—What has it meant to professional level Tefía’s nights? The Vespa, for the moment, has given him the Ondas that he collected last Wednesday and a nomination for the Iris television awards.
— It is one of the best shoots of my life that has also allowed me to meet incredible people, collaborate with Miguel de Arco and discover his way of working; know about total dedication to a project and let me embark in the direction he proposed.
— Miguel del Arco himself said in an interview that, at first, you were scared when he told you about La Vespa. Vertigo?
— More than vertigo; It was fear that I had before I started filming. Almost terrifying, I dare say, even before meeting with the director because the character already on paper was difficult to understand: a guy from another era, with a sexual identity different from mine, from another part of Spain… They were many things that led me to think that I was going to make a fool of myself, but when I overcame that barrier and, in the end, I gave myself over to Miguel’s trust, I realized that there is always a lot of happiness behind fear, or at least there can be. .
— Is it true that during filming, at least the main actors were quite hungry?
—We were quite hungry. The truth is that if. I lost between 10 and 11 kilos and it was hard. Especially the first months. I even fainted in one of the Tindaya dance numbers, but then it was even nice. I remember it as a sacrifice that we had to go through to get into the skin of those characters.
— Eternal rehearsals and a lot of characters… How did all this previous process develop?
— It is true that the rehearsals lasted almost a month. I had not worked in that way that also allows you to have an awareness of what you are doing and what the director wants… That allowed me to try until we found La Vespa that we wanted to do, and we achieved that based on trial and error. Miguel has a very clear way of working and I think that is seen in the series. When we were going to shoot, on the second or third take it was already done, which in turn forced the team to be very aware of what was being done because, since everything was very rehearsed, if it was repeated too much it could take away from the spontaneity to actions.
—What have you learned from that story? By the way, have you come to Fuerteventura to see the real Tefía Labor Camp?
— It was impossible for me to go to Tefía because the filming in Tenerife kept us busy for a long time, although of course I owe her a visit. Regarding the teaching that The Nights of Tefía has left me, I would highlight, above all, the lack of knowledge that there were work camps in Spain where homosexual people were sent. That is one of the reasons why I think it is very necessary for the series to be seen by everyone and especially young people.
—How was filming in Tenerife?
— Filming in Tenerife has been one of the happiest times of my life and one of the best in which I have participated. We were in a unique place and the entire team worked in a fantastic place. I think we were all happy for the treatment, the atmosphere that was created and because there was really satisfaction in what was being achieved. Rarely have I heard so many people from the team speak so highly of what they are doing or speak so highly of the relationship they had with Miguel del Arco. All of us who were in Tefia’s Nights are going to keep this filming in a little corner of our hearts. There was union. That was beautiful.
—And the part of the Tindaya nightclub, already in Madrid, was it complicated?
— Tindaya was difficult to film because it was technically more complicated. It was not, as in Tenerife, of filming with the camera on one’s shoulder. There were brands to follow and also, being in color, it was technically more difficult. Something curious happened: when we were in Tenerife, where it is understood that we are filming a dramatic situation such as life in those barracks in Tefía, we were very happy. However, when we arrived in Madrid to film what was supposed to be the happiest stage, as was what was happening in the Tindaya party room, we were not so happy. Especially because it was the month of August and it was unbearably hot in Madrid… What you really wanted was to go to the beach. Those of us who had been in Tenerife had to assimilate that change, and it was a process in which the actor Luifer Rodríguez had a lot to do with. His experience and his role almost as his guru in the group of interpreters that we were in Madrid allowed us to recover the feeling that he already united us in Tenerife.
— You have visited Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Do you like the Islands?
– I love Gran Canaria and the rest of the Islands; I don’t know them all.
—How do you see yourself in a few years?
— I don’t think about it much but I hope I can continue dedicating myself to this; Getting up every day and giving thanks for how lucky I am and, if I’m happy, calm and surrounded by good people, then fantastic.
