festival serialized 2022 wanted it to be opened by a series with a lot of history behind it: Guillem created Clua (Barcelona, 1973) for a playwriting tournament in 2011; it premiered in a tiny room; then in others, also from the rest of the world; took the form of a book and now jump Netflix in eight half-hour episodes. ‘smiling’ it’s a gay story, but not just for gays, because first of all it’s a Love story. He was also fed for the series. other frames with a great variety that allows anyone to identify it. Starring the actors Carlos Cuevas and Miki Esparbe, which makes it very believable. such a wise choice grandson of pepon on the skin of a transformista. Like great romantic comedies, will come for christmas.
‘Smiley’ was his first comedy. And it turned out to be a complete success in theater, a book was written in the rest of the world…
You summed up 10 years in one sentence. My first comedy that I had a little difficulty with. Its origin is a short text presented at the 2011 Temporada Alta Dramaturgy Tournament. And I had to face Jordi Galcerán, who would write ‘El Credit/ El crédit’ in the future. This match is said to be one of the legends of the tournament. I was a beginner and he was the author of the ‘Grönholm Method’, so I thought: I have to write a comedy or I die. And I started writing what would become ‘Smiley’ because I discovered that it had a beautiful subject, that I had an emotional life. Jordi obviously won, but Jordi Casanova, the organizer of the tournament, the artistic director of Flyhard in Barcelona, which has only 40 seats, told me: “Expand.” We premiered it, it worked very well and the phenomenon started.
Romantic comedy has stood the test of time because love is a universal emotion.
The search for love, lovers is such a powerful engine that it always makes the works, movies and series about it very attractive. But what changes is the form. A comedy by Howard Hawks from the 50s and 80s or 90s by Nora Ephron is not the same. There are some social parameters that change. Now the issue of gender has come to the fore and LGTBI diversity is changing shape. And the motivation for writing ‘Smiley’ was: Rework the narrative elements of the classic romantic comedy with all its clichés and translate it into the story of two men. I think that’s what made the game so appealing back then.
This is not a gay story, it’s a love story.
One of the keys to the success of the work, and I hope the success of the series, is that it is a work told from a very specific reality: LGTBI. The play is about two boys, but there are also two lesbian, straight, old people in the show… We’re not going to tell a gay love story just for gay people. Everyone will feel identified.
Was it difficult to export to audio-visual format?
Telling the story of Álex and Bruno in the lead roles was relatively simple because it had already been done. You just needed to distribute it into sections. And make it more complex. The most complicated thing was to create the universe of characters around it, which was a counterpoint to the main story. To nurture it and to learn new things, both from the reality of LGTBI and ways of being different and loving. It was also the most exciting thing: having a small story and Netflix giving you the opportunity to turn it into something diametrically opposed in terms of greatness and exploration, creating new characters.
Did you feel humility while undressing while telling your personal stories?
No, because I always do. Everything I write comes from either my personal experiences or things that have affected me personally and made me ask myself questions that I need to answer by writing. And especially this series that tells a lot about our time, about our reality, about my emotional life, about my friends, about my inner circle. It is an inexhaustible source of comedy. Grindr dating is an endless pool of gags (laughs).
As for the ‘cast’, who came up with the bright idea to turn Pepón Nieto into a drag queen?
All creative decisions go through me. Pepón was chosen later, but from the script the character was created as an actor over 50 years old. I had to justify the traditional figure of the Barcelona reformers, who had long forgotten a long past. Now the drag world is very fashionable with Paul Rudolph, ‘Drag Race’ and people in their 20s or 30s. But those who paved the way were somewhat forgotten. And Pepón’s character tries to be a tribute to the transvestites that the gay male world has made invisible above all else. Because when men are over 50 they are out of focus and are no longer those objects of desire. I attached great importance to this.
And that character brings all these emotions together with his monologues. Are you looking for this number?
Yes, it is like the wise referent who has all the answers but is also alone. Pepón’s character is secondary, but his message is very powerful and his intrigues are the most beautiful.
The selection of Carlos Cuevas and Miki Esparbé is also quite successful.
It was the most complex because they were the protagonists of a series based on a game that other actors had premiered. Ten years ago the characters of Álex and Bruno were perfectly marked. So it was very difficult to find the best actor for that role and there was chemistry between them and we believed that they would fall in love… I think we won the lottery with them.
There are dialogs in Catalan. Is it Netflix’s attempt to alleviate this language deficit, or is it your decision?
When the series was offered to Netflix, I said that I wanted Catalan themes and characters to describe it. I wanted to pay homage to the origin of the series. Not only Barcelona, but also a real Barcelona is taught where Catalan and Spanish are spoken.
The short episodes are also pretty good.
There are many times when the story asks you about the format or even the genre: be it theatre, movie or series. And in this case he wanted it to be a 30 or 35 minute series. Being consumable, not becoming a ball. At the content and time level. So the duration is ideal.
The play had a sequel: ‘Smiley, després de l’amor’. Could it be the second season of the show?
I’d appreciate it if that happened, but it’s in the hands of the audience. I wish this happened. If the time comes, there is material.
By the way, there is a Christmas time. A nod to ‘Actually Love’?
There are references to movies throughout the series. And ‘Actually Love’ obviously has a moment. Romantic comedy asks for Christmas.