It’s been 10 years since Call My Agent! first wowed French audiences. Soon, international fans couldn’t get enough of the spiky, frank and funny show about the agents working like maniacs to maintain their clients’ success, even if it meant using betrayal and displaying as much melodrama as they possibly could. Call My Agent! won the 2021 International Emmy Award for Best Comedy, such was its success outside France.
Each episode of the show features at least one cameo appearance by a real-life star playing a version of themselves. The actors who walk through the doors of ASK, the agency in Call My Agent!, include such luminaries as Juliette Binoche, Gilles Lellouche, Isabelle Adjani, Jean Dujardin, Monica Bellucci, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Christophe Lambert. While French cinema lovers will be familiar with this impressive rollcall of guest stars, the global success of the show has meant a much broader audience now gets to appreciate them.
It boosted the longstanding careers of Thibault de Montalembert (partner and agent Mathias) and Liliane Rovère (jazz-loving Arlette who is never without her Jack Russell, Jean Gabin. The now-92-year-old filmed numerous other TV series and movies while shooting Call My Agent! and hasn’t stopped working since. Her latest film The Safe House was released this year.) The show also catapulted members of the main cast into mega stardom, including Laure Calamy (Mathias’s assistant, Noémie), Camille Cottin (fiery agent Andréa), Grégory Montel (the scruffy Gabriel) as well as recurring actors Fanny Sidney (Mathias’s daughter and Andréa’s assistant Camille) and François Civil (Mathias’s son and aspiring actor Hippolyte), among others.
The Stars of Call My Agent! Collection brings together a selection of movies and TV series now streaming at SBS On Demand that showcase the impressive range of these legendary actors. Here’s a selection.
The Tunnel – Thibault de Montalembert
Thibault de Montalembert played Mathias Barneville, partner and agent at ASK. Steeped in Alpha maleness in his sharply cut suits, Mathias is initially oblivious to the adoration of his assistant, Noémie, instead, preoccupied with maintaining a top-shelf client list, whatever it takes. While he’s known to have a tender side, he’s also partial to betrayal. And he does send his long-lost daughter Camille packing when she shows up unexpectedly, but when she lands a job as Andréa’s assistant, he’s given the chance to crack open.
Isabelle Adjani and Thibault de Montalembert. Credit: Christophe Brachet / Mon Voisin Productions / Mother Production
The Tunnel is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Tunnel
series • Crime drama • French
MA15+
series • Crime drama • French
MA15+
Annie’s Fire – Laure Calamy
Laure Calamy stole her scenes in Call My Agent! as the emotional, passionate Noémie, assistant to Mathias and openly in love with him, despite his husband status. Already a well-established film and theatre actress in France with a Molière award behind her, it was the success of the TV series that opened the eyes of international audiences to her talent.
Laure Calamy with Nicolas Maury (and the much-loved Jean Gabin) in 'Call My Agent!'. Credit: Mon Voisin Productions / Mother Production
Calamy plays Annie in Annie’s Fire, set in 1973 on the eve of France legalising abortion. When Annie wants to terminate her pregnancy, she seeks the help of a grassroots movement who were “instrumental in advancing reproductive rights”, as the film tells us.
Calamy has starred in many films in varying genres since Call My Agent! wrapped, and has been nominated for several César awards, winning her first for Antoinette in the Cevennes in 2020. Annie’s Fire showcases Calamy’s range as a leading woman and the depth of her commitment to her craft.
Annie’s Fire is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Annie's Fire
Comedy drama • 2022
Comedy drama • 2022
Wild Seas – Cécile De France
Multi César award-winning actress Cécile de France appears in the first episode of Call My Agent! kicking off the series in style. Her agent, Gabriel, hides from her when she visits the office – he can’t bring himself to tell Cécile that Quentin Tarantino finds her too old for the role she wants in his next movie. She’s furious, but her turn here also allows her to lean into her comedic prowess.
The Belgian-born star is Chiara in Wild Seas. Into the house she shares with her partner, Chiara welcomes Maxence (Félix Lefebvre), an apprentice who is to help in their fishing business. But her attraction to the younger man catches them both by surprise, tumbling into a life-altering affair. De France brings a rawness to this role that envelopes you at once, deftly combining vulnerability and self-possession.
Wild Seas is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Wild Seas
drama • romance • 2022
drama • romance • 2022
Haute Couture – Nathalie Baye
Nathalie Baye enjoys two cameo appearances in Call My Agent!, the first of which is alongside real-life daughter and fellow accomplished actress, Laura Smet (see Eager Bodies below). Both clients of ASK, the pair want to wriggle out of their roles in a two-hander to be filmed in a remote location – neither wants to be trapped together for so long. They give us a hilarious scene, standing up for their right to fight with each other.
In Haute Couture, Baye plays dedicated head dressmaker Esther at Dior, on the eve of an unwelcome retirement. In a unique premise, Esther ends up hiring the young woman who mugged her on the metro as an intern, recognising her potential. The unlikely pair both have chips on their shoulder yet breathe life, bit by bit, into their bond. Baye lends an emotionally charged gravity to a woman facing the great unknown of a life after work she adores.
Haute Couture is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Haute Couture
Comedy drama • 2021
Comedy drama • 2021
Eager Bodies – Laura Smet
Fresh-faced Laura Smet appears even more sparkly alongside her real-life mother, Nathalie Baye (Haute Couture) when she strides into Call My Agent!
