2023-06-28 00:52:35
With the hangover of success after having participated in ‘Strange way of life’, the latest work by filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, the actor Jason Fernández (Madrid, 28 years old) is one of the protagonists of ‘Elefante’, the short that the thematic chain Cosmo opens this Wednesday at 11:00 p.m. coinciding with International LGTBIQ+ Pride Day. The project focuses on job discrimination suffered by a homosexual at work. It tells the story of Mario (played by Javier Pereira), a lawyer with a brilliant career who starts working for a renowned and prestigious law firm. There he meets his childhood friend, Jaime (Jason Fernández), whom he hasn’t seen for more than 20 years. The office environment, extremely competitive and conservative, is not the best place for his childhood memories or other issues that affect his personal life to surface.
-Did you know the data on labor discrimination in the LGTBIQ+ collective?
-I thought that as a society we had advanced a lot and these forms of labor discrimination no longer occurred. However, when we were preparing the short film, talking with the directors, they kept us informed. We were lucky enough to speak with people who work in the legal profession, who are not from the artistic environment like me, and have first-hand testimonials of what they have heard and seen, and who know that this continues to happen. The truth is that it is quite surprising and worrying at the same time that this continues to happen.
-Not in all professions the environment is so open.
-In this short we deal with the legal profession, but I am very sure that it happens in many more workplaces, in which these people do not have a public voice. In culture or sport, for example, we are exposed to the public. However, there are other professions that are in your world, in your office and a bit with closed doors.
Did the short make you reflect?
-An art, after all, has the capacity to educate and try to direct society. In this short that we have made, in addition to using it as a means of entertainment, it is a quite powerful educational mode. Even if you don’t want to educate in a direct way, you can raise awareness or give people a little attention. And in my case, it has made me think about the process since, really, we still have to hide our sexual orientation in the workplace. We are still so far behind. In the end, what is sold, and especially at work, is that there is already equality.
-Have you witnessed any homophobic comments around you? How has he acted?
-In the end we are not aware of how a simple word can affect another person. One of my best friends came out of the closet at his house and since that day his father hasn’t spoken to him. I think that since we were little we have been able to be more of the part of turning a deaf ear. We have done them all. I am 28 years old and the generation that comes after mine is much more advanced when it comes to equality, and it shows in the school environment.
A long way to go
-Society has advanced, but a party like Vox appears that wants to throw away the LGTBIQ+ flag. Are you afraid that there could be a setback in rights?
-I had no idea, because I don’t watch the news and then I don’t know anything. But I do fear that when there are situations of economic crisis, people throw themselves into radicalism and may sacrifice everything we have built as a society. There is still a long way to go to try to have equality with women and in sexual orientation. However, five or ten years ago, or our parents’ generation, it was so much worse, so we don’t have to lose what we’ve already built.
-How do you carry the weight of being an Almodóvar boy?
It’s been quite an adventure. Since the day I did the ‘casting’ in which they chose me. Everything has been amazing. Since we stepped on the first red carpet, it has been non-stop. Since I was 7 years old I have been an actor and I have been preparing for these moments. For me it is a privilege and a source of pride to have the label ‘Almodóvar boy’, but because I know what it means and how difficult it is to work for Almodóvar. I was in London and they recognized me, because everyone knows what his cinema is like. It is a worldwide phenomenon.
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