'The Artist' Star Jean Dujardin to Return to French TV in Sketch Comedy

PARIS -- Appearing in his first project since hauling home a handful of awards for his star-making turn in The Artist last year, Jean Dujardin will return to TV in his native France in an ensemble sketch comedy special Friday. 

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After guest-starring on Saturday Night Live in a humorous homage to his acclaimed performance, the Golden Globe-, SAG-, BAFTA- and Oscar-winning actor decided to import the short-skit concept to France.

The Landing, developed with frequent creative collaborators Gilles Lellouche and Guillaume Canet, will debut as a 90-minute live show on pay TV channel Canal Plus on Friday night. 

The show is sure to be star-studded, with Marion Cotillard and Alexandra Lamy slated to appear. Dujardin also will reunite onstage with co-stars from his French-language hit cheating comedy The Players -- Geraldine Nakache, Sandrine Kiberlain and Manu Payet -- as well as a handful of other young French actors the team has handpicked in the hope of promoting their careers. 

The creative team and network will wait to gauge public reaction before deciding whether the show will stage a second special, become a regular addition to the Canal Plus lineup or warrant further development of the concept. “We may be at the beginning of something --or not!” Dujardin said. 

After circling the globe picking up prizes in 2012, Dujardin is enjoying the chance to stay at home and work with his pals on this project.  “I did so much last year, I don’t really want things to change. I’m happy to be able to be in France and work,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. 

Although he has a slate of films coming out -- including Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street later this year -- Dujardin says he’s happy to make his return to TV. He shot to fame in France in the 1999 TV comedy Un Gar, Une Fille (A Guy, A Girl).

“It’s a tedious habit in France that we separate film and television. I’m returning to TV simply because it's a good window and Canal Plus is offering a nice space for expression,” he said in an interview. 

The Landing is produced by Black Dynamite Productions.