Characters / Hélène et les Garçons

A list of some of the main characters from the French series Hélène et les Garçons and its sequels.

Original Series

Hélène Girard

Played by: Hélène Rollès

• Breakout Character: Hélène was originally a secondary character from Premiers Baisers (First Kisses), another sitcom about the life of Hélène's younger sister Justine. Here, she's the main character.
• Cool Big Sis: To her sister Justine (the main character of Premiers Baisers), and also a wise older sister figure to her friends.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Blonde, nice, beautiful, and loved by everyone.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She is known for her sweetness and being a Team Mom to the others.
• The Heart: The one who keeps the group of friends together. This mainly applies in the original series, less so in the sequels.
• Out of Focus: The main heroine in the original series, but loses prominence in the sequels where her name is no longer in the title and is absent in many episodes.
• Team Mom: The most caring towards her True Companions, and always willing to help.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's very feminine (Girly Girl), while her best friend in the original series is the energetic Tomboy Johanna.

Nicolas Vernier

Played by: Patrick Puydebat

• Cool Big Bro: Often acts like a wise older brother to his friends, similar to Hélène's Cool Big Sis.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Like Hélène, he is similarly blond and good-natured.
• The Leader: Usually portrayed as the leader of the boys, of the practical and levelheaded type.
• Nice Guy: A very loyal and helpful friend, and he's considered a largely virtuous person most of the time.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: As a wise and gentlemanly Nice Guy, he serves as the Noble Male in contrast to other Roguish male characters, mainly Christian in the original series and José in the sequels.
• Spear Counterpart: As the Love Interest of Hélène, he is also a male version of her.

Cathy

Played by: Cathy Andrieu

• Boyish Short Hair: Downplayed, she has very short hair (in the original series), but she's less of a tomboy than Johanna.
• The Bus Came Back: 23 years after her departure and after being absent in the first and second sequel, she returns for the third sequel Les Mystères de l'Amour in 2015.
• Put on a Bus: After 70 episodes, she moves away after being left by her boyfriend. She's replaced by Laly.

Étienne

Played by: David Proux

• The Bus Came Back: 29 years after his departure and after being absent in the first and second sequel, he returns for the third sequel Les Mystères de l'Amour in 2021.
• Put on a Bus: After 68 episodes, he falls in love with a Finnish model and leaves the show. He's replaced by Sébastien.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He frequently teases Christian, but they are good friends.

Johanna MacCormick

Played by: Rochelle Redfield

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She's in love with Christian, a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is rather rude to her.
• The Bus Came Back: Twice after the original show. After being absent in the first sequel, she returns in Les Vacances de l'Amour in 1997. She will later make occasioal appearances in the third sequel Les Mystères de l'Amour
• Funny Foreigner: The token American girl, and a goofy Plucky Comic Relief character.
• Genki Girl: She is quite perky and excitable, though she calms down as she gets older.
• Girliness Upgrade: An energetic tomboy in the original series, but becomes more mature and feminine as an adult in the sequel Les Vacances de L'amour.
• The Glomp: Has a tendency to glomp her "Cricri d'amour".
• The Matchmaker: She goes to great lengths to make Laly and Sébastien hook up, when they first join the group. They eventually do.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Hélène's Girly Girl in the original series. Hélène is very calm and feminine, while Johanna is a Genki Girl with a tomboyish appearance.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She is more uncouth than the other girls, and usually dresses like a tomboyish, all-American girl (boyish outfits, short hair, and often Tomboyish Baseball Cap) but is a Love Freak who loves romantic stuff.

Christian Roquier

Played by: Sébastien Roch

• Affectionate Nickname: Johanna often calls him "Cricri d'amour".
• The Bus Came Back: After being absent since 1994, he comes back in the last few episodes of Les Vacances de l'Amour. He later stays as a regular in Les Mystères de l'Amour.
• Chick Magnet: Has several women falling in love with him, like Johanna, briefly Bénédicte, Linda, Thérèse, and he has some periods of Really Gets Around. And that's only in the original series.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is rude to Johanna (and not very nice in general), but cares for her deep down.
• Manchild: Not exactly the most mature member of the band.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Roguish Male (a rough-around-the-edges Anti-Hero) to Nicolas's Noble Male (a wise and gentlemanly Nice Guy) in the original series.
• Took a Level in Kindness: As an adult in Les Vacances de l'Amour, he softens up a lot compared to the abrasive college student he was in Hélène et les Garçons.
• Troubled, but Cute: He is arrogant, cynical, and had problems with drug abuse at some point. He's still a Chick Magnet and one of the franchise's most popular characters.

Bénédicte Breton

Played by: Laure Guibert

• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde, and an innocent and kindhearted Nice Girl.
• The Ingenue: If she's this or an Extreme Doormat, varies Depending on the Writer. Sometimes she's portrayed as very naive in her romantic relationship, other times she's wise enough to know better but lets her boyfriends mistreating her anyway.
• Love Martyr: In the first two series, she is in a relationship with The Casanova of the gang, and forgives him every time he cheats on her, because she is in love.
• Nice Girl: She's sweet, pleasant, down-to-earth, and one of the most sympathetic characters in the series.
• Women Are Wiser: She is more reasonable than her boyfriend, which is not hard, since she is paired with José for a large part of the series.

José Da Silva

Played by: Philippe Vasseur

• The Casanova: His main characterization in the entire series, despite having a loving girlfriend for much of the time. He never grows out of it, not even when he gets much older in the sequels.
• Hot-Blooded: He has a temper and tends to overreact over many things.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Quite obnoxious and sexist (and an extremely unfaithful romantic partner) but nonetheless a genuinely close friend to the other main characters.
• Latin Lover: A notable womanizer, and it's mentioned that he is Latin American.
• Really Gets Around: While every single character in the series falls into this trope, he's one of the worst offenders.

