At the beginning of his career, Oh, Havana! (2007) immediately connected him with the Cuban public. But his vocation for acting began long before, when, as an elementary school student, he channeled his artistic energy into school activities.
Since then, he has loved acting. She has built an extensive career and has received two major awards. Today he is one of the most recognized young actors in Cuba.
How did the idea of being an actor come about? Did you seek the profession or did it come to you by accident?
My approach to acting was taking place in an organic way. In the first stage of my childhood, I was attracted to everything related to art, to such an extent that I participated in the school’s extension activities. That fueled my vocation and motivated me to take the selection tests for programs as making way and Let’s talk about Healthin which I learned the basics of this profession.
This first approach to television was useful for work that came later.
The soap opera Oh, Havana! It opened the doors for you and made you known to the Cuban public. What significance does it have in your professional life?
Although I had participated in other spaces, the telenovela was a great experience in my career. Making my debut in a project of this magnitude in which I shared with artists I admired and having the opportunity to rub shoulders with them has been one of the great gifts that life has given me. Even though I was practically a child, I sensed my connection to acting and that I had to prepare myself to dedicate myself to this profession.
What changes did you feel in your life after this dramatization?
Imagine, at that time in my life I was not aware of many of the things that were happening around me. I received that avalanche of people who recognized me and came up to me to talk about the soap opera. From that moment I also verified the rigor and commitment that this work entails. I verified the impact that what we actors do has on people.
You also inhabit the imaginary of Cubans through your performances in The Skinny Prize, habanastation and The match. How do you evaluate your participation in these feature films?
An actor always longs to make a movie. I only have to thank the directors of those three feature films for their trust in me. I thoroughly enjoyed these experiences in the seventh art that gave me the opportunity to show myself in other facets and for which I obtained recognition not only from the public, but also from the jury that awarded me several awards, among which the Adolfo Llauradó prize stands out.
You got the Caricato award. That and the Adolfo Llauradó are two of the most important awards in Cuba. What impact did they have on you?
I have been happy. In addition to valuing my performance, these recognitions have committed me to continue working to be better every day and live up to the meaning and connotation they represent.
Characters like the one you played in the movie The match are they a kind of “final exam” for an actor?
It was a very well written character. Since they proposed it to me I got involved. I realized that I could take advantage of it when building it. At that moment I wanted to break away from what he had done before. With this proposal I was able to show that he could do other kinds of things.
What was it like to be next to Carmen Maura in the movie Oh Mammy Blue!?
The proposal to work on this film came as a result of my participation in The match. The director Antonio Hens summons me again, this time for a comedy that falls into the category of “road movie”.
I had the joy of sharing with the great Carmen Maura, who welcomed me as if I were her grandson in real life. Being on the same stage with this great cast was a privilege. It allowed me to draw on the knowledge of my colleagues and adapt to their ways of making films.
Tell me about your participation in the series Noisy. Do you consider this experience and learning valuable?
Noisy it was a phenomenon. Young Cubans were in need of a series of this type, in which they saw themselves reflected and that told stories related to them. It was a great challenge, because great youth series have been produced in our country and we worked to ensure that this proposal was widely accepted. The objective that we set ourselves from the beginning was achieved.
It was a long work process in which we had to sacrifice our vacations, but all that sacrifice was compensated by the reception of the series later.
During the recording process I began to prepare to enter the National School of Art (ENA). Being part of this cast reaffirmed to me that it is necessary to go through the academy. Knowledge is necessary to nurture and understand this career in depth.
On the small screen we also saw you in Shared Heartbeats. How did you get to be part of the cast?
It was my last appearance on television. It was an experience that I enjoyed to the fullest, like almost everything I do. I played the character of Mauricio, a young man with conflicts who in the course of the novel finds his horizon in life.
You have played many characters. Is it difficult for you to leave one to enter another?
Whenever one incarnates a character, he receives things from him. Fundamentally due to the fact that there are many months putting yourself in the shoes of other people and history. But, I usually don’t have a problem disconnecting from the characters.
What is the basis of the interpretation?
Actors are nourished by everything that surrounds us. Sometimes we cannot build the characters only with our experiences. We need to reflect on other people who have experienced the emotions we want to interpret. The interpretation has a bit of everything, which makes it something extraordinary. You can act out various conflicts and stories and at the same time give voice to people who are distant from you.
We haven’t had many opportunities to see you recently in theater, film and television. Did you decide to focus on music?
I wanted to be a musician since I was little, I took the tests at the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory but they did not approve me. From there I continued preparing on my own, with private teachers, until during my stay at the National School of Art we created a group called Café con Crema.
The goal of making music has been fulfilled today. I am leading the Monkyou band with the support of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS).
Music occupies a large part of my life, but I don’t give up acting. I long to be able to carry both things at the same time and that attractive proposals continue to come to me. I wish to continue contributing and cultivating art from both manifestations.
