‘De Zevende Dag’ interview about Knokke Off (21/05/2023)
Notes
I’ve tried to do the translation as literally as possible without condensing the text or ‘cleaning it up’ as people where changing their mind while talking. Of course, it’s sometimes difficult to translate specific expressions or the way in which something is said without losing some of the meaning. I’ve also tried to include some explanations in between brackets to further help the reader to understand the interview and to clarify some of the non-verbal communication.
De Zevende Dag is a talk show on VRT1 mainly about politics but also interspersed with some culture, sports, music and lifestyle.
Interviewers
· Lieven Verstraete
· Lisbeth Imbo
Guests
· Willem De Schryver (Alexandre)
· Ruth Becquart (Eleanore)
Source
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/de-zevende-dag/2023/de-zevende-dag-d20230521/ (start: 1h 45 minutes)
Transcript
It started with a short piece from the Knokke of trailer.
Lieven: Knokke off, a new and striking series on VRT Max, our online platform, about the ups and downs of the uberwealthy jeunesse dorée (gilded youth) in Knokke and also their parents.
Ruth: Yes, and good afternoon to two of the main characters: mother and son, Ruth Becquart and Willem de Schryver. Willem, I will start with you. You play “Alexandre”, the name itself already says it (she stressed the ‘dre’ part indicating the name is in French).
Willem: Correct, it’s a very special character to play who has his dangerous sides and who, in the series, can be very threatening and the things he does… I was stunned when I read it for the first time because I myself… I thought how do I depict that arrogance, assholeness… It’s really extreme.
Lisbeth: But also someone who struggles.
Willem: Yes
Interrupted by Lieven: “He’s a victim, right?”
Willem: “Yes, I think that’s the beauty or it can be the beauty of the character. In the beginning you see a side of Alex that is not very sympathetic of where you as a viewer think, I cannot relate to that because I don’t understand his thinking. But as the series continues, I think it becomes clearer that there’s an other side to Alex and that his behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere.
Ruth interrupts: “Don’t give too much away”
Willem: No
Lisbeth: But also Eleanore, also here the name says it a bit. She’s not the easiest either.
Ruth: Common, that’s a sympathetic lady. No? (laughs) A rich woman who you might think of, she has everything in life to be happy but in reality she’s missing a lot.
Lisbeth: Was that the appeal for you of the character?
Ruth: Multiple things. It’s like the crazy world but also the people with who I was going to work.
Lisbeth: Did you know Willem?
Ruth: No, he studies on the same drama school as my daughter. Or I should say he sat because he graduated. I found that really nice. And the production company are really risk takers. And sometimes you must give the risk takers a chance. I find it so amazing that I worked with young people, people who didn’t do drama school and others who had, with Dutch people, young, old, everything mixed together. When I was at the premiere I was like what a group of people is this…
Liesbeth: And you played the mum.
Ruth: Yes, and that’s nice because… I was thinking a bit in the car… It’s going well, people really enjoy watching… And that’s really great. And on the one hand that’s based on the story. It’s a guilty pleasure for a lot of people to watch the lives of rich people.
Lieven interrupts: Yes, uberwealthy in Knokke
Ruth continues: You look forward to it. Wooow. And at the same time you also malicious pleasure, ah also they have their demons. But on the other hand what makes me emotional is all these worlds that come together and that makes it’s so enjoyable. I get many reactions from both young and old people, so I think it’s really appeals to a wide audience.
Lieven: And Alex has a relationship with Louise and Louise is nobody other than…
Willem: Pommelien Thijs
Lisbeth: The ‘IT girl’ of the moment.
Ruth: Yes, very much so.
Willem: Incredible (I think he says, they are all talking simultaneously).
Lieven: And Alex and Louise are also in a very toxic relationship. And without giving too much away, we have selected a little fragment.
They showed a piece of the relationship of Alex and Louise (bed scene where Louise hits him after he suggested he prefers her without taking his pills).
Lieven: That’s intense, I can imagine that for many of the young actors this is far outside of the comfort zone.
Willem: Yes, yes. I think that the first time when we with the whole young cast looked through the script and understood how many intense scenes where in the series, my heart started to beat a bit faster. How are we going to depict this in a good way. When I rewatch I myself get a bit afraid of how it all looks.
Lieven: You were even guided by an intimacy coach.
Willem: Correct, Feline worked with us on set. She was absolutely present for all intimate scenes to guard the limits. I think that was a super super good thing on a set especially as young cast, maybe that’s different for experienced… (he gestures to Ruth)
Ruth: It’s…
Lisbeth interrupts: It probably didn’t exist in the past?
Ruth: No, not in the past but I am very happy that it now exists. Times have changed. And to give you an attitude and awareness.
Willem: Absolutely, awareness. You’re with two but you must respect each other’s limits and I think that Pommelien was very professional about that. We have always been able to really talk about it without that anyone ever crossed the border.
Ruth: But that’s also why it looks so good. Because you felt safe.
Lisbeth: You discuss a few things, there are many issues in… a toxic relationship, bipolar disorder, cheating… There’s so much in this series. Almost more than a human can take in a whole life. Was that also the goal? That next to the mundane it would also put up some issues for debate.
Ruth: Yes, I think that was absolutely a goal. In a fiction series you always push things a bit together but it’s good to mention all these topics and that people can recognize themselves in these. And struggling with the demons. Everyone has to a larger or smaller degree something…
Lieven: It’s no coincidence that via VRT Max there’s a reference to watwat.be and awel.be where young people can reach out with questions and problems. Does this mean it’s useful or needed?
