The Cup – a six-part comedy series for 91Èȱ¬ Two
Emmanuel Leconte plays Mercier
Raymond Mercier is the dishy Parisian replacement coach who has the women drooling despite his indecipherable philosophical utterances…
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He is played by French actor Emmanuel Leconte who recently moved to England and starred alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors.
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Emmanuel explains: "Mercier does have a genuine love of football and loves to transmit his love of the game to the kids he's coaching.
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"He is incredibly positive about football and that good vibe contrasts with the parents who are more in it for victory; he's there to have a good time and encourage the children."
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Emmanuel continues: "I suspect Mercier ended up in Bolton because he was following a woman. He was in Ashford teaching PE and met with people in the football circuit.
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"His main connection is with Sandra Farrell who is the Chairman. They have a very close relationship so she decides to trust him as coach instead of the parents, who are only interested in putting their own children forward as the main scorer."
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He was impressed by the way the French character has been depicted in the script: "The writers are pretty spot on in the way it was written. There were occasions when a word wouldn't feel right and I'd adapt it slightly, but I hope I added even more authenticity to it."
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He continues: "Mercier doesn't have a great grasp of English and sometimes has a very weird way of transmitting his love of football to the children. He seems to relate things back to nature, and for some reason fish come into it quite a lot!"
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Mercier also has quite an effect on some of the wives on the team.
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Emmanuel laughs: "There is the continental cliché of men being really relaxed with women.
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"He arouses things in these women although he's totally unaware of it, that's just his way, very friendly without realising the sparks he's creating – there's a few misunderstandings shall we say!"
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To prepare for the role, Emmanuel spoke to a friend who is a football coach for kids: "I told him about the script, how Mercier has a lot of pressure from the dads and he told me that this happens all the time; people really do come up to him and demand that their kid be the star.
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"In fact, Mercier's main job seems to be to try and manage tempers and the craziness of Terry especially!"
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Emmanuel really enjoyed being around the young stars of the show: "They are amazing – really professional but still know how to have a laugh. Every time there was a break we'd all run around and play football."
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He was particularly impressed by the footballing skills of one young cast member: "Out of all of them I wouldn't mess with Haylie; she's incredible and has some fierce tackles."
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He adds: "There was a funny moment when one of the young boys came up and asked if I was a real foreigner – I didn't really know how to answer that one!"
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