Smet’s role as Charlotte in Eager Bodies was her first ever and earned her a César award nomination for Most Promising Actress. When Charlotte receives a life-threatening diagnosis, her boyfriend stands by her, but he also makes his attraction to another woman known. The three of them become entangled in a sexual dalliance that distracts Charlotte from the devastating truth. Smet’s heartfelt impassioned performance makes it clear she was destined for stardom.
Eager Bodies is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Eager Bodies
drama • 2003
drama • 2003
Belle De Jour – Françoise Fabian
Long-established star Françoise Fabian was in her eighties when she appeared (twice) in Call My Agent! (She is now 92.) When she backs out of a role only weeks before filming is due to start, Gabriel offers the role to her longtime rival (Line Renaud) who accepts, escalating the friction between the competitive women. Fabian enjoys her licence to behave immaturely, but also reminds us she is a classy dame.
Fabian’s first film role was in 1956, her most recent in 2018, a few years after she appeared in Call My Agent! for the first time, the show providing a late-stage boost to her career. In 1967’s Belle De Jour, she featured alongside the luminous Catherine Deneuve who, only 22 at the time, stars as housewife Séverine whose sexual fantasies go some way towards alleviating her boredom. Shame and social expectations notwithstanding, Séverine follows her curiosity and visits a brothel where she lands a job as a sex worker. There, she meets Charlotte, played by Fabian, who shows Séverine the ropes.
Belle De Jour is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Belle De Jour
drama • 1967
drama • 1967
Benedetta – Virginie Efira
A mainstay of French cinema, Belgian-born Efira relishes her playful turn in Call My Agent! Efira and Ramzy Bédia (see Of Money and Blood, below) play co-stars and lovers whose relationship hits the rocks when paparazzi shots of her in another man’s arms appear. Matters get worse when Mathias comforts her and photos of their embrace are also released.
Virginie Efira and Ramzy Bédia in season 2 of 'Call My Agent'. Credit: Christophe Brachet / Mon Voisin Productions / Mother Production
The award-winning Efira also stars in two other films now streaming at SBS On Demand: in the animated family movie The Snow Foxes, Efira voices an arctic fox about to become a mother for the first time amid threats from global warming. And, opposite the also accomplished Roschdy Zem, in Other People’s Children Efira plays middle-aged Rachel, who hasn’t had a child of her own and is eager to form a bond with her new partner’s child.
Benedetta is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Benedetta
biography • Historical drama • 2021
biography • Historical drama • 2021
Of Money and Blood – Ramzy Bédia
The magnetic Ramzy Bédia hams it up as Virginie Efira’s jealous lover in Call My Agent! Obliged to appear on a talk show to promote their latest film, Bédia effortlessly switches from charm to irritation and back again when Efira shows up in the throes of their dispute.
Bédia explores his dark side in electrifying crime drama series Of Money and Blood, playing criminal mastermind Alain Fitoussi. The brainchild of three-time Venice Film Festival Golden Lion nominee and Eager Bodies director, Xavier Giannoli, Of Money and Blood is his first foray into television. The 12-part series is an adaptation of a book by investigative journalist Fabrice Afri covering the real-life scandal dubbed the “scam of the century” involving carbon tax fraud. The series depicts a reckless hedonism as the scam initially succeeds, but with Vincent Lindon playing the detective chasing Bédia’s Alain and his co-conspirators down, the intensity escalates as we realise this house of cards is soon to come tumbling down.
Of Money and Blood is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Of Money and Blood
series • thriller • French
MA15+
series • thriller • French
MA15+
The Crime is Mine – Fabrice Luchini
The esteemed Fabrice Luchini is a client of ASK’s rival agency, StarMedia, when we meet him in Call My Agent! Andréa attempts to lure him to ASK by implying Luchini has a shot at being cast as a James Bond villain – his delight is evident, this role being a long-held dream. Luchini handles the many antics in his storyline with his usual aplomb.
Fabrice Luchini in 'Call My Agent'. Credit: Christophe Brachet / Mon Voisin Productions / Mother Production
The Crime is Mine is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Crime Is Mine
Comedy drama • Crime drama • 2023
Comedy drama • Crime drama • 2023
Sidonie in Japan – Isabelle Huppert
Beloved actress Isabelle Huppert does not stop working. Using this to comic effect, it’s a workaholic that she plays in Call My Agent! Gabriel is turned upside down trying to cover for her while she insists she can successfully work on two films at the same time, even though she’s in breach of contract. Huppert is divinely unflappable.
In director Élise Girard’s touching film, Huppert plays Sidonie, a writer halted by grief. Drawn out to Kyoto by a heartfelt letter from her Japanese publisher Kenzo (Tsuyoshi Ihara), Sidonie repeatedly encounters her husband’s ghost while there. With mise-en-scène reminiscent of komorebi, (an important concept in Japanese aesthetics) Sidonie in Japan is a film of quiet substance, depicting a healing reconnaissance with love for the two leads. Huppert masters performing containment and deep emotion at the same time.
Also catch Huppert in The Piano Teacher, whistleblower thriller The Sitting Duck and The Crime is Mine.
Sidonie in Japan is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Sidonie in Japan
drama • 2024
drama • 2024
Stream free On Demand
Call My Agent!
