Alberto San Juan: “The ideal for an actor is for nothing to be known about his life, which is what Balenciaga aims for.”

Did you feel like you were doing something big while filming?

I feel like it was such a big deal that they gave me the role. I’ve never done anything like this. And I don’t know if I’ll do it again. The absolute hero of a series based on such an important character.

Have you played a real character before?

Yes, I made a movie with Emma Suárez called ‘Hours of Light’ and in that movie I played a prisoner named Juan José García.

But he was not known worldwide. But in reality, neither was Balenciaga as a person.

His works are world famous, and his author is almost unknown.

They didn’t have much material to create the character

We relied mainly on the works of biographers who relied on the testimonies of those who knew him. His recorded voice is not available and his image is only recorded in a recording of approximately one minute, working with a group of people in the workshop. And there are a dozen photos. He was a man who avoided public exposure, he didn’t want people talking about him. And he was a Catholic and was born at the end of the 19th century. Everything indicated that he would hide his homosexuality.

He also had to live through turbulent years with the entry of the Franco regime into Spain and the German occupation of France.

Although he was already 42 years old and had a well-established personality, he came from a village in the Basque Country, from a modest family and an extremely conservative society, from which the dictatorship later came. But of course, growing up in the first third of the 20th century and Guetaria…

Most of the series is in French and Basque.

Disney Spain will see the original version, there would be no point in dubbing it because one of its attractions is that it is a European series in the sense that the characters and cast are not Spanish, but rather French. Spanish. Then there are the Germans, the British, the Americans…

Did you have any knowledge about these languages?

No, nothing. I achieved this by preparing the script with a teacher. Moreover, this is not just any Basque language, but the Guetarian language, because it varies so much from one region to another. I didn’t have the slightest idea of ​​sewing either. I was also preparing to pretend I knew how to sew with designer and tailor Iñigo Garaizabal.

Balenciaga avoided the press. Would you like to not have to experience this?

Now I average seven interviews a day… But come on, I totally assume because it’s part of the job. I wish there was a way to promote without excessive personal visibility, but that’s not possible.

Is it because of tiredness or because you have to expose yourself so much?

The ideal for an actor is for nothing to be known about his personal life and for it to be known through the character, as Balenciaga intended. But this is not possible.

Didn’t Balenciaga take a political stance, was it cowardice or a fight for survival?

He never expressed himself politically in public. But as a prominent figure in Franco’s Spain, I think it’s valuable, because he doesn’t support the dictatorial regime… He always kept his distance, and that’s one of the themes of the show: To what extent can one do that? He remains far away from the reality he lives in.

However, the series shows that he is very loyal to his people. But when these disappear from your life, your creativity increases. Did you feel freer?

There is a very interesting contrast: a stern, formal, quite conservative, very sensible gentleman when it comes to imagining him as wildly free. A creator who has no limits and has the technical capacity to realize what he dreams financially. He had no limits when it came to tailoring his clothes. It is true that during the Nazi occupation of Paris, Balenciaga hats were banned because they were too daring.

I had to accept this in order to survive.

She was aware that haute couture could only be afforded by women from the ruling class. And the ruling class is always the ruling class. Francoists in the Franco regime; Nazism in France, occupied by Nazis and collaborators. And like every human being, he survived. He was not a resistance fighter.

You also acted modestly and took a stand in favor of the project, following your manager’s orders.

I became disciplined about the script and the directors’ instructions. I already had a lot to handle without questioning anything.

Are you happy with the result?

I’m pretty happy, yes. I was completely satisfied, never again. People always dream of going further.

Is it as dedicated as Balenciaga? Do you become obsessed like him?

I understand this persistent dissatisfaction. But he is a genius; I’m an ordinary actor with a lot of luck. I may become obsessed with something I did that I don’t like and feel ashamed of it.

If Balenciaga looked up and saw that his company was selling Ikea bags and torn socks for thousands of euros…

I have no idea because I have only been interested in Balenciaga’s life and work for a few years. Then I have no idea.

Balenciaga did not give a position, but Alberto San Juan took a position. His work ‘Macho Screams’ creates bubbles when talking about Spanish identity. Have you made an enemy?

I hope not, because I guess in order for someone to be your enemy, you have to know them. And if you get to know him so much, he will stop being your enemy because you will start to understand him. Another thing is that he defends different things than you do.

So where does the need to say what’s important come from?

This stems from my desire to live better and coexist better, and my concerns about the difficulties of coexistence in this country. And accepting that there is someone else who thinks differently than you means wondering where this difficulty comes from. And in this search, we arrive at 1492, the Catholic Monarchs and the Inquisition; It stands in the way of the Franco regime, which is not coincidental when the Catholic Monarchs claim to be Franco’s mirror. We have to live among different people. You cannot destroy those who do not think like you from the face of the earth.

He entered the second season of the TV series ‘Everyone is a Lie’, in which he played a very interesting police officer.

I really enjoyed doing this. And meet Pau Freixas.

Everyone says so.

And the cast is great.

Do you want it to continue growing for another season?

¡I’d love to!