:: Garou, the Actor

"I went for the audition but I had no idea it was for the role of the hunchback. Richard (Cocciante) played the opening bars of "Belle," and I began to sing. He stopped playing and looked at Luc (Plamondon). Then they asked me to sing "Dieu que le monde est injuste." I felt that song like no other I'd ever sung. The next morning, they called to say: "You are Quasimodo!"

Garou was stunned at the incredible opportunity that had fallen in his lap. He immersed himself in a study of Victor Hugo's novel, but finished the book with cold feet. Garou wasn't fazed by the thought of nightly performances in front of hundreds of spectators. He knew the energy from the audience would carry him. And he did not doubt his ability to emote the creature's pain, to convey the tortured intensity of Quasimodo. It was the idea of acting that he could not compute. His insecurity was at the time so strong, it pushed him momentarily to the point of abandoning the project altogether. Little did Garou know, the instinct lay in him all along. "One day, I got into an argument with our director Gilles Maheu. He left me to figure things out on my own most of the time while I felt I needed him to give me more direction. He just looked at me, smiled and said, 'Keep on doing what you're doing. That's exactly what I need you to do'."

Months later, in Paris, Montreal, Lyon, Brussels and in London, Garou portrayed the hunchback brilliantly. "Each night I would become the hunchback, the unloved, the outcast. Then I would leave the theatre and feel all the love the public had for me. The paradox was quite de-stabilizing."

Garou won Quebec's top music prize, the 'Félix Révélation de l'année 1999' for his performance as the hunchback and his rendition of the song "Belle" garnered him the 'Victoire' award in France, as well as accolades at the World Music Awards. "Belle" was also voted the best song of the past 50 years by the French public.

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