At a very young age, Armando Miguel Gómez did not have a vocation as an actor, but the theater crossed his path and what began as a hobby became his great passion.
He wanted to be a baseball player, but it was in the Olga Alonso theater group where he understood that the only way to represent all professions was through acting. Since then he has developed a wide career in this universe, which includes film, television and other projects that have made him one of the prominent faces of the Cuban scene.
Before your first television appearance in the soap opera Here we are, what happened in your career?
Before entering the media, I had the happiness of belonging to one of the most important theater groups in Cuba, in which great actors have been trained.
All my training, my base, was in the Olga Alonso group, with maestro Humberto Rodríguez. I have to thank him for the opportunity he gave me to develop in his academy, where I learned the basics of the profession.
He was the first to see that I had acting skills and instilled in me a passion and respect for acting. “The teacher”, as we call him, has changed the lives of several generations who today have successful careers, not only on the island but in other parts of the world.
Was the soap opera the “springboard” of your career?
I found out about casting from Here we are precisely by a companion of the theater group. He wasn’t going to introduce me; but by chance of life I met a friend who encouraged me to go to the selection test and, after a two-month process, they told me that I was the person chosen to play Adonis.
They gave me the news on December 6, Humberto Rodríguez’s birthday; that’s why my television debut had a special meaning for me.
Here we are It was, yes, the springboard of my career. He made me known and allowed other directors to take note of my performance and summon me to other projects that would come later.
I have to add that it was a great experience, in which we had the joy of having accurate training with Hugo Reyes, who contributed a lot to the quality and acceptance of the dramatization.
We haven’t had much of a chance to see you on TV again. What reasons have led you to focus more on cinema?
My first two jobs were in television. I thought of continuing to have a presence in other spaces on the small screen, but my experience in the series Adrenaline 360 it was not pleasant At that time, while I was rethinking my continuity in the medium, I began to receive interesting proposals for film roles and I decided to venture into the big screen.
It has been the medium in which I have worked the most. I have participated in fifteen feature films to this day.
When you saw the script, did you feel that the character of Ignacio in Conduct Would it turn your life around?
The Ignatius of Conduct He has been one of the most important characters in my career. It was a great experience working with a luxury cast headed by Alina Rodríguez and with a director like Ernesto Daranas, for whom I feel deep admiration and respect.
I had the experience of Molasses, and working with Daranas was another school. That good vibe was perceived by the public and undoubtedly contributed to the success of the film.
The film had a good script and that made us take great care to defend the characters. In my case, since they confirmed that I would be part of the collective, I focused on preparing it as I had devised it. I think the result was worthy.
Did playing Ignacio open the doors for you to get to Daniel, in The Companion?
The Companion it was another surprise. Luckily, Pavel Giroud, who is another of the directors I respect, had a reference to my previous works and wanted to take a risk. He bet on me for one of the leading roles in the film.
I was attracted by the idea that the possibility of including the Brazilian actor Lázaro Ramos in the cast was valued. He is one of the colleagues I most admire, but in the end he was unable to participate for personal reasons.
It was another very good project. From the moment I read the script, I fell in love with it, because it demanded a lot from me and I needed that at that point in my career. Many people told me that Conduct it was my life’s work and that it would be hard to top that performance. Playing Daniel required a lot of sacrifice. I had to lose weight to assume the physical image that the characterization of the character required; but all the effort was rewarded with the success he had The Companion.
It was a great opportunity to play a character again who came to challenge me and develop my career. Conduct Y The Companion They are two films that have a lot of meaning in my life; in addition to having had a great journey and having won awards at international festivals. In addition, they were competing in competitions of a similar category to the Oscars and the Goyas.
Do you consider yourself a movie man?
Many people associate my career with the medium, but my link with the seventh art is related to the fact that it has been the one that has offered me the best work proposals.
I consider myself an actor: I like to interpret. I have had the opportunity to develop my career in the cinema; but if good proposals appear that seduce me in other media, I accept them. I try to put effort and dedication into everything I do so that the work is clean and as realistic as possible.
Many of your characters have been psychologically demanding. How do you deal with them?
I always try to focus on them as deeply as possible, and transpose them to my personal life. I am to study and absorb everything I can from the environment that surrounds me. It is a method that I have been creating.
I study and prepare myself because I am very rigorous, from the moment a character is proposed to me I focus and start working on it.
First of all, it has to catch me, to be able to develop it and achieve a connection with the public. No matter what conflict I have in the story, if it interests me, I consider it and defend it with all my energy.
When you are immersed in a dramatization, which stage do you spend the most time on?
When I am immersed in an audiovisual production, I dedicate more time to the pre-filming stage, everything starts from there.
This process provides you with the necessary tools for the filming stage. I try to make the most of that time to polish the details with what I conceive of the character. Exchange with the director and agreement where she is going to move from the psychological and dramatic point of view.
Is your success due to issues of innate character or do you consider yourself a stage worker?
This is a profession for which you have to have a vocation. Life gave me this opportunity and I have known how to take advantage of it. Answering the question, I would tell you that a part of vocation and another of dedication, effort and a lot of work. I consider myself a perfectionist and every day I try to keep improving myself and broaden my horizons.
What iconic character from Cuban cinema or television would you have liked to play?
I would have liked to play the Ignacio that Rolando Brito defended in the series Something more than dreamingbecause he is one of the best accomplished characters on Cuban Television.
Brito’s interpretation the day the character dies is one of the best scenes I’ve seen; In addition to the admiration I feel for him, one of the references for my generation.
You have had a spectacular career in recent years. What level of maturation do you see in yourself?
The maturation process of an actor is relative, and I discuss this with some people around me. What is clear to me is that in this career you always have to seek excellence and not settle for having worked in the latest movie or soap opera of the moment.
Many people who value my career recognize me as an experienced actor. But I feel like now I’m beginning to understand a lot of the things that I did instinctively. I feel like I’m starting out in the trade and I try to learn from everyone around me, both established and new to the media.
There is a long way to go. This is a profession of constant learning; but in the near future I would like to dedicate myself to directing actors and supporting people with artistic concerns who have not had the opportunity to be linked to art schools.
After a long time you return to television. Did being directed by Lester Hamlet condition your participation in the soap opera? You?
Lester and I had been waiting to work together for a long time and this time I was given the opportunity to participate in his first soap opera. He is a director with whom I identify because of his way of seeing art, because of the aesthetics and visuality that he brings, in addition to the fact that he is a great defender of actors.
When he told me about the idea of being part of the telenovela You, I had other projects in the pipeline and I suggested that he value a character that did not have much prominence. He told me about Víctor, and I liked him because he was an antagonist that I could take advantage of.
At the end of the year, what resolutions do you have to fulfill?
Recently I was part of several projects, but I would highlight my participation in two films, one with Alejandro Gil, written by Amílcar Salatti, AM-PM, in which I coincided with Enrique Molina. In the second, I had the privilege of being under the direction of Fernando Pérez, in Nelsito’s world and to share the set with Isabel Santos, another actress with whom he wanted to interact for a long time.
For next year I hope to continue working. I hope that good proposals arrive so that we can give our cinema more visibility and internationalize it.
