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He studied medicine and music, but chose to live like others. Miguel Rellán (Tetuán, 1943) has not stopped forging a career since then, in which, he says, he chooses his plays rigorously, but easily gives himself over to cinema, “if they give me a little change”. On Saturday he performs at the Teatro Principal in Alicante come back homeby Harold Pinter. And last Thursday the second season of We apologize for the inconveniences. Retire? A resounding no.
He comes to Alicante with a play, come back home, by Harold Pinter, which highlights the life of a particular family with its lights and shadows. Come on, like everyone else.
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Yes, I'm afraid so. What happens is that in this case Pinter chooses a family, as he might choose a patrol of mechanics, to talk about human beings. Pinter said that his theater was difficult and that it is difficult to talk about it because he understands that it is contradictory and confusing, but that he tries to reflect life which for me is contradictory and confusing. Sometimes, in rehearsals, it occurred to us that come back home It's as if we were walking down the street on a sidewalk and a window opened on a mezzanine and we were offered the spectacle of a family we know nothing about. They love each other, they argue, they lie, they tell each other the truth… And after an hour and a half the windows close and we are left commenting on what we saw. It's Pinter's third work that I've done and I think that in general what he does is put a mirror in front of us and tell us: don't hide it, this is you. It seems to me that the rate of stupidity in recent years has grown exponentially around the world. Starting with who sends us. And as always, we, citizens, are to blame for what happens to us because we elect politicians. This shows the importance of theater.
To what extent is it necessary to return to the theater from time to time for an actor?
Well, I'm always doing theater and every now and then I do cinema or television to fill the fridge half full. Theater is the truth, cinema is the director's art, they cut you off. It's the same as singing rock or opera. In recent times, anyone can sing. But get on stage to sing. This is different. Cinema is image and theater is truth. Theater is a lie that is agreed with the spectator, I pretend that I am someone else and the spectator pretends to believe but knows that I am not Richard III. So in a way, even though we have so much imagery and music everywhere, now more than ever people go live, whatever it is, because it's unpredictable. The best representation is as follows.
“It seems to me that the rate of stupidity in recent years has grown exponentially around the world. Starting with those who send us”
The series have given the profession a boost of oxygen in recent years. You are on board with Antonio Resines in We apologize for the inconveniences, which premiered its second season on Thursday. He seems a little skeptical about the world of imaging.
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No way. The experience has been very good. If they offer me movies and my reps tell me they'll give me a few bucks, well, I'll take it, but often I'm not interested. I'm a shooter. Now I'm going to film with Martínez Lázaro and I'm used to cuts in the role, things that cost a lot of work not appearing or the film not being released. So I have a kind of distance. Another thing is working with friends. Juan Cavestany and Álvaro Fernández Armero little more than invented this series a little tailor-made because I love music and wanted a script by an orchestra conductor. They called me to tell me that they had invented the story of an orchestra director and I was happy... but it wasn't the role for me, it was for Resines (laughs). Working with friends is very different, it's wonderful, but it doesn't always happen and there's no other option but to accept things.
Who would you not hesitate with?
When I started I only wanted to film with Carlos Saura or Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, and in theater, with Nuria Espert and Adolfo Marsillach. I was very hungry until I realized that everything had to be done. Anyway, I don't watch the movies afterwards. I also know how to say no very skillfully. But in cinema and television, if they pay me I pay, in theater I don't. Theater is very tough, you have to have a lot of discipline, it is a school for human beings; You learn to be generous with others and for others to be generous with you, you lose your shyness, you learn to work as a team, in addition to acquiring a lot of culture. You also have to choose your partners very carefully because you find boyfriends for two years who you have to live with.
Has the way of making films and series changed a lot in recent years?
Technically it's obvious. The cables are gone. But I don't think better films and series are being made now. Someone responsible for a platform told me that the quality is dropping for the public once again, which is why it is in demand. I have the impression that everything has been said. In The Odyssey, Homer told everything and Shakespeare finished. So it depends on how you count.
“Theatre is a lie that is agreed with the spectator, I pretend that I am someone else and the spectator pretends to believe it”
He won a Goya for My Aunt in 1986. Don't you play another one anymore?
I do not know. I have many awards and I also have a graceful distance with awards. Unless you convince me otherwise, awards are there to promote something. You can measure who jumps more, but how do you measure whether one actor is better than another? When they give me one, which many give me throughout my career, I talk a lot about Camus, that if you dedicate yourself insistently to an artistic discipline, sooner or later they will give you a prize, the difficult thing is to deserve it. I have many that I do not deserve and others that I deserve were not given to me.
An actor is not old enough to retire because there are characters from all generations in a film, theater or series. Do you think about this moment?
No. Does someone who dedicates themselves to a creative activity retire? The poets? The writers? Dancer because he can't lift his leg, but why doesn't Vargas Llosa retire? In this job, your health takes away the day you earn something and you're kind of stupid because you have no other choice. Chaplin said that in this life there is only time to be an amateur.
A few weeks ago the Artist Statute was approved. Will there be a before and after in the situation in the sector?
Well, I don't know him. As El Brujo said, it's like doing the knight-errant status. What they want? That those who are unemployed receive a benefit? Firstly, there are many actors who are unemployed because they deserve it, because they are bad, because they are not professional, they are just beautiful. There are cloned and interchangeable actresses who are only interested in being famous. And they have all the rights in the world. Making films and television is very easy, saying the text -and now not even that because you don't speak-, and not tripping over the furniture, is easy. I saw a large number of exquisite corpses that would devour the world. But being an actor is something else.
“There are many actors who are unemployed because they deserve it, because they are bad, because they are not professional, they are just beautiful”
If you were called right now to offer you a film, series or play, who would you like to hear on the other end of the line?
Well, for a friend. I have many, fortunately. From Fernando Colomo to David Galán Galindo or Jorge Coira. Plus, they would be great projects. I'm generally lucky. What happens is that every now and then there is a child who believes in something. I make a lot of short films and there are inexperienced people who believe that cinema started with Tarantino. I really enjoy learning, but it bothers me that they teach me at this time. There are very stupid and very intelligent people.
You study Medicine. Have you ever thought that you should have dedicated yourself to healing your body instead of trying to heal your soul?
I studied medicine because my father was a doctor. But I never regretted it. Man, I would like to live three lives: one to be a conductor, one to be a doctor and one to be an actor.