Call My Agent

The Cutthroat Chase for French Stars

April 8, 2020By Nick HammondFilm
Juliette Binoche is saddled with a hideous dress as the host of the Cannes Film Festival in Call My Agent.
Juliette Binoche is saddled with a hideous dress as the host of the Cannes Film Festival in Call My Agent.

We all have to admit, some of us a little reluctantly, that Netflix has changed our viewing habits immeasurably. Yet, for all the wonderful range of series and movies it offers, it can sometimes be difficult to discover good programs, especially those not in English, unless they are recommended by friends.

This was the case for me with the three seasons of the wonderful French series, Call My Agent (Dix Pour Cent), set in Paris, which is soon to launch a fourth, and reportedly final, season on Netflix. For those francophiles out there who do not already know the show, the current period of confinement is the ideal time both to discover a fun, creative series that is packed with guest appearances by many of the greats of modern French cinema and to enjoy seeing scenes shot on the streets of Paris, which we know so well and wish we could be walking on freely right now.

The inspiration for the series may well have come from Ricky Gervais’s Extras, which featured cameos from many well-known English and American actors, including Kate Winslett, Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer, but Call My Agent manages to surpass its British forebear in the cohesion and development of its central narrative.

The story revolves around a talent agency run by four agents who will go to just about any extreme to get and keep a famous client: Andréa (played with gutsy charisma by Camille Cottin), Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert), Gabriel (Grégory Montel) and Arlette (Liliane Rovère). One of the greatest joys of the series is the way these four principal characters are so different from each other and yet work wonderfully well together as an ensemble.

The agents’ assistants (l to r: Laure Calamy, Fanny Sidney and Nicolas Maury) conspiring behind the scenes in Call My Agent.
The agents’ assistants (l to r: Laure Calamy, Fanny Sidney and Nicolas Maury) conspiring behind the scenes in Call My Agent.

Other characters in the office include Camille (Fanny Sidney), Mathias’s secret daughter from an extramarital relationship; Sofia (Stéfi Celma), the receptionist who dreams of becoming an actor; the excitable Noémie (Laure Calamy), who worships her boss, Mathias, in more ways than one; and the sometimes equally excitable Hervé (Nicolas Maury).

What gives the show its true star quality is the movie stars themselves. They each play a cameo role as themselves in one or two episodes and are not averse to sending themselves up rotten. The first season includes Cécile de France, who thinks she is about to land a major American movie role; the mother-daughter duo Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet, who both get offered the same script; and Julie Gayet and Joey Starr, who play lovers in a period drama but detest each other in real life.

Andréa (Camille Cottin) "accidentally" runs into Fabrice Luchini at the gym in Call My Agent.
Andréa (Camille Cottin) “accidentally” runs into Fabrice Luchini at the gym in Call My Agent.

The highlights of Season 2 include Fabrice Luchini, playing a gloriously insecure and vain version of himself; Isabelle Adjani; and Juliette Binoche, who is forced to wear a truly awful dress to a gala premiere at the Cannes Film festival.

Gabriel (Grégory Montel) is worried about his overbooked client Isabelle Huppert in <em>Call My Agent.</em>
Gabriel (Grégory Montel) is worried about his overbooked client Isabelle Huppert in Call My Agent.

Season 3 does not let up on the big names, with appearances from Jean Dujardin, Monica Bellucci, Gérard Lanvin, Béatrice Dalle and Isabelle Huppert, around whom the season ends with a beautifully constructed and hilarious finale.

Before Season 4 starts, do catch up on this gem of a series. It manages to discuss profound issues, such as commitment in relationships, feelings of abandonment, and racism, with a lightness of touch and candor that I have rarely seen in other French cinema or television.

Note: Call My Agent is subtitled in English on Netflix.

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11 Comments

  • Nick, since reading your article I have binge watched season one and half of season two in two nights- really good series ! Your article is spot on and I cant wait for the rest of the episodes! Big thank you to you and Paris Update for the tip. Helen.

  • Agree with the comment above – this is GOLD! My sister and I have been watching two episodes a night, texting all the way – can’t wait to see how the fourth series resolves ASK. Also, will we ever find out who was leaking to Starmedia???

  • Nick, I, too, fell in love with the series. Can you tell me who played the Isabelle Huppert double in the last episode of season 3? Was it Isabelle herself? I haven’t been able to find this out. Thanks.

  • I am so happy to hear, thanks to your Paris Update article, that Call My Agent will have a fourth season! That is the best news of my pandemic lockdown, as I have been enjoying yours and Heidi’s contributions to Paris Update. Sadly, I have had to cancel my annual summer visit to Paris, but I have watched and re-watched the three seasons of CMA.

  • I loved all three series of Call My Agent so much, so I’m back to series one and introduced it to my husband, who loves it as much as I do (as a bonus, it helps me when I’m trying to learn French!). Can’t wait for series 4.

    • Hi Fran,
      I was very disappointed not to find the fourth series on Netflix. It seems that the French tv channel France 2 has exclusive rights to CMA, but I’m hoping and expecting it to come to Netflix soon.

  • Hi Kate,
    Isabelle Huppert played herself, but the person with the same name as Isabelle Huppert was played by a different actress, whose name I don’t know. Let’s hope the fourth series reaches Netflix soon! It’s on France 2 at the moment.
    Best wishes,
    Nick

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