“Comedy requires a higher level of truth than tragedy”

2023-05-29 01:09:15

Ana Arias (Madrid, 40 years old) gets into the skin of the character of Cristina, one of the new neighbors who comes to Peñafría to live a sabbatical year with her partner and with the aim of being a mother. This is how the actress debuted in the third season of ‘El pueblo’, the comedy that Telecinco broadcasts on Wednesday nights (11:00 p.m.), and which, in its last episode, recorded an average audience share of 10.1% screen and almost a million viewers.

–Many years as Paquita in ‘Cuéntame’, now she is also known as the one from ‘El pueblo’. How did she deal with it?

-In the theater they have also seen me a lot. Paquita from ‘Cuéntame’ is very defined and it took us time to create her, but facing a new character is of course always a challenge. Besides, she had quite different things to me. For example, Cristina has a fixed point that I don’t have anyway. For an actress, doing different things that have nothing to do with you is wonderful. That made me very excited. And not only that. Because, apart from the acting, the scripts are so good and so well written that I felt like I wasn’t working. He was a perfection in terms of comedy. Only as a spectator I already laughed.

–How good is it to make you laugh?

–It is true that on filming we have had fits of laughter, but it is not the general trend, because we are all very professional. In the end, comedy is even more difficult than tragedy because I think it requires a higher level of truth. Making laugh is the most complicated. You have to take into account, not only your truth, but also the rhythm and times of the other partner. There are several things that must be taken into account and so, let’s say, the challenge can be even greater, but setting goals is cool for me.

–Is it very different to record in a town in Soria than in Madrid?

It’s tremendously different. We shot between spring and summer, and outside of there I think I couldn’t have recorded, because it was snowy. The houses that appear in the town, both exterior and interior, were the places that were later our real home. It was a kind of ‘Big Brother’ without the ‘quilting’, of course (laughs). And the level of disconnection, well, it was wonderful. It is created as a kind of family. Of course, at the level of family reconciliation it has been more complicated.

Do you consider yourself an urbanite?

–I consider myself an urbanite, who wants to be from the town but can’t. I have lived in the mountains for eleven years, but I miss Malasaña a lot. I am aware of how good it is to live in the mountains, and I enjoy it a lot, but I also miss the urban part.

–And are you considering taking a sabbatical year in a town in Soria?

It would be an option, but right now I don’t need it. If you needed to disconnect, enjoy the family and that’s it, it would be a perfect plan. But now, as I love the world, with my family I feel so cuddly and my work is in Madrid, because at the moment I enjoy life in the city.

Doble final

–It was announced that ‘El pueblo’ would end with its fourth season. Do you think the series deserves more chapters?

–I don’t see that ‘El pueblo’ has tired people at all. The fans are protesting, but a lot, especially on social networks. I am interested in the series returning. I think it was more a matter of not reaching an agreement with the network, and this type of bureaucratic thing, which has nothing to do with the actors. Both my colleagues and I are looking forward to making more chapters and the viewers too. ‘The people’ have not died; He is very much alive and has many things to tell. I hope they reach an agreement and we can continue. I want him as a spectator.

–It has also been incorporated into the new ‘La que se avecina’.

-It was lucky, really. I am very happy, because it has been amazing. We have started filming and the reception from the colleagues has been wonderful. The team coincides with the one that was already working on ‘El pueblo’. I am getting to know the Caballero brothers and verifying a level of professional that I admire. And also with Raúl Peña, who is lucky to work with him again.

– ‘Cuéntame’ is over, the series that gave you popularity. How do you live it?

–For me as an actress, ‘Cuéntame’ has been such an important stage in my life… Of course, I think it’s feasible to be at the end and close that professional and personal cycle as God commands.