Actor Laurent Lafitte left the Comédie-Française on Monday after the last performance of the play Cyrano de Bergerac in which he was the headliner, the institution told AFP on Wednesday. “Laurent has decided to leave the House to be able to devote himself fully to his many external projects,” declared Éric Ruf, general administrator of the Comédie-Française.
“He will have been a valuable actor and comrade for the troupe for 12 years and we all wish him much happiness and success in his new adventures,” he added. Having completed the Cours Florent and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art, Laurent Lafitte entered the Comédie-Française as a resident on January 8, 2012.
He stands out in particular in the role of Mamimine in The Marriage of Gogol by Lilo Baur, Démétrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, André Jurieux in The Rules of the Game directed by Christiane Jatahy and Dom Juan in the eponymous play by Molière. More recently, he played the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac in Edmond Rostand’s play directed by Emmanuel Daumas, for which he was nominated at the 35th Molières ceremony which will be held next Monday.
To explain this departure, Laurent Lafitte told the newspaper Libération of a desire “to change theatrical horizons”. The actor is also in high demand in the cinema where among his notable collaborations include Elle by Paul Verhoeven in 2016 and Goodbye there up by Albert Dupontel in 2017. These two films earned him a César nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.