Lise Bellynck, Marie Allan and Maroussia Dubreuil, the three leading actresses, talked about the erotic auditions for this film:
Bellynck said: "I did an erotic audition the first time I saw Jean-Claude. We went to the cafe, he said to me:" It's now or never ... " I said to myself: "What am I risking?" He wasn't going to rape me or kidnap me, I wasn't afraid of him. I thought about Secret Things (2002) and I dared. "
Allan said: "We had a coffee, then we were in the set planned for the shoot, and I touched myself in front of him. I didn't really know if I was going to be able to do that, I'm a little embarrassed about my body. I really wanted to be taken, but also afraid to show myself to Brisseau. But I managed to fake an orgasm. "
Dubreuil said: "My first attempt was with Lise. We played the first erotic scene of the film, as a duet, in the hotel room. I immediately felt that we were in a search, a job on eroticism, we weren't doing anything. In my head, there was no longer any question of me not being taken for the role. "
On October 31, 2007, two actresses, one of whom stars in this movie, accused Jean-Claude Brisseau of rape, sexual assault and harassment for a period from August 2005 to September 2007.
Marie Allan, then aged 29 and married, accused the director of having abused her during erotic "castings", carried out face to face and without a camera, in public places or at Mr. Brisseau's home. According to her, Mr. Brisseau would have promised a leading role in one of his films and asked for that to work these intimate scenes. Same accusations from another actress, then aged 21, who said she suffered a "digital" rape by the filmmaker. Brisseau only admitted to having had a consensual sexual relationship with the first actress.
A judicial investigation was opened, the man was heard as an assisted witness, but the procedure was abandoned for lack of evidence to establish "non-consent".
Suffusing the film are the facts of Jean-Claude Brisseau's own life: after the casting of his 2002 baroque-noir Secret Things (2002), during which he required the sexual complicity of his would-be starlets, four hopeful actresses, none of whom appeared in the final film, accused the director of harassment. He was charged, fined, let off with a suspended sentence.