Actor Vincent Vermignon who plays documentarian Jean-Xavier de Lestrade in HBO Max’s new crime drama series The Staircase shares his experiences preparing for the role and his passion for acting.
Tell us about your role as Jean-Xavier de Lestrade in the HBO Max limited drama adapted series, The Staircase. What was it about this character that interested you?
Jean-Xavier was the actual maker of the original documentary about The Staircase. It was a fantastic part play. I was lucky enough to spend hours talking with the actual guy because he’s still alive. It gave me so much material to prepare for the part. What was very interesting for me was that being a documentarian is very tricky because you have to be very discreet. You have to be like a mouse or a ghost to people that you are filming to make them forget your cameras as well as yourself. You have to be out of the way as much as possible for the cameras to catch real and true life. At the same time, you have to create a trusting relationship. Sometimes you have to ask people tough and intrusive questions. They have to trust you so that they answer honestly.
What are the major differences between the HBO series and the original documentary?
The key thing is that with a fictional drama is that you can show things that didn’t happen in the documentary. The key difference is that we can see Catherine Peterson. We can see the victim. We can see who the kind of person she was before her death and that humanizes her… That’s a major difference because when the documentary began, she was already dead. The Staircase was such a big criminal case and you had so many characters, so many grey areas, and different theories on what took place. Thanks to this drama show, we were able to explore them all.
You had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with de Lestrade, what are your thoughts of him?
He is an amazing guy. I think he’s very human. I think he did a fantastic job. He’s a very sweet guy but at the same time, he’s very exacting. I think he manages to find the right balance between those two characteristics. He is very genuine and he has a very strong sense of justice. Most of his movies are about the justice system or about the victims.
Do you find it harder to portray an actual living person compared to a completely fictional character?
I think in a way, but I’m not going to say it’s harder, I’m going to it’s different. When this person is still living and is generous enough to give you material for your part, it’s a blessing. You have a lot of material to play with, but at the same time, these people can’t help but to have some expectations of you. I asked Jean-Xavier what was the most important thing for him—so I didn’t betray him, he told me, “Every day when I was on The Staircase set, the key thing for me was to be as objective as possible. So, in your performance, please be as objective as possible.” So, it was great that you gain material, but at the same time, you have their expectations. I’m not going to say it’s more or less difficult to play a fictional character where you have to build everything from nothing and make it 100% your own. I’m going to it’s just a different job and there’s more pressure when the person is still alive.
Fair enough. When did you discover your passion for acting?
I have always wanted to become an actor… I come from the Caribbean and before my parents didn’t see acting as a proper job. So, I just went for the corporate world and normal life until I reached the age of twenty-eight. My mom said that she could tell I was into acting and suggested I take an amateur class and enjoy myself. I don’t think she realized at the time that just being on stage… It awoke my passion for acting. When I started that class, I decided that I was going to do it for a living. From then to now, it’s been ten years that I have been acting. I have been making a living doing what I love for ten years. I have always been into acting, but I decided very late to do it for a living.
You have been featured in several French shorts and television series including BBC’s Luther and CBS’ Random. Tell us your favorite kind of characters you like to portray.
I love playing “grey” characters. I don’t like simple heroes who are one-hundred percent good. I like playing guys who have a dark side but a good side as well, who are as human as possible. In The Staircase, I’m not saying Jean-Xavier has a dark side, but as I told you, it’s about compromise. It’s about the decisions he makes. Real-life is rarely black or white, it’s about the grey areas. Jean-Xavier had to stay objective. He spent around two years with the family and at some point, as a human being, you’re going to feel attached to the people. I love the complexity and the range of emotions that come with being human. These are the kind of parts that I’m enjoying to play when everything is grey and not that simple.
On the fun side, when you’re not on set, what do you do to relax?
I enjoy a lot of sports. I train a lot because I want to stay fit. I’m into spirits and I’m a rum connoisseur. My dream is to one day build my own brand of rum. This is what I would love to do. So, I hope one day to be able to invite you to taste it and let me know your thoughts. If you like it, you can let me know. If you don’t, don’t let me know (laughing). That’s my other passion, tasting spirits including wines and rums. That’s what I do to relax, especially when I travel abroad or go back to the Caribbean to see my parents… I also watch a lot of basketball like the NBA Playoffs that are going on right now. It’s a very big moment. I am always in front of the television watching games.
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