All Photos: Alan Mercer Lighting: Eric V.
This is Gilles Marini's third appearance on this blog. I couldn't think of anyone more appropriate to celebrate my two year anniversary with than Gilles. He is a remarkable human being and loyal friend, as well as a talented and good looking actor.
Gilles Marini was born in Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France to a Greek mother and Italian father. After working as a baker in his father's bakery since he was eight years old and graduating from high school, Gilles joined the French army and was stationed in Paris, where he acted as a fireman for the famous Brigade des Sapeurs Pompiers de Paris. It was in Paris where Marini met Fred Goudon, an amazing and gifted photographer who introduced him to the world of modeling. After fulfilling his military duties, he went to the United States to learn English while working as a model.
Gilles began his career as a model in his early twenties. One of his first jobs was a television commercial for Bud Light beer. He made his acting debut at the age of 29, in the 2005 horror flick "Screech of the Decapitated."
He is known for playing the role of Dante in 'Sex and the City: The Movie' where he takes a shower on screen. He has been on the television shows 'Ugly Betty,' 'Dirty Sexy Money,' 'Criminal Minds,' 'Windfall', 'Nip/Tuck' as well as several daytime dramas, including 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and 'Passions.'
In February of 2009, it was announced that Gilles would participate in the eighth season of 'Dancing with the Stars.' His professional partner was 'Dancing with the Stars' season 2 and 3 champion Cheryl Burke. They came in second place.
Last year he was introduced as a recurring character on ABC's hit family drama 'Brothers & Sisters.' He has been playing Luc Laurent, the French love interest of Rachel Griffiths' character Sarah Walker in what was originally was supposed to be a five episode arc, but has now been promoted to a series regular.
He lives with his wife, Carole and their two children, Georges and Juliana, in a new home in the Hollywood Hills. He's very busy at this point in his career having recently made guest appearances on 'Castle' and 'Royal Pains' as well as his regular gig on 'Brothers & Sisters.' He made some time for Eric Venturo and myself to come over and get some new photos and catch up with his active life.
AM: Gilles, I have to start off telling you that you are one of the nicest people in the business. I am constantly talking about you with people since you are in my portfolio and everyone else loves you too!
GM: Thank you, that's always nice to hear. Besides my long-time friend Fred Goudon, you are the first photographer to come to my home. This is our retreat so we don't want a lot of people here. Hopefully this is just the beginning because I know you have a lot of great ideas when it comes to photos.
AM: Thank you, I'm honored.
GM: It's great to hear that people like me. I think 'Dancing With The Stars' was really good for me at the end because people saw it was me with no strings attached. I was just trying to entertain people and try my best, not pretending to be someone else. This may be why people are starting to like me a little bit.
AM: I think you're more established now.
GM: It's great to feel that way. Just a couple of years ago I was looking up actors on the internet to see what projects they were doing, and I'm still doing it today, but I have many people following and sharing with me now, sometimes even helping me through this new success that came to me.
AM: You seem to genuinely enjoy interacting with your fans.
GM: I like for them to ride that wave with me and that's why I keep doing my little things on line. I want to make sure I keep close to the people. It feels good to make someone happy!
AM: Yes it does! People recognize you as special.
GM: I don't think I'm any type of special person. I'm just a person and I want to stay that way. It's very easy in this business to feel different and special because all day long you have someone helping you. It's easy to lose it a little bit.
AM: How do you stay grounded?
GM: For that I have a perfect weapon...my wife is always making sure I come back to earth when I get back home. I work on this amazing show where someone puts clothes on me and someone else puts make-up on me and someone else does my hair. Then someone else comes and asks me what I want for breakfast.
AM: Don't you love it?
GM: I'm still not used to that. I'm always saying, "It's Ok, I can get it myself. Thank you."
AM: I bet the production assistants aren't used to this.
GM: Hopefully I stay this way for a long time. One day I was dancing in this show called 'Ballroom With A Twist' and this lady knew all about my career. I was seeing myself through her eyes and it was so intense. I didn't know what to do so I asked her if she wanted my shoes that I wore to dance the tango. I saw a light go on inside her. She sent me a framed photo of the shoes with a poem she wrote,
"Ten Reasons We Want 'Brothers & Sisters' Back." I really felt touched.
AM: How rewarding this must be!
GM: I don't know how much longer I will be on earth so it's great to do as much good as possible. I'm very careful everyday of what I do for people. I want to be like my Dad. When he died everybody at the church was broken because he was so perfect helping everyone everyday. It was awesome to see that my Dad was completely loved.
AM: Is your father your single greatest role model?
GM: Yes, the only one. If I one day get to be a third of what he was I would accomplish so much then. He told me I have to learn to listen because a lot of people are damaged and they have hurt souls. People need to talk to a stranger because it's easier than talking to family. It's not my case. I have my family that I can talk to.
AM: What else did you learn from your father?
GM: My Dad showed me the good in the world. Sometimes people ask me if I'm really that nice. I'm not trying to be anything. This is just the normal me.
AM: This is just your daily philosophy.
GM: It's not complicated for me. Everyday if you do something good it will be contagious. Doing something nice for someone you don't know is so awesome I think.
