His greeting from the computer screen and his first responses already make it clear that this attractive Tenerife man escapes from the inertia of the promotion interview and appreciates the calm chat. Generous with his time and categorical in preserving his privacy (he does not admit private issues), listening to him is a balm and distances him from the arrogant artist.
At the age of 13 he was a television reporter in his homeland, but he digested success without embarrassment and over three decades he has built a rich resume. From action and denunciation (Riot Riot, Fatum) to comedy (Until Death Do Us Part, A Not So Simple Life). He now once again plays the leader of Los Miami, a drug trafficking gang that operated in Madrid in the nineties, which, in the second installment of El immortal (Movistar Plus), is experiencing low hours.
Play a real drug dealer. Have you had contact with him to prepare the role?
No, the writers did contact someone from the band. In my case, we decided to inform ourselves online and make our creation, for everyone's health and out of respect for our history, which is fiction. I don't know if he's in prison, I won't get into it. In a job that exposes you so much, you learn that your work ends when you hear “cut.” You have to accept what happens around you, sometimes with resignation, because today you say an unfortunate phrase in an interview and you have the worst week of your life.
He has a reputation for being reserved and cautious.
I go with respect, always, with everyone. I feel that there is no better way to communicate than through affection.
How is the news going?
Every day we have the worst fiction in the news, the atrocious reality that surrounds us and that we allow. I get information from the press, also international, but I dedicate just enough time, no more. I do it early, then let go and have a beautiful day ahead. Lately when I read about artificial intelligence I feel sad. I see like a steamroller approaching and we say: "well, it won't be that bad..." and we put gasoline on it. I'm sorry.
How do you shield yourself from the accelerated pace?
More than shielding yourself, it means not entering. An election. When you wake up, you can pick up your cell phone or not. Answer someone badly or not. If you prioritize yourself, you stay silent for a while, you give yourself time to see what you want and what you don't. Stop participating in that constant noise that we all generate. I'm social, I like talking to you now, meeting friends and dancing and singing... But from there to the noise, there is a fine thread.
Did something make you change your focus?
Look, I read a book, Wake Up! by Anne Astilleros, and that's where it all began. Actually I already thought this way before, but changing is not easy, you have to stop and listen to yourself. For example, I embody José Antonio (The Immortal) so far away from me, but when he heard: “cut” he left his arrogance and his arrogance. And I can apply the same thing to my life. I used to wake up anxiously thinking about everything that awaited me that day. Conclusion: do not anticipate and go around. It's an exercise. Go to bed without your cell phone, eat well. Every choice determines the life you lead.
Do you feel vulnerable to criticism?
Not right now, neither to what they say nor to the awards. You can't please everyone, it's obvious. That you are authentic makes some empathize with you and others not.
He was a famous teenager in his homeland. How do I manage my ego?
Rather, I went to the other extreme, as if asking for permission. False humility and also some cheating... That "no, I don't deserve..." Well, of course you deserve it, you are doing it and not someone else. I experienced uncomfortable situations for a 13-year-old child, like going out from home and have people waiting. No one is prepared for something like that, you have to mature. But I was clear that I wanted to continue in this. And I came to Madrid to study.
How do you feel today, at 42 years old?
Well I feel like I'm running towards my heart. Decisions made with the heart are what save us. I want to forget about the noise and fiction that I have created myself and that every day is an opportunity to express myself, to take care of myself and to take care of myself.
What values must be recovered?
We are creating an increasingly individualistic society. The other day I read a news story about a well-known photographer who died on the streets of Paris and was there for hours without anyone noticing. Something as simple as taking into account the person in front of you. If at the reception of a hotel they speak badly to you, before responding, think that perhaps they have had several rude clients before me. That at all levels.
Do you regret anything?
For a long time I chose to feel guilty. If I did something wrong I spent days thinking about it. The past cannot be changed, but you can do something with it. If I have spoken badly to a friend, I can truly regret it. Then you get out of the guilt, out of that rumble, and tell him you're sorry. And it is a liberation.
What rescues you on a down day?
Breathe and remember who I am and the gift of living. Before I stayed with the negative. And people told me, "come on, you have to change", but I thought, that's easy for you. When I finally stopped, I was grateful that they told me: “Hey, no one is going to come and get you out of there.” We can all value the life we have. I understand someone who is experiencing something really serious and just wants to punch a wall. But the important thing is what you do the next day: do I choose to grow or regret?
Is something missing from your life?
Nothing, I lack nothing, knowing that everything depends on me and I can be happy with nothing. I am on that line, now and forever.
What makes you angry?
That it becomes increasingly difficult for us to agree. Let everything be more subdivided. One supports the fluorescent-yellow, another the lemon-yellow and another the orange-yellow, and they argue among themselves non-stop even though a priori they defended the same thing.
Oh, politics...
It happens everywhere, actually. Politics is the expression of what we see at other levels. You go to a restaurant, you ask for gluten-free bread and there are those who answer: “No, we are not into that trend.” It's almost an attack that you want to take care of yourself. Or why if you don't want to drink alcohol does the rest bother? I do not get it.
When do you feel like you are savoring life?
Right now, every day. Resting, meditating, traveling, with friends, walking through the countryside, having fun. I have started guitar and harmonica lessons; It is wonderful to give you these moments. Or with sports, I do freediving, I love diving, what it feels like underwater, the silence... I am from the Canary Islands.
The sea, always present.
Wow, it's so enjoyable...! A bathroom during the day, at night, is the great unknown, everything that is under there, what happens. Go down, see the octopuses, the fish, I have always done it, holding my breath longer and longer.
Enjoy in solitude.
Every day more. I spent a long time looking for people and doing things all the time. When I got over the vertigo of stopping I saw that nothing was happening. Give yourself time, think. Although I love being with friends, a meal, after-dinner chat, meeting up to go cycling, to climb.
The Immortal is set in the Madrid of the 90s, of corruption. How do you see Spain today?
There is always something to express and lately more and more, but I see that there is a lot of people mobilizing, awakening, changing. In my sector there have been many changes in recent years. I trust. Distrusting does not lead you to anything good.
If we saw each other in a couple of years, what would you like to have accomplished?
I want to carry out my own project with my production company. More than directing it, as a screenwriter and actor. Something about human and couple relationships. You can always learn. It invites you to reflect on what you have been like, to put yourself in a mirror, where you were wrong. There is a beautiful theme there.
Individualism, networks, do they make connection difficult?
Yes I agree…. And I would also like to talk about death.
Think about her?
No no. I am not a hypochondriac, but it is one of the few certainties on which this entire planet has agreed. There is little depth to it and I would like to talk about what there is before, during and after.
Are you a believer?
Yes of course. This beautiful place where we live, I am very clear that it is not a coincidence.
