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PHOTOGRAPHY: JOCELYN MICHEL ASSISTANT: ROGER AZIZ
MAKEUP: MARIE-CLAUDE LANGEVIN
STYLING: SARAH LAROCHE CLOTHES: TRISTAN ET AMERICA
HAT
TRICK
Quebec superstar Roy Dupuis plays Maurice Richard for the third time in The Rocket I BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS LÉGARÉ
When it comes to Maurice
“Rocket” Richard, Roy Dupuis
knows what he’s talking about.
For the third time in his career,
the 42-year-old actor plays the French-
Canadian hockey icon, this time in
The Rocket, a feature-length bio-pic about
the Montreal Canadiens’ legendary
number nine.
The relationship between Dupuis and
Richard began in 1997, when the actor
played the Rocket in a Heritage Minute.
Two years later, Dupuis was back on the ice
starring in a TV series called The Maurice
Rocket Richard Story.
“After I watched the TV show, I knew
we had to make a movie out of it,” explains
Dupuis, who met Richard several times
before the hard-hitting right winger died
in 2000.
In fact, Dupuis would even suggest
changes to the TV series when he felt
something wasn’t right. “But it only hap -
pened a few times,” says the Quebec-born
actor, one of the most popular celebrities
in his home province.
Written by Ken Scott (who directed
Seducing Doctor Lewis) and directed by
Charles Binamé (Séraphin: Heart of Stone),
The Rocket opens with the infamous 1955
riots, when angry Richard supporters
took to Montreal’s streets to protest the
NHL’s decision to suspend the Rocket
Roy Dupuis as Maurice Richard
for making contact with a referee. For
many historians, the event is considered
to be a key catalyst in Quebec’s imminent
Quiet Revolution.
“Not only was he a great athlete, but
Maurice also showed Quebecers that
they could be the best at anything they
wanted,” says Dupuis.
To bring the Rocket back to life, Oscarwinning
producers Denise Robert and
Daniel Louis (The Barbarian Invasions)
raised $8-million, the biggest budget
ever for any entirely Quebec-made
film. With that money, the production
team was able to stage several on-ice
famous 27 | april 2006
sequences, all based on archival footage
from the ’40s and ’50s.
To add more credibility, filmmakers
even cast a number of present-day NHL
players in supporting roles, including
Vincent Lecavalier, Sean Avery and the
recently retired Stéphane Quintal.
Dupuis, himself a long-time hockey
fan, says he wasn’t nervous about skating
with real players. In fact, the professional
athletes had more trouble on the ice
than Dupuis. “I have been playing since
I was three years old,” says the actor, “so
it was easier for me to adapt to the
old-style skates.”