After starring in the romantic comedy ‘A Perfect Story’, adapted from the novels of Elísabet Benavent, Anna Castillo finds herself in an intense survival story. ‘Nowhere‘ is the new Spanish Netflix movie coming to the platform on Friday, September 29. In this drama Albert Pinto (“Sky Rojo”, “La casa de papel”) plays a pregnant woman who escapes a totalitarian regime with her husband. However, she finds herself alone in a container and in the middle of the sea; There she has to manage to stay afloat and is about to give birth.
In the movie, her character Mia is going through a really hard time and the audience experiences that tension with her. Were the shoots that nerve-wracking?
It wasn’t sad, but it was exhausting to be in such an overly emotional state all the time and maintain the ‘connection’.
The film also required physical exertion. Have there been any setbacks?
I had protection on and a giant belly that weighed eight kilos, but in the movie when the container fell into the sea the impacts were real because everything was moving so much. Moreover, there was smoke and my throat was irritated with the screams. I developed tonsillitis and a fever, and we had to rearrange the shots so that I could receive antibiotic treatment at home. And another day, while shooting at sea, I had heatstroke. They came to measure my blood pressure, my blood pressure was very low, so we had to postpone the scene until the next day.
Mia appears in all scenes of the film, most of them alone. Did you feel dizzy while reading the script?
Clear. The challenge for me was how to carry the weight and responsibility of the film. It’s also a very commercial type of film that doesn’t usually reach me. It seemed like a great opportunity to me. On the other hand, there was also the difficulty of taking part in all the shooting of such an emotionally charged film. And lonely. I never thought about how much a stage partner spoils you. That’s why I made the movie to test myself.
“I want to act bad but it’s like they don’t see me”
Mia’s plan, escaping from the secret sea to escape a totalitarian regime, is fiction. But unfortunately, this is a story that is in the news every day.
Yes, people dying at sea every day sucks. But this movie isn’t about that. I had already done ‘Mediterranean’, a social drama that talked about Open Arms, and ‘Nowhere’ was a dystopian reality. The totalitarian regime serves to contextualize the character and understand what this girl was doing when she escaped from the container.
Is your character the best example from which we can draw strength and courage, even if we don’t even know we have it?
Yes, because I think I would have died if I had been there. Mia is going through a very sensitive moment because she carries so much guilt. If it were up to her, she would have resigned in less than a minute. But her baby is attached to her, which means she can’t give up and draws strength from where she doesn’t always have the strength to fight.
‘Cut!’ When they said, was it easy for you to leave such an emotional character behind?
It’s very easy for me to get out of character when I’m filming because it’s so tiring to be in this agony and sadness and fear all the time. So when they say ‘cut’, I leave happy and go home, where life is easier, thank God. It’s harder for me when the movie ends because for a while I have an emotional hangover, as if I’m fighting a little duel for the character.
Was the character Mia written for you?
I don’t think they wrote this specifically for me. I did a test with the director and producer, did a ‘zoom’ and they said yes.
‘ How is it given to you?castings‘?
I hate them deeply because there’s something about that vulnerability and exposure that I always experience terribly because I’m so nervous. I haven’t done it in a while but I made a couple this year and they said no. I have been ‘ghosted’ on some occasions.
‘He made drama’income‘, comedy, crime action and comes from the production of ‘Easy’ and ‘A Perfect Story’, two very different series. What’s left to try?
I would love to do a ‘biography’ of a rock star or something music related. I love love stories and want to make a more dramatic story or talk about relationships from another perspective rather than a romantic comedy. I haven’t played bad moral characters either, I’ve always been pretty good and sweet. I want to play bad! I could do this, but they don’t see it.