One day, they met at a show, dressed in a silver latex suit. It was love at first sight. Today, after 20 years of marriage, shared passions and artistic collaborations, these two Belgian gems are one and the same star that lights up the skies of those who watch them.
You can see them perform on stage, present the "Magritte" awards, play roles on the small and big screen and win multiple awards ... Tania and Charlie are radiant. Their playground expanded to the international stage years ago, like in Carlo Goldoni's "Adventures of Zelinda and Lindoro", with a very prestigious French-Belgian cast. On tour in Nice, Liège and Paris, the Dupont-Garbarski or Garbarski-Dupont duo bring energy and humour to the hearts of their partners.
"Tania and Charlie are enthusiasm and happiness. You can feel it when they are on stage", explains the Technical Director of the National Theatre of Nice. Félicien Juttner, a French theatre actor, surmises, "I don't even realise we're working because we're having so much fun. It's all done together, playing and working, we can't really tell the difference."
What is their secret? "Getting under the skin of a character and telling a story on stage is where I feel good." Tania admits that she feels more comfortable on stage than in life. Telling stories is more than her job, she needs it. Charlie, on the other hand, feels the room as a single person he is talking to... before adding mischievously, "there is only one rule and that is that there are no rules!"
Their strength? It is their union. Tania says that they are stronger together. "This job is still crazy and experiencing it together is extremely precious to me. Every evening, we throw ourselves into the void a bit. Anything can happen and it puts us in a state that could be feverishness or stage fright but is mostly a great state that is transmitted to the audience here and now." Charlie reminds us that he does this job to share emotions. "It's very important to create...because you are the story you tell about yourself."
And Charlie tells it wonderfully in "La faute à Rousseau", a current French series in which he plays the lead role: Benjamin Rousseau, the new philosophy teacher at the Lycée La Fontaine, is a free spirit, driven by a passion for truth. The truth that hides behind the great texts and, above all, behind people... In the French spotlight once again, Charlie recognises, "The Belgian complex is disappearing but there is still something I call the André Breton syndrome, which starts with a quality we have, namely our form of inability to take ourselves seriously!" For him, Belgium is a country that represents the universe in a very small form. "Today, we are beginning to realise that this little laboratory is also a sponge for everything that comes from elsewhere... it's interesting actually!" Belgitude continues to shine thanks to its ambassadors... Tania and Charlie: THANK YOU!
Les Belges Histoires
WBI, in partnership with RTBF, invites you to discover the portraits of French-speaking Belgians who are promoting Wallonia-Brussels.