Ruth: Yes, I really think so. We are still living in the aftermath of corona. I have noticed that with young people or friends of my daughter or other inhabitants of a ‘kot’ (‘kot’ is a Dutch word used for a student accommodation. It can be either a dorm from a university but more often these are private rooms that students rent (often houses converted into multiple induvial rooms)). Wow, life is just gigantic.
Lisbeth: It’s of course an exaggeration because else it wouldn’t be fiction but does it touch somehow with your life? Because you said in the beginning, when I read this for the first time (makes an expression of amazement) that degree of assholeness is quite high.
Willem smiles
Lisbeth: But did you think Alexandre and Willem are two people of the same generation? I recognize that?
Willem: Yes, definitely if we speak about the same generation or the mental problems that Alex struggles with or where he’s small and vulnerable. Because he see him as a tough guy who overpowers everyone with his big mouth but deep inside it’s a boy with a very fragile heart who…
Lisbeth: Everyone screams ‘love me, love me’
Willem: Absolutely, the whole time he screams with his eyes.
Lieven: But we haven’t talked about Knokke yet. The wealthy kids in Knokke. How far is that removed from you?
Willem: It’s relatively far away from my life. I did go in the past with my best friend (who has an apartment there, I think he said) on vacation to Knokke.
Lieven: Could you get used to it?
Willem: We talked about it with the cast: could I live here? I think the thing is… It’s such an environment… It’s also when we were filming there… Everything is super beautiful there, the streets are clean, everything is perfect, trimmed to perfection…
Lisbeth: The boxwood bushes are trimmed to perfection.
Willem: Everything there is like an utopia of what it is in reality. But I think it can all be a deceiving look or especially in the series it’s a deceiving look for what is really going on underneath.
Lisbeth: Is it cliches or is it the truth?
Ruth: About Knokke?
Willem snorts
Ruth: I think it’s a bit of the truth. I think that many wealthy people live there (laughs) and that’s a fact.
Lisbeth: You didn’t go undercover to get into your character?
Ruth laughs while shaking head: No, for me it’s far from my bed. I hadn’t been there many times. We do go there once a year with the ‘Clan’ (a TV series she played in before) team of friends/colleagues. To Knokke.
Lisbeth: And why Knokke?
Ruth: Just because there’s an apartment there where we…
Everyone laughs.
Lieven: What is true is that ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ (a Flemish newspaper) went to Knokke yesterday for an expose. They talked there with young people of your age (gesturing towards Willem) and they said, the series is really like real life here.
Willem: Yes, I continue to be amazed… Ok, I had to some degree expected this. Of course, they did enough research and the series is based on something, or it comes from something. I often get the reaction: it’s really recognizable. But to that extend that I heard from people: It’s so accurately and it’s so true that I myself was stunned… That I can’t believe… Okay I had expected that… To some extend there would be parallels with reality… But if it would be really so close…
Ruth: But it’s an arena… It’s a fiction…
Willem: Yes, indeed.
Ruth: It’s about the people, we’re all rich or poor… I mean…
Lisbeth interrupts: But you haven’t yet received angry messages: Becquart you shouldn’t show yourself here anymore.
Ruth laughs: Imagine. No.
Lisbeth: But indeed it’s something that interests people it will also be on vrt hmmm one… (the TV station). I still have to get used to it… (laughs, the TV station changed name on the 30th of April 2023 from ‘Eén’ (one) to VRT1). But also on Netflix. It has potential, maybe to attract more international attention… Because also in Hollywood do they recognize this. Is that an ambition? A dream?
Ruth: I think that could definitely happen. And you’re allowed to dream.
Willem: Being ambitious, yes. Laughs.
Ruth: What I just said, the combination of young and old people, I think that’s fantastic, that the Netherlands and Belgium comes together because that always gives something… (she uses gestures to indicate that it’s special).
Lisbeth: But sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Ruth: For me… I am also at the moment working in the Netherlands, and there’s really a difference and if you really stay in the arena of the story and you engage than something happens…
Lisbeth: What is the difference?
Ruth: A different way of communication, another… We’re more… (crips together, I assume she means timid, less out there)
Lieven: We also saw that in Arcadia (another tv series with Dutch and Flemish actors). And what are you doing in the Netherland?
Ruth: I am working on a Dutch thriller series with Diederik van Rooijen.
Lisbeth: So, you’re very active. And you (turning towards Willem)? Because you were already a bit active. It’s not your first role.
Willem interrupts: Correct
Lisbeth: But okay this now (she indicates non-verbally that this is something bigger than before). The posters will be printed… The drawing pins will be fetched… No, they don’t do that anymore these days in girls rooms. Who knows…
Willem laughs.
Lisbeth: But how do you see the future?
Willem: At this moment the future looks very bright and I am very happy that I am allowed to keep searching and discovering how enjoyable it’s to be in the working field.
Lieven: Something concretely?
Willem: Not very concretely that I can talk about. Sadly.
Lisbeth: Oh, something secretive.
Everyone laughs.
Ruth: A bit teasing…
Lieven: That sounds like something very important.
Willem: No, no. It’s very nice… I am still very young… I am 21. And to get these opportunities now, it’s a childhood dream to be able to do this. And to get nice reactions… It really warms my heart. And it’s really really nice to be able to do this.
Ruth: It’s nice to be able to make stories together.
Willem: Absolutely!
Lieven: And it’s really worth it! Thank you to come and explain this to us. Knokke off, pure entertainment but sometimes also an eye opener. Now already on VRT Max and later on VRT1.
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