French grownup animated comedy Jim Queen, which world premiered in Cannes Film Festival‘s Midnight Screenings program, mixes comedy and severe themes. It tells the story of a ripped queer influencer and “king of the Gym Queens” group whose world crumbles when he contracts a mysterious virus that turns homosexual males in Paris into heterosexuals.
The virus is known as Heterosis. The titular Jim, whose full title is Jim Parfait, is voiced by Alex Ramirès, with Jérémy Gillet being the voice of Lucien, a closeted virgin who helps him on the hunt for a rumored treatment to heal Jim and save the entire LGBTQIA+ group.
In a tribute to the queer group, the movie additionally options recognizable names from it, together with singer Philippe Katerine, drag performer La Briochée and homosexual porn icon François Sagat, who voices Jim’s rival, Pavel.
Jim Queen was created by Nicolas Athané and Marco Nguyen of their characteristic directorial debut. They co-wrote the script with Simon Balteaux and Brice Chevillard. David Alric and Arthur Delabays of French animation studio Bobbypills (Creature Commandos) produced the film, for which World Constellation is dealing with gross sales.
So, how did a French homosexual porn actor find yourself in Jim Queen because the nemesis of the titular character? “We needed the actors to be part of the community to understand the characters,” Nguyen tells THR, highlighting the group’s give attention to authenticity. “It was important for them to put their stories, their experiences into the characters that we created.” Sagat is “more than a porn actor, he is an icon. He became so famous that it was impossible to think that he wouldn’t be part of the project,” he provides.
‘Jim Queen’ stars Lucien (left) and Jim Parfait
Courtesy of Bobbypills/Umedia
The inventive group wasn’t certain if he would go for the casting provide, although. “We were afraid that he wouldn’t accept the role of Pavel, because it’s so self-deprecating, and it requires a lot of derision,” explains Nguyen. “We talk about steroids and Botox and everything in a very cartoony way. But he accepted. And he was hilarious doing it, and he was super happy to play this part, because he knew it was a caricature of himself. And it was very, very fun to do.”
It helped that Nguyen knew among the individuals who ended up as voice performers in Jim Queen. “Marco knew François Sagat and Harald Marlot who plays Glamydia,” shares Athané. “That really helped, because they came. They were like, ‘Oh, Marco is doing something? I want to see what is going on.’ So that helped a lot.”
