French adult animated comedy Jim Queen, which world premiered in Cannes Film Festival‘s Midnight Screenings program, mixes comedy and serious themes. It tells the story of a ripped queer influencer and “king of the Gym Queens” community whose world crumbles when he contracts a mysterious virus that turns gay men in Paris into heterosexuals.

The virus is called Heterosis. The titular Jim, whose full name is Jim Parfait, is voiced by Alex Ramirès, with Jérémy Gillet being the voice of Lucien, a closeted virgin who helps him on the hunt for a rumored cure to heal Jim and save the whole LGBTQIA+ community.  

In a tribute to the queer community, the film also features recognizable names from it, including singer Philippe Katerine, drag performer La Briochée and gay porn icon François Sagat, who voices Jim’s rival, Pavel.

Jim Queen was created by Nicolas Athané and Marco Nguyen in their feature directorial debut. They co-wrote the script with Simon Balteaux and Brice Chevillard. David Alric and Arthur Delabays of French animation studio Bobbypills (Creature Commandos) produced the movie, for which Global Constellation is handling sales.

So, how did a French gay porn actor end up in Jim Queen as the nemesis of the titular character? “We needed the actors to be part of the community to understand the characters,” Nguyen tells THR, highlighting the team’s focus on authenticity. “It was important for them to put their stories, their experiences into the characters that we created.” Sagat is “more than a porn actor, he is an icon. He became so famous that it was impossible to think that he wouldn’t be part of the project,” he adds.

The creative team wasn’t sure if he would go for the casting offer, though. “We were afraid that he wouldn’t accept the role of Pavel, because it’s so self-deprecating, and it requires a lot of derision,” explains Nguyen. “We talk about steroids and Botox and everything in a very cartoony way. But he accepted. And he was hilarious doing it, and he was super happy to play this part, because he knew it was a caricature of himself. And it was very, very fun to do.”

It helped that Nguyen knew some of the people who ended up as voice performers in Jim Queen. “Marco knew François Sagat and Harald Marlot who plays Glamydia,” shares Athané. “That really helped, because they came. They were like, ‘Oh, Marco is doing something? I want to see what is going on.’ So that helped a lot.”