2023-08-19 10:44:17
After 17 years as an actor, you make your debut as a director. What has been the most difficult thing?
There are many steps to climb when you make a film and more when you write it. Three and a half years ago we began with the first words of ‘My loneliness has wings’. It has been an incredible journey to jump into the void, where my brother Óscar is the protagonist of the film with kids who were making his first film. They were non-professional actors. The film for me has been a gift. I have learned much more about cinema, about making films and I have grown even more affection and love for the profession.
He said that there are non-professional actors. Why did you decide to bet on them?
I wanted a very true film, very realistic, with freshness… And this is what non-actors give you. I had the idea that Óscar would always be the protagonist the day he made a movie. I wanted to surround him with all that truth. He was the only actor. I wanted to immerse Óscar in that neighborhood, in that world, and in those kids. Those kids were going to give Oscar that truth. I told him to cling to that truth, that freshness in those rehearsals…
Did you build the character around Oscar a bit?
He was the last to read the script. When she read it, she said that she had nothing to do with him and that she couldn’t do that. He told me that he would have to catch an unknown kid, but I told him it was him. That I was going to be on top of him, that we were going to work a lot. I asked him to lose weight, he shaved his head… In the end it’s work and work. It seems to me that he does not fit into anything in this world and has done a beautiful job. He is a boy who is an artist, he has a special sensitivity and he has many demons inside because of everything he has lived through and because of the broken family in which he was born. I am very happy with the character that he has made.
Do you feel proud of your work?
Yes. The people who see the film are going to see a different Oscar, in a genre that has not been seen, that has more weight and there is something in the look without constantly doing nothing. He captures the character very well. With the age that he is, he is a character that he had to play. It seems to me that he does it very well and for me it is excellent.
The film reflects that loneliness. Have you felt alone in the midst of so much success?
Yes. The loneliness I talk about in the film has to do with the loneliness of each person, but, above all, on the trip. When I arrived in Madrid at the age of 18, I felt alone. I had to take out those wings and I had to fight to fulfill the dream of being an actor. I left that child behind and began to become an adult. It’s something that happens to the characters. They start out believing they are the kings of the world, they are children and they end up taking a trip to wonder what they want to become. It is a journey towards maturity.
He has been bad in many movies and series and now it’s Oscar’s turn.
It’s good. He is a character with a different sensibility. It is not the typical “cliché” that you expect from a neighborhood kid, more badass. Neighborhood kids are not that. They are sensitive kids, with dreams… With Óscar I wanted to convey a kid who doesn’t know what his path is. There is a moment when she asks him what she wants. She doesn’t know how to answer and she doesn’t know where he’s going. She is lost and she is alone.
What do you take away from this movie?
I take a gift and I thank the production company for accepting the script and giving me the opportunity to tell a story, immerse myself for three and a half years, want and love cinema more… Give wings to all those non-professional kids and I hope they have given one more chance. And above all. Oscar. To be able to make a movie with him and see each other at the best and the worst moments. Our relationship has grown stronger. We have seen the child that each of us carries inside.
Has it been difficult to differentiate the facet of brother and actor?
No. I told him that he was going to be treated the same as the other actors. When the shooting ended, we didn’t go home in the same car and when we came back we didn’t come together either. We were going to keep a distance, he had to be very focused. I gave him some guidelines so that he could see me as a director. A couple of times he fell apart because in the end my gaze towards him… But it has been an enormous pleasure.
Between actor and director, what do you get?
In the end I am an actor. It’s my first movie. I consider myself an actor and that’s where my career has been for all these years. I just made a movie with Rodrigo Cortés. I’m doing another one this fall. The journey is much longer and you need much more time to prepare a film as a director. If the movie is in a good place and it’s not a disaster, yes, I would tell a story again and my brother would be the protagonist again for sure.
#Premiere #loneliness #wings