zize has been around for over 10 years. What is your secret to, while keeping it intact, avoiding boring the public?

Don’t worry, always be in line with what you want to do, be sincere… I draw inspiration from everyday life. I sit on the terrace of a café, I open my ears and my eyes wide.