AM: Do you come home and work around the house to decompress?
GM: Oh yes! You can see it. When we got here the garden wasn't like it is now. I've been trimming, cutting and planting. It's really a good feeling to see a plant that was about to die come back to life. I've got a bit of a green thumb. I love our exotic garden. We don't want to affect anything in nature. It's a bit messy but in a very beautiful way. I love to come here and relax.
AM: Do you work in the garden by yourself?
GM: I call my son Georges out of his room and say it's time to work in the garden and he goes, "Oh Dad, come on, again!?!" Then in two minutes he's happy doing it and he feels like he's contributing to something that two years from now will be beautiful, big and full of life. Plants are good for this!
AM: Have you been into gardening your whole life?
GM: No, I used to live in this little apartment complex with a shared front yard. There was only grass and nothing else so I started planting stuff. Now there are a lot of banana trees and roses. I just realized I like to plant stuff and see them grow everyday. I'm in heaven at home because I like seeing something that I helped make grow. In a very far way it's a bit like seeing your kid growing. It's relaxing to come home and see a lot of green around because you are producing nice clean oxygen.
AM: Do you feel like you are just getting to know yourself or have you always had a strong self awareness?
GM: Wow that's a very good question. I'm learning about myself a lot lately especially because I'm working with extremely talented people. People like Rachel Griffiths and Sally Field are extremely skilled at what they do. They are mothers and wives and they juggle this business very successfully with the rest of their lives, so it's very inspirational for me to see this. It's a refreshing and amazing learning process.
AM: Do you think you are turning into a better actor?
GM: Oh yes, just being on a show like this is the best acting school you can ever have. I just learn and learn and learn from the younger people and the older ones from every single angle. I've said this before....it's a dream job for me.
AM: Are you anything like your character?
GM: It's so funny my wife is always saying, "Gilles if they know you and your character, you are a million miles away." She sees that romantic and sweet and always patient guy. Last weekend she was watching the show and laughing how different Luc is from me!
AM: That's great because half the time actors play themselves.
GM: My wife is having a blast every week when she watches and she says, "Oh my God, if they only knew!!!"
AM: What are your career desires after "Brothers & Sisters" has run it's course?
GM: I haven't said this to anybody yet, but I've been writing and developing a show and a pilot in collaboration with Donal Logue. I'm writing the treatment and he's going to write the pilot because he is very skilled at that. Hopefully I can pitch it to my ABC Family and see how it works out. I do hope the producers will give 'Brothers & Sisters' a chance to run it's course and let us know when is the last season. That would be very good for the writers to write the last shows. I hope with all my heart that we get a sixth season. We have great ratings and fantastic reviews. Our audience is classy and smart.
AM: Sunday night is perfect too.
GM: It's perfect! What can replace 'Brothers & Sisters?' I don't see it. I'm confident we will get another season because this is the best season yet.
AM: Would it mean more to you to do a small meaningful film that a few people see than a giant blockbuster?
GM: Yes it would definitely mean more to me if it's something that I can relate to madly. Don't forget, I live for my kids and I know my son is dying to see his Daddy in a Marvel Comics project where I can be something impossible. I really want to do this because I'm still a little bit young and healthy. I can do the stunts. I've been fighting all my life. I have so much to share. I want to show people what I can do. I'm dying to do a romantic comedy.
AM: I can't believe you haven't done it already.
GM: Let's put it this way, I haven't had time yet. I've been working non-stop since 'Dancing With The Stars' was over. I've been asked about fifty times to be in a movie and I don't have time. It will come in time. I just did two more shows, 'Royal Pain' and 'Castle' and they knew I didn't have time to cast. They knew I could do it. I played a tough choreographer on 'Royal Pains' and a magician on 'Castle.' It's so much easier when they offer me the job!
AM: I'd like to see you in a period piece as well.
GM: I'd love to, just so I can study a different era. I'd love to do a 'Three Musketeers' or Marie Antoinette type film. Really in my heart, I am a big action guy.
AM: You could play the bad guy.
GM: Playing the bad guy would be lovely. There are a couple of actresses that I would love to work with from Hillary Swank to Rosario Dawson. I want to do the romantic comedy with Jennifer Aniston.
AM: Since you're still dancing you obviously really enjoy it.
GM: I enjoy the fact that there is no safety net when it comes to live performances. The first time I ever did anything live in my entire life was my first show with 'Dancing With The Stars.' After the first dance which lasted a minute and ten seconds, I asked myself "How can I live without this now?"
AM: You learned something about yourself.
GM: Right then and there. I will always be thankful to Cheryl Burke because she knew exactly what I could do. I had no clue. Every week was such a battle because I'm such a 'two left feet' kind of guy! I don't know how many people dedicated themselves the way Cheryl and I did. I never danced a freaking day in my entire life!!! She made me dance from ground zero. I think the show should only have people who have never danced before. That's the whole point of the show. In the end that will make people feel that it's possible to learn to dance.
AM: You are a real inspiration Gilles. Thanks for being my second year anniversary blog!
To learn more about Gilles visit his web site http://www.gillesmarini.com/
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