After 15 years representing Jesus Christ in The Passion of Adejethe main act and with the greatest media impact of Holy Week in the south of Tenerife, José Antonio López Delgado (47 years old) will no longer represent the central figure of Christianity on the streets of your municipality. In the memory of the adejeros and the public that for years have followed the work that reproduces the last hours of Jesus of Nazareth, from the last supper to his death, the interpretations of this neighbor of Armeñime will remain forever, charged with an impressive realism that has made thousands of viewers throughout Spain cry.
-Last Good Friday was not just another performance for you. It was his farewell. How did she feel?
“Yes. I experienced a mixture of feelings of excitement, pride and gratitude after having participated in practically all the editions with different characters. But, as a resident of the town of Adeje, I see myself in the coming years participating with some other role”.
-How do you remember the first time you represented Jesus Christ?
“From the first moment I was aware of the responsibility I was assuming and I assumed it with the utmost respect. I was part of a theater group and the director at the time, Laura Marrero, told me that she would like me to represent Jesus. I remember that he had very short hair and the first and second year I had to use extensions”.
-It was not just any role that they offered him: the central figure of the great bet of the municipality at Easter…
“Yes, that’s why the first years I tried to document myself. I talked to the priest, I looked for references in books, I selected music for specific scenes… all that enriched me and helped me a lot to build the character”.
-Throughout these 15 years, what has moved you the most when you played Jesus through the streets of the urban center of Adeje?
“The reaction of the children, without a doubt. There is an indescribable look in them, of discovery, admiration and love that touches me. They see Jesus and when he gives them a gesture or a smile they are moved. Also, every time the performance ends, many people come with tears in their eyes and thank you for the performance. That goes deep for you too.”
-What was the most appreciated comment?
“For people to tell you: ‘I look at you and I believe you’. That is the best of compliments.”
-And you have become emotional during the work?
“I have never cried during the performance. I externalize the emotion through the look and in the factions. Yes I can say that tears have fallen at the end or before leaving. This last Good Friday I burst into tears in the interval between the end of the film and the start of the live performance.”
-What has been the most difficult evangelical episode of the work to interpret?
“The crucifixion. It is a moment that fills me with fear because everything is focused there, although I have always trusted the work of all my colleagues. But it is not an easy scene: it is the end, you are in a difficult position, you play nothing less than death and in the square there is a chilling silence of observation and shock that cannot be broken by anything. That silence impresses”.
-This year has opted for an unprecedented experience that has mixed cinema with live performance in the Plaza de España. How was the experience of filming the film?
“Exciting, the film was very well oriented by the direction and in which the enthusiasm and effort of the partners were never lacking. It ended with Jesus carrying the cross, so there’s a bit left to shoot.”
-In other words, it needs to be completed with the crucifixion…
“Yes, filming will resume shortly and it will be the last time I represent Jesus Christ. It was the surprise we got on the last day”.
-Where lies the success of La Pasión de Adeje, which has become a hallmark of the municipality?
“In the involvement of its neighbors. It’s incredible how you live the previous weeks, people stop you on the street and encourage you. This act is part of the very essence of Adeje and the construction of its society”.
-Besides, it is very popular among tourists…
“Yes, we started doing it for ourselves, but, as our mayor says, if people from outside like it, all those people are welcome.”
-What advice would you give to the next Jesus of Nazareth?
“Let him get carried away by what the director tells him, because he is going to look for the best in him, as they have looked for the best in me for all these years.”
-You have been a councilor of the Adeje City Council since 2019, you are in charge of the Disability and Food Bank areas. Is politics a cross?
(Smiles) “No, because we work to improve people’s quality of life. I have always had an activist spirit and I feel fully identified with the political project led by José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga”.
