«The contestants do not have time for sex; they sleep in cells»

by time news

Everyone sees in Sergio Peris Mencheta a thoroughbred actor involved in perfidious and cruel roles, although in short distances he seems to be a piece of bread. What few know about this performer and director, now based in Los Angeles, is that he is passionate about role-playing games and has been asked to narrate some of them.

HBO has found in him the perfect master of ceremonies to present ‘Traitors’, a ‘reality’ that aspires to renew the genre and which opens tomorrow. The creators of ‘Traitors’ (traitors) have locked up 18 characters in the castle of Sigüenza (Guadalajara) for eight days so that they become entangled in the entertaining occupation of lies, deceit and conspiracies, to end up sending a man into exile. hapless. Who is one of the stars invited to the party? An outstanding woman for this company: Cristina Cifuentes.

The other 17 contestants are the actors Fernando Guillén Cuervo, Rubén Ochandiano, Sandra Escacena, Abril Zamora, Adrián Pino, Anna Allen and Apolonia Lapiedra; the windsurfer, Blanca Manchón; the model and ex-soccer player Jaime Astrain; Jaime Nava, former rugby player; the boxer Joana Pastrana; the journalists Juan Sanguino and Julio Muñoz Gijón; poker player Leo Margets; the comedian Paula Púa; Olympic gymnast Ray Zapata and rapper Skone.

-Why do you think they called you to present ‘Traitors’?

-Because they found out that in my spare time, apart from being with my family, I dedicate myself to being a ‘master’, directing games and narrating them. I have done it in several countries and it is something that I like as a hobby.

-In the first chapter, all the contestants, all 18, opt for being traitors. If taken as a sociological experiment, does that say anything about Spain?

-I don’t know, maybe we need to call attention. We should stop telling ourselves that we are corrupt. The real corrupt are up there; normal people at most make a payment in B to the plumber. In this country I believe we are faithful.

-In many reality shows the contestant is crushed. Does the same thing happen in this one?

-The ‘reality shows’ go in one direction or another depending on how much you press. There is no hyphen here. Of course, we put the focus where the conflict is, but we do not add fuel to the fire to fan it; the firewood is thrown among the participants. We don’t say to anyone: “put so-and-so to broth.” The interesting thing about role playing is that when you are told you are a liar there is nothing personal. If you play ‘The werewolves of Castronegro’ or ‘Secret Hitler’ there are people who cry, scream and get angry.

-Cristina Cifuentes gives a lot of play?

-Well, I had many prejudices against her, but she left me pleasantly surprised. She is a strategist and a girl who treated the team very well, she greeted all the cameras, like a good public relations. She was also dedicated to the cause, she worked with her pants off, without pretense.

Are there worse politicians?

-Surely, and probably they would not have lent themselves to do something like that. She said: “come on, let’s go”, and she jumped into the pool.

-Is the viewer a bit sadistic, does he enjoy the misfortune of others?

-Yes of course. The basis of comedy is human tragedy. With the Marx brothers we enjoy the fucking they do to Harpo and how poor Chico is. In the case of ‘Traitors’, the contestants themselves create the plot. The eight episodes are a movie, in the style of ‘The Dirty Twelve’, but instead of twelve, there are eighteen. The viewer wonders: “Who is going to survive here?”

engineers mind

– Is there any professional profile that you would have liked to include among the contestants?

-Yes, an engineer, a doctor… both have a mathematical way of thinking, they are similar to chess players. An industrial engineer, for example, constantly performs different reasoning from the rest and gets the most out of every move he makes. He is aware that his actions lay the seed of something, he plays in the long and medium term.

-Why is there a predominance of actors and athletes in the cast?

-Athletes are endowed with a competitive gene that actors do not have even remotely. An actor does not want to win, but to show off, to be loved and adored, while the athletes fight for the medal. The actors are a well of emotions, they get carried away by the desire for leadership, something that in this game goes very wrong.

– Is there sex?

-There isn’t, it was impossible for there to be. The contestants lacked time and space. They slept in cells and no one knew where the others were. They were scattered throughout the castle. The program, in which a thousand hours of filming were recorded, lasted eight days. Impossible sex. In addition, as they died, they went home, without being able to say goodbye.

-And who would you banish forever, as is done in ‘Traitors?

-Oysters… Say what I say, half of those who read me are going to pounce on me… Donad Trump.

-It is inevitable to laugh when the porn actress Apolonia Lapiedra says that she is in ‘Traitors’ because of her ability to pretend.

-But it’s true. His ability to pretend and relate to the lie is brutal, as is the case with all actors.

-For an actor there should be nothing as gratifying as seeing a full theater. But, what happens with a television program with work days as marathon as those that have taken place to shoot ‘Traitors’?

-It’s a gymkhana. Many years ago he organized gymkhanas in which there were up to 480 participants. I ran with the expenses and I was ruined, because everything I earned on TV I spent in one day. I have been a ‘boy scout’, not one of those who wear a scarf and a uniform, I was a neighborhood ‘boy scout’, because I am very much from the neighborhood, and that led me to play, play and play, the longer it lasted in time, better. I dream of making ‘The escape from Colditz’ [un juego de mesa] Live.

-And are you tactical or strategic?

-Tactical. The strategy lasts me ten minutes.

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