Some A-list actors might have said “Call my agent!” about the chance to cameo in Call My Agent! The Movie, as fans will see big-name cameos when the film hits Netflix on Thursday, September 10.
But for longtime fans, the real draw will be the Call My Agent! regulars, last seen onscreen together in 2020 when the fourth and final season of the French comedy-drama signed off after four seasons.
“I’m so happy to write for them again,” series creator Fanny Herrero, who departed Call My Agent! after Season 3, told Deadline last year as she previewed the film continuation. “They are so inspiring, I love them all. And the fact that I left, and it’s been almost five years now since the last season was released, [makes] it so good to be back again together.”
The final season saw the talent agency ASK come undone.
In Season 4, the Agence Samuel Kerr agents tried to keep business as usual after both Catherine (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) and the firm split with Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert). But then Andréa (Camille Cottin) unknowingly sent a bad script to Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gabriel (Grégory Montel) inadvertently inspired Franck Dubosc to go too Method, and Colette (Ophélia Kolb) dumped Andréa just as the latter had to deal with actor José Garcia, whose ex had become his cinematographer. Also, Sigourney Weaver called upon Andréa when she realized her new onscreen lover is not Gaspard Ulliel but instead the much older Bernard Verley.
Amid all that client wrangling, the ASK agents discovered Mathias’ next act was film producing, and as his relationship with Noémie (Laure Calamy) progressed, he used information she got from Camille (Fanny Sidney) to poach the rights to a bestselling novel. And the situation at ASK devolved further: Gabriel was leery of a new hire from StarMedia but ended up joining the rival agency himself as ASK went under. Camille made plans to launch her own outfit with Mathias and Arlette (Liliane Rovère). Hervé (Nicolas Maury) decided to pursue newfound acting ambitions. And Andréa lost Colette to a breakup and ASK to bankruptcy, but she vowed to get Collette back as she mulled new career prospects…
Call My Agent! The Movie picks up five years later.
Cottin, Calamy, de Montalembert, Montel, Maury, Sidney, Rovère, and Kolb are all back for the movie, which Herrero co-wrote with Lison Daniel and Émilie Noblet directed.
As Netflix says in a synopsis, Call My Agent! The Movie is set five years after ASK’s closure, and as the story starts, Andréa is preparing to direct her first feature film. Unfortunately, her lead actor quits, and she has a falling-out with her producer, but Andréa thinks she can get the production back on track by teaming up with Noémie, who’s now a prodigious reality TV producer.
If only it were so simple. “As she faces a complete recasting, on-set disasters, and a legal battle threatening the custody of her daughter, everything begins to unravel,” the synopsis teases. “One by one, the former ASK colleagues converge on this high-tension film set. Each arrives with their own role, their ego, and a fair share of old grudges — little do they know what this reunion truly has in store for them.”
The movie features two big American stars.
Spoilers ahead! Those who stream Call My Agent! The Movie on September 10 might be surprised to see George Clooney share the screen with the old ASK colleagues. The Jay Kelly actor shows up in one scene with Andréa and Noémie, according to Variety, and he even helped rewrite his cameo.
“Lison and I used to fantasize about having an A-list American actor. At one point, we thought, ‘We’re making the Call My Agent! movie, so let’s go all out,’” Herrero told the outlet. “[Clooney] said, ‘I want to do this — I love the show too much.’ He got involved, he suggested ideas to us — it was a true collaboration.”
And Eva Longoria, who previously met with Herrero about adapting Call My Agent! for Latin America, portrays a producer in the movie in a nod to the Desperate Housewives alum’s real-life producing career.
“We thought, ‘Why not offer her a little cameo in the movie?’” Herrero said. “We loved the fact that she’s already connected to Call My Agent! She’s also a fantastic comedy actress; she really adds a little extra spice to the film. And she said yes right away; she was super excited.”
And “super excited” probably describes every Call My Agent! fan who has waited nearly six years for an ASK reunion.
Call My Agent! The Movie, Thursday, September 10, Netflix