Pas de deux: Casting Omar Sy and Charlotte Gainsbourg in Samba

This article will consider some of the implications of the casting of two of France’s most renowned stars, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Omar Sy, in Olivier Nakache’s and Éric Toledano’s 2014 film Samba, the much-anticipated follow-up film to their box office hit Intouchables (2011). It will examine the casting of Sy and Gainsbourg both in terms of how the film imports their respective star personae and the impact this has on characterisation in the film, and in terms of the representation of Frenchness. After examining the socio-political context in which the film was made, the respective star personae of Sy and Gainsbourg will be considered through key scenes which demonstrate how these personae function.