María Garralón gives life to Adriana, in ‘To serve and protect’. In fiction there is a nod to the historical series ‘Blue Summer’. Garralón has also worked on ‘Farmacia de Guardia’ and ‘Compañeros’. /
The actress signs for ‘Servir y Protección’ (TVE) and meets again with Juanjo Artero four decade after ‘Verano Azul’
The actress María Garralón (Madrid, 69 years old) returns to television as a signing for ‘Servir y Proteger’, the daily series on TVE’s La 1 (5:25 p.m.) produced by Plano a Plano, where she plays Adriana, a woman who is in charge of an NGO in the neighbourhood. In addition to the difficulties in sustaining the organization, her character is in a delicate health situation, something that she hides from her relatives. In fiction, she will meet again with the actor Juanjo Artero and both will coincide in front of the cameras forty years after the premiere of ‘Verano Azul’.
-Is this the first time you coincide with Juanjo Artero after ‘Verano Azul’?
-The truth is that we have met very little, because the two of us have continued to work regularly and it is also a coincidence that we have not met more. In real life we have seen each other more, but working very little.
-In ‘Serving and Protecting’ they made a nod to the mythical scene of the apple.
-It was a loving gesture on the part of the producer and the writers. It was a nod to a scene from ‘Blue Summer’, in which I played a game for them, where I tied their hands and hung an apple from a rope with a thread and they had to bite into the fruit. In ‘Servir y Protección’ they wanted to make this wink and we laughed a lot.
-He has seen Juanjo Artero grow up.
-I was very young but he was a child. I admire him a lot. He was a kid who had no idea about the profession. I think he discovered in ‘Verano azul’ that this was going to be his job and he took great care in pronouncing and interpreting. I remember that he spent the whole day reciting ‘Don Mendo’s Revenge’ to us (laughs). Juanjo has worked on it so much afterwards that I admire him a lot. In this job it is true that you have to be given opportunities, but you also have to look for them. And he has searched for them and has worked a lot.
-What caught your attention about Adriana, her character in ‘To Serve and Protect’?
-I thought he was a very nice character but he was also sad, and I’m not going to say anything else. Also, he caught me at a time when I was undergoing medical tests on my spine and knee. He is an endearing character and then, when I found out that the actor who was going to be with me the most was Víctor Sevilla, who is a boy who I think is fantastic, and to be with Juanjo, I said ‘I’m going to do it’. Adriana represents the struggle for life.
Vocation
«I admire Juanjo Artero a lot. In ‘Verano azul’ he knew it was going to be his job and he took great pains to interpret »
-He arrives at a series that has been broadcast for six seasons. How has the reception been?
-That’s the worst thing about coming to a series where the actors have been in it for so long. I, who have done long series, know what that is. I always come to these things with a certain timidity, because I know that when a fiction takes so long, there are a series of codes, phrases and things that they already know. I have felt at home. The companions and the team are wonderful, and they have not been able to take care of me more. They were tremendous early risers, but nothing mattered to me. I have done it with a lot of love.
-He also participated in another of our television’s great fictions, ‘Farmacia de Guardia’. Millions of viewers sat in front of the television. How did you manage this popularity?
-When there was only TVE, the whole country was watching you. I have done series where the audience was gigantic. I have handled popularity well. I have never had any problems, nor do I think success has gone to my head. It seems to me a privilege that life has given me the opportunity to participate in this type of work. I really liked doing them and the people on the street love me a lot. As it is the patio, what more could you ask for? I have patience and people stop me and I listen to them. It is very beautiful and it is a privilege.
‘Remakes’
-Do you still remember him from ‘Verano Azul’ and ‘Farmacia de Guardia’?
-They only remember me for ‘Blue Summer’ and ‘Farmacia de Guardia’. They have been series that have been replaced a lot. Parents put it on their children and they grow up. I freak out when they still call me Julia on the street and I freak out even more when I turn around. In summer, for example, I am greeted by children who are shown the series or repeated again on television. And young people also remember me for ‘Compañeros’, which is another generation.
-Are you in favor of making a kind of reunion of ‘Blue Summer’, as is being done with other mythical television fictions?
-I wouldn’t do anything. ‘Blue Summer’ has its own story. What was done, is there and has remained in the memory. We are talking about many years and people still have it in their heads. Now something else would be done, but doing it as a ‘remake’… This has been thought of many times, doing it like the reunion with Julia and the boys. And I say, what for? It is better not to move it. It was a creation of Antonio Mercero. He left us that wonderful legacy and it should stay there.
Fame
«The popularity I have taken well. I have never had any problem, nor do I think that success has gone to my head»
-Has the way of working in television series changed a lot?
-Yes. Technically progress has been made, obviously. As for the interpretation, I think everything is the same. You have to study, do that character of yours, do it with the greatest truth that you can and that reaches the public. In that it has not changed. It is something that also happens in the theater. Work with truth, and that’s it.
-How do you see Spanish fiction?
-In Spain great series are made. And they take care of themselves and work hard. We have a level of professionals, both directors, technicians or actors, very prepared. There are very good young people. We can compete with any country in the world. We don’t have to go anywhere with our heads down. The proof is that every time we leave Spain, our productions succeed.
-He fulfilled a wish by getting on stage at the Roman theater in Mérida.
-That professional wish was fulfilled. He thought it was not going to happen to me. Acting in the Roman theater of Mérida is a blessing and an experience that I wish all my colleagues could go through there. It’s magic. And I’m very happy because ‘Las Supplicantes’ repeats the show in other theaters.