Looming near the front gate like an adult-sized playhouse, an earlier version of the set and now the new one have long served notice to visitors that they have arrived at a movie studio that is itself a leading character in Hollywood lore.

“When the transition is made from side character to leading character, we think a lot about what story it is we’re trying to tell,” the showrunner and executive producer Jess Brownell explained.

“So many times throughout this process, I’ve definitely had moments where I’m like, ‘Am I out of my mind by having this person to be our leading character?’

And they have turned Mr. Reddé into a leading character of French demonstrations, a kind of “Where’s Waldo?” who invariably appears alongside unionists blowing foghorns and battalions of armor-clad riot police.

He said in 2019 he was proud of starring in the first ever network drama on US television to have a gay leading character, playing Dr Dylan Reinhart in Instinct, which is shown on Sky Witness in the UK.