Laly Pollei

Played by: Laly Meignan

• Characterization Marches On: Laly was originally a down-to-earth, relatively normal girl. After Johanna is Put on a Bus, the writers wanted another "kooky girl", so Laly is changed into an extremely flawed and eccentric person, acting more like a bratty teenager than a college student. Her quirky trais are exaggerated even more in spinoffs and sequels.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She forces her strange opinions and outlandish ideas on everyone else, and this usually drives the plot in the first sequel Le Miracle de l'Amour.
• Control Freak: She bosses around her boyfriend Sébastien quite often. Since he's an Extreme Doormat, she gets away with it.
• It's All About Me: Very often, she thinks everything revolves around her, and throws tantrums if people don't want to go along with anything she says.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can be kind and even empathic when she wants to be, despite her abrasive personality.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The spacey and frenetic Energetic Girl to Sébastien's reasonable Savvy Guy.
• Spicy Latina: Brazilian, very attractive, and definitely outspoken and hot-tempered.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Starts off as something of a Shrinking Violet, but over time she becomes bossy, demanding, and selfish.

Sébastien

Played by: Sébastien Courivaud

• Beware the Nice Ones: Normally an endless patient guy, especially with Laly, but there are rare moments where he stands up to her and gets angry.
• Extreme Doormat: Usually a pushover at the hands of his Spoiled Brat girlfriend Laly.
• Nice Guy: Generally kind and patient, towards both his girlfriend and his friends.
• Put on a Bus: Eventually, after breaking up with Laly.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The reasonable Savvy Guy to Laly's spacey and frenetic Energetic Girl.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: In Le Miracle de l'Amour, he's often the kind and submissive Sensitive Guy to José's arrogant and womanizing Manly Man.

Adeline/"Manuela" Roquier

Played by: Manuela Lopez

• The Bus Came Back: She leaves after the first season of "Les Vacances de l'Amour" in 1996. She briefly comes back for "Les Mystères de l'Amour" in 2019, but later she's Put on a Bus again.
• Deadpan Snarker: She's often sarcastic when criticizing Laly or other characters.
• Dude Magnet: While she's unlucky in love, many men are attracted to her and she's often described as stunning.
• Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: She rarely gets a steady boyfriend and has many failed relationships.
• Stage Name: Manuela is her stage name as a model in Le Miracle de l'Amour. Eventually, after she states that she likes it more than her real name, even her friends start calling her this way.

Christophe

Played by: Nicolas Bikialo

• Contrasting Replacement Character: A Nice Guy who is introduced to replace the much meaner Christian as the drummer of the band.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Acts like this towards Thérèse, and later towards Adeline. Despite his genuine love, he's not much lucky with either of them.
• Nice Guy: Even too nice at times, he is a very forgiving person.
• Those Two Guys: With Olivier, mainly in Le Miracle de l'Amour. They don't live with the rest of the cast.

Olivier Legendre

Played by: Olivier Casadesus

• The Generic Guy: He's a nice guy, a good friend, has occasional relationships... and that's it.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: He's a calm person, and is often paired with perky and crazy girls, first with Rosy and later with Taxi.
• Those Two Guys: With Christophe, mainly in Le Miracle de l'Amour. They don't live with the rest of the cast.

Nathalie

Played by: Karine Lollichon

• The Friend Nobody Likes: Hardly anyone cares for her in the main group, you can consider her more an acquaintance than a friend. She only hangs out with them when she needs help or when she's dating one of the guys.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: If she's a malicious Jerkass, a promiscuous Good Bad Girl, or a sympathetic Broken Bird changes depending on the episode. The main cast is not sure if they have to hate her or pity her.
• Really Gets Around: She has slept with almost all the guys in the main cast.
• Token Evil Teammate: An on-and-off friend to the main cast and has openly antagonistic moments.

Linda Carlick

Played by: Lynda Lacoste

• Ascended Extra: Goes from a recurring Satellite Love Interest in Hélène et les Garçons to everyone's best friend in Le Miracle de l'Amour, especially after Hélène is Put on a Bus.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: She's a blonde model and considered one of the most attractive in the cast.
• Good Bad Girl: A very friendly person, but she has no problem going out with many guys.
• Romantic False Lead: She had relationships with Sébastien and Christian, and some Ship Tease with Nicolas in the sequel, but only in order to make the the guys realize they are in love with other girls.

Later Additions

Cynthia Sharks

Played by: Annette Schreiber

• Boyish Short Hair: To go with her tomboyish appearance and clothes, she also has keeps her hair very short.
• Broken Bird: She's a former drug addict and deeply ashamed of it.
• One of the Boys: After Nicolas is Put on a Bus, new guitarist Cynthia becomes the only girl in an all boy band.

Jimmy Werner

Played by: Tom Schacht

• Iconic Sequel Character: Jimmy is introduced in the second half of Le Miracle de l'Amour and remains a main character even in the other sequels, despite not being an original character from Hélène et les Garçons.
• Love Interest: Originally to Cynthia. In the sequels, he becomes this to Bénédicte.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In Le Miracle de l'Amour, he was a faithful boyfriend, but in the sequels he becomes a much less reliable partner.

Jeanne Garnier

Played by: Isabelle Bouysse

• Iconic Sequel Character: Introduced in the second sequel Les Vacances de l'Amour, and is still one of the main characters in the franchise.