Lupin star Omar Sy gives updates on season 3 and the fate of J'accuse
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of Lupin.
Don't worry, J'accuse fans!
The beloved pooch of Netflix's Lupin, best known for barking any time anyone utters the name of the show's main villain, is alive and well at the end of season 2, and will be returning for season 3 — even if she's a major diva. (More on that in a bit.)
Yes, the heist thriller, which just released its second batch of five episodes in June, has been picked up by Netflix for a third season. The season 2 finale saw gentleman thief Assane Diop (Omar Sy), a man inspired by the classic French character Arsène Lupin, finally get his revenge on Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre) for framing Diop's father. The last we see of Pellegrini, he's sitting in a squad car after admitting some of his crimes on tape, and Diop, wanted for some of his own offenses, skips out of town vowing to return someday.
Sy dished to EW about his canine costar, his thoughts on Diop's ultimate revenge, and what the status is for season 3.
Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix Assane Diop (Omar Sy) and Benjamin Ferel (Antoine Gouy) in 'Lupin,' pictured here with canine companion J'accuse
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We have to start with the most important question: What is it like working with your canine costar who plays J'accuse?
OMAR SY: Actually, J'accuse — [and I say] "she" because she's a female — but she's a real diva. She's really difficult on set, but we love her.
But she seems so well-behaved on the show.
Because she's a very good actress!
We never see what becomes of J'accuse as Assane pulls off his revenge and then leaves town. Do we need to worry about J'accuse?
No, you don't have to worry about J'accuse. And I don't want to spoil anything, but we have more coming with her.
The show has been a massive international success for Netflix. When did you know the show was going to be a big hit?
We realized that something was really happening when we got Netflix's reaction, and they were so, so happy and excited. And when we had the numbers from around the world, we were No. 1 in so many different countries that we realized that, okay, something's happening, because we're No. 1 in countries that don't even speak French! So it was amazing to be No. 1 in Japan, in Korea, and Brazil, those countries like that that are very, very far from home. So for us, we were very intrigued and really happy, but it was a surprise.
Were you a big fan of the character of Arsène Lupin before doing the show?
Yes, of course. I was familiar with the graphic novels from Japan. I don't know if you know that, but Lupin is a huge success in Japan and they have a very big fan base there. So there is a lot of books and manga that was been inspired by Lupin. There was one when I was young I used to read all of. So I was very familiar with Lupin through that, but Lupin is a part of the French culture. We all know Lupin. We learned it at school, but I was a fan coming from the comic books, and then I started to read all of the classic [novels] to prepare for the show.
What are your thoughts on Assane's revenge? Do you think he's satisfied — is he finally done with Pellegrini?
It depends on what's gonna happen next for Pellegrini and everybody else, and even for him. Because it's not completely finished. He's done most of the work, but it's not completely finished. When episode 10 finished, there's still some questions that we didn't have answered.
During their confrontation, it looked like Assane might go against his code and kill Pellegrini. Do you think he wanted to?
Of course. The whole show we were very, very careful to not have our hero be violent. So there is no violence from Assane, he does what he does, but without the violence. One of the rules of Lupin is [he's] never violent, never killed anyone. And we wanted in that moment for you to think, "Maybe he's gonna do it." Because it's a lot. It's about his dad, and all these years waiting and having that moment with all this anger, maybe something's gonna happen. And maybe he's gonna switch on the other side. And why not? That was really possible. But then having him coming back into himself, being smarter than that, and being able to control his anger — we wanted to have that moment and make the audience think that maybe he's going to do it.
Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix Omar Sy as Assane Diop in 'Lupin'
Season 2 brought in more accomplices for Assane. Can we expect more of that going forward?
When you read the books, Lupin has a lot of accomplices. But [in the show] he had the one, which is Benjamin, but he needs people, [so he] hires them like he does with [Philippe Courbet]. So it was interesting to have that. And I think it's going to be more interesting maybe one day having like a big cast with a lot of people. Because the thing is just being the mastermind, you cannot do everything by yourself, you need people. It's also one of his skills, to bring people with him. It was really cool to play with that. I think it's a good aspect of Lupin.
Guedira [played by Soufiane Guerrab], the cop who kind of helps Assane, seems like a good candidate for that in the future.
I think the thing is, in another life Guedira and Assane could be friends, because they have Lupin in common. So why not? It's certainly possible. We don't know.
How far along is season 3?
We're talking about that right now. We have a lot of ideas and things that we want to do and say, but we're still in the writing process.
At the very end of season 2, he tells his family that he must leave but he'll be watching. Do you think he's going far, or is he sticking around?
I know exactly where he's gonna be, but I'll let you think about it. [Laughs]
What do this character and this show mean to you personally, as a fan of the original?
It means a lot. From a personal perspective, I wanted to have [a role that was] like a toy, which I can play with, and have fun with. And Lupin is a toy, because it's everything. He's charming, you have action, you have the drama, you have all of that, and also you have funny moments. For an actor it's just perfect. You get to change your dress and your appearance all the time. So first of all, that was my first goal, entertaining people with the show and with the character. And then, how can we talk about something that's important for us, something that we see in our society that we can relate it to? I think with the show, we have all of that in one, so it's really cool. We have an entertaining program with the character at the same time that we have some messages that we can send. So it's just perfect. We're so happy and blessed and grateful.
And what is the the show's main message, in your opinion?
There's a lot of different messages, but I think people are relating to having a normal guy fighting the establishment. I think that is the main thing that resonates all over the world, especially today.
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