A fan writes to him on Instagram: “How can it be that you look the same as in the photo I had in my folder when I went to school?” Alejo Sauras, the actor who became well-known for his teenage roles in Leaving Class and Los Serrano, is now 44 years old, and smiles at compliments like that.
And he bursts out laughing when they say of him that he is “the Jordi Hurtado of actors”, because it seems that time does not pass for him. “Yes, of course it happens, I notice that the years are passing, but I appreciate those comments; and no, I don't have any prescription, I lead a very normal life. The only thing I have always tried is to sleep as much as possible,” he confesses.
The actor has a talk with La Vanguardia on the occasion of his latest work: he has given voice to three characters in three stories from the horror classic Stories to Sleep That can now be heard on Audible, the digital audio entertainment content service of Amazon. “It has been an incredible experience, I had a lot of fun, I had never done a sound fiction before, so I was a little scared but I loved it.”
He declares himself a fan of science fiction since he was a child. “He has that thing of evading you, of going to other worlds, other realities. For me, science fiction movies are like pizzas, even the bad ones are pretty good,” he laughs.
His life was not directed towards acting, as he began studying to be an aircraft technician since he could not be a pilot due to his farsightedness. “While I was waiting for some exams, I signed up for an acting school. I liked theater thanks to a literature teacher I had. Two months later I fell in love with this profession and I realized that aviation was more of a hobby and that what I wanted to be was an actor. And until today.”
Alejo started working on television series at a very young age. And since then he hasn't stopped. “I consider myself a very lucky actor. Only 4% of actors can make a living from this and I can say that I am part of that percentage. No matter how much talent there may be, luck plays a fundamental role.” He is currently touring with a play, The Conjugal Illusion, a French comedy.
Among his latest works on television are the series I'm alive with Javier Gutiérrez and Citas Barcelona, where he plays an aromantic homosexual. “In my real life I am not aromantic. That means giving up feelings that play a fundamental role for me. Although I am not the most romantic person in the world either,” he declares.
When he's not working, he enjoys life. “I am very homely, I live in the countryside and I like to take walks with my dog; but I also love to travel. I've been doing it my whole life, I started traveling alone when I was 14, I'm passionate about it."
In this desire to discover, as a child he became enthusiastic about Japanese culture. “I started studying it because I'm a geek, honestly. My father worked at Iberia, and in the suburban neighborhood of Madrid where I grew up, Cuatro Vientos, I had a Japanese colleague who worked at the airport. She was our neighbor and she talked to me about her culture and showed me her children's toys. I loved it and I signed up to learn Japanese for a few years. I haven't kept it and I regret it. But I am sure that one day I will recover it for pleasure.”
And among his “geek things,” he confesses that one day he decided to get his flying license and “very occasionally I rent a small plane and take a walk in the sky.” Enjoying life, the way he likes it.
