Although he has played important roles in popular TV series such as ‘Velvet’, ‘Bandolera’ and ‘Hispania, la legend’, Javier Rey (Noia, A Coruña, 1980) He came to the table as an actor by playing Sito Miñanco in ‘Fariña’. It didn’t stop from there: ‘Hache’, ‘Lies’, ‘Those in the back row’, ‘Doctor García’s patients’, ‘Sin fin’, ‘The summer we live in’, ‘Summit’… Now it’s time to suffer (and play the piano) tenth. ‘Last Night at Stremor’Oriol Paulo’s (‘Contratiempo’, ‘Los renglones torcidos de Dios’, ‘El Innocent’) adaptation of Mikel Santiago’s novel of the same name for Netflix.
Did they recommend reading the novel? Or were you told not to?
Oriol gave us complete freedom. Since it was a moment when the series gained another dimension, I chose not to read it and decided that all the information should be in the script. I promised myself that I would read it when the shooting was over, but now it is very difficult for me to approach that world. I think it will take some time.
Maybe because his character, Álex, suffers throughout?
He’s in a lot of pain, but there’s a specific reason for what’s happening to him and where he started, which is very interesting. Oriol decides to give this information slowly to also understand how he is suffering right now. He feels like if he doesn’t react something tragic will happen and what happens to him will be pretty big, totally crazy.
Was it appropriate to play a character who had such a difficult time throughout the mini-series, or was it easy for you to let him go after filming?
Building and destroying it comes into play. The thing is, this series has been more cinematic than most of the movies I’ve shot. Normally in a movie you get these kinds of feelings for about three months, but here it was eight months. So one way or another, for the character to work and for what happens to him to be real, it’s inevitable that some part of what you’ve built will remain there. However, as time goes by, these feelings fade and disappear, but sometimes you miss them.
It seems hard to miss them because of the suffering Álex is going through.
Yes, because everything is complicated. I was around people who took care of me, who protected me, and I enjoyed watching what they did, there was so much talent per square foot there. That’s why I experienced love and pain together in this shoot.
This isn’t the first time a series has adapted from a successful novel. In fact, he recently starred in Almudena Grandes’ movie ‘Doctor García’s Patients’. Is it a big responsibility to portray a character that thousands of readers already have ideas about?
This is always a huge responsibility. Normally readers see it from a distance because each one has added so much to it: a body, a voice, some tempo, some pauses. And then when you see the game you demand it. But assuming it’s going to be a little complicated for the readers, I think we’ve done it in such a realistic way here, we’ve taken it from such an extremely realistic place to the limits of the characters, that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s an option for them not to see otherwise. It seems to me that readers will be fascinated because their minds will also play from another place with that dimension that opens up in the series.
His character has multiple scenes playing the piano. Did they give you lessons?
When we first sat down, Oriol asked me two things: whether I should stop shaving and whether I should start piano lessons. I did both. I was shooting a movie in Seville and when it was over, I went to piano lessons. Considering that I don’t know music theory, through this series they invented new ways to teach me how to play the piano: with colors, with signs, a little bit of everything…
Was it too complicated for you?
There are several stages. On one hand there is technology, on the other hand there are helping hands coming to my place. And then, after hours and hours, and Oriol being the brave man that he is, it turns out that while Uri was walking with the camera, his fingers suddenly went where they were supposed to go. It feels like I’m actually playing the piano, with a lot of help. However, Álex is not just a piano player, he is a genius who has been doing this since the age of 4 and later became a director. So it’s impossible to get there in a year or two. I was happy to have a healthy relationship with furniture. There are questions that give you a lot of information, not just how your fingers behave like a pianist’s: How do you move? How do you lift a lid? How are you feeling?
Have you had enough of the piano?
Yes! One of the things we did, which is pretty much the best thing that can happen for an actor, was that we shot a bunch of scenes with “flashbacks” of the characters. These were very long scenes, maybe 11, 12 or 15 minutes. This is not usually done, normally only what needs to be done is done. However, Oriol wanted the characters to be in real tempo. There were days when I played the piano from different places, the camera moved, someone gave you information at that moment, and apart from that, I shot long sequences like an actor with your little pains and belongings. Now I associate all of this with the piano. It’s a wonderful piece of furniture, but I never want to touch it again in my life.
One of his future projects is directing. Did you learn much from Oriol?
I wish, but there would be another way of directing because it is unique. I really wanted to work with him.
And you were a cyclist…
But I had no legs.
Do you still do this sport?
Don’t believe it. When I turned the bike off I did it badly, like this: You stay there. I get it now, but I do other sports more. This couldn’t be a childhood dream.
Source: Informacion
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.