Once the bad boy of Quebec cinema, Patrick Huard has become its elder statesman

Most of the country got to know Patrick Huard in Bon Cop, Bad Cop, the 2006 buddy-cop, Anglo-Franco-divide comedy he co-wrote and co-starred in with Colm Feore that became one of the highest grossing domestic films in the country. But for the Quebecois, Huard has been a staple on television and movie screens since his infamous role a decade earlier as Ti-Guy in the hockey-inspired cult classic Les Boys.

A prolific comedian, actor, writer, director and producer, Huard is one of the most prominent figures in Quebec show business of his generation. Since the start of his career, 35 years ago, he has been recognized by nearly every performing arts award in Quebec and Canada, including the Genies, the Iris Prizes and the Canadian Comedy Awards.

No stranger to the red carpet, Huard is now entering another arena. On June 14, he will be receiving a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement alongside some of the most accomplished artists in this country.  

Despite these accolades, Huard admitted in a recent interview on the Radio-Canada show Jeannot BBQ that he still thinks of himself as a kid from Montreal's Rosemont neighbourhood who does improvisation . 

Studying classical music in high school, Huard describes his younger self to host Jean-Sébastien Girard as a nerd who was bullied until he found improv, which changed his life. Looking back at early successes, like his 1994 stand-up comedy show 18 ans et plus (18 and over), which he made at the age of 25, he says that he quickly developed a big ego and felt invincible.

Huard is no stranger to international success, nor is he above transforming scripts and projects from outside the province for local francophone audiences. In Starbuck, he played the lead, David Wozniak, an irresponsible middle-aged man who unexpectedly becomes the father of 533 children as a result of his youthful sperm donations. On Jeannot BBQ, Huard shares how the energy behind the character was inspired by his own father. Two years later, the film was remade in the U.S., with Vince Vaughn playing the role of Wozniak. In 2019, Huard directed an adaptation of the American TV comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Escouade 99), this time translating American culture for the Quebecois screen.

If charm, wit, humour and a certain sexy bad boy irreverence were defining characteristics of his early media personality in the late 1990s and 2000s, wisdom and maturity have been at the forefront in recent years.

On the Radio-Canada show Tout peut arriver, Huard recently defended the place of comedy in the Quebecois cultural landscape. Citing the specific skillset required to be a comedian and the difficulties of reaching stardom, Huard spoke with passion about a discipline in which laughter is king and the fall from grace can be brutal. 

Once a whippersnapper, Huard is now a monument of Quebecois show business.