QUE magazine

QUE literario

schools directory

events

artists

servicios

contact us

Originally from Madrid, Guillermo Toledo, or “Willy” –as his mobile phone message claims- talks exclusively to QUE about his origins, his previous work, his projects and implicit social consciousness.

 ·   The fight between Jewish people and Palestinians is a very hot issue and difficult to approach. What motivated you to accept the role of Rafi in the film “Beloved Beings”?

I think this is one of the best plots I have come across so far, I think it has a funny side and the characters are very well chosen. On the other hand, I believed that it was time that we talked about that problem, which is almost untouched in European cinema. I had never seen a film that would approach this subject from the point of view of reconciliation, of peace and facing the conflict through dialogue, and stopping wars and more death, you see? Even though I differ from the plot in the sense of the way in which the responsibilities are treated with absolute equality, right? I believe that the Palestinian people are suffering the consequences much more than the Israeli people and that because of it, I believe, the responsibility is more on one side than the other.

 ·   You are one of those infrequent cases where the actor can be popular for a TV role like Richards in “Seven Lives” and yet maintain credibility in his works for cinema and theatre. What is your secret?

Well, I don’t know! I do not have any secrets, only that I like my profession and that is what’s most important. I have a lot of respect for it and I enjoy it a lot. Neither have I let myself be seduced by fame or money but for quality and personal enjoyment when doing my job.

·   What is Animalario?

It is a company that we put together about 10 years ago together with another colleague called Alberto San Juan as a means to express ourselves. We were not willing to go to 28 million castings, waiting for somebody to call us because we really wanted to work. So, we decided to create Animalario, write texts and launch ourselves into acting in bars and tiny-tiny theatres, etc. This thing has started to work and we have got together with people who are artistically alike, as much as in ideology and politics, and we aim to always maintain, first our personal enjoyment and then a minimum amount of quality and commitment with the society in which we live in through our theatre. Actually there is a play that we did with Animalario called Hamelin, as in the flute player, and it is the first drama that we did and talks about minors' abuse and paedophilia.

·   Another difficult subject….

Yes, we wanted to talk about  a point of view that would make people think, and think a little bit ourselves, about why  these things happen and how they could be avoided, starting with how unjust is justice in this country and practically in every other country in the occident. We do not try to give a preconceived idea; in fact, it is based on a trial held in Barcelona a few years ago where nothing was clarified, so we tried to get people to reflect upon this issue, nothing more. But yes, it is a prickly subject, it will probably bring consequences, I hope for the better.

·   In your previous theatre play, Alejandro and Ana you also approach controversial issues. How do the Spanish audiences receive this discussion? 

The previous play that we did had greater repercussions because it basically dealt with the thoughts of the right wing in this country, and we think it is one of the most reactionary rights in the whole of Europe. We only have one right wing party where they are all united, from the purest and hardest fascists to a more moderate right line, which makes them even more dangerous.  At the time the popular party was still in power, and it was in its maximum apogee of great power and censorship and direct attacks against all thoughts that were different from theirs. The play was based on the wedding of the president’s daughter, where the story was developed as well. Evidently, it has had huge media repercussions, thanks in part to the censorship that they tried to exercise with it from the popular party in power with Mr. Aznar.

·   Would you like to be an actor for export in Hollywood like Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz?

I don’t mind the country in which I am going to work, I would love to work in the USA because there is a lot of American cinema that I like but I have no interest in going there to make bad movies that go against my morals, ideologies and thoughts, which is what they essentially do, right? Generally, Spanish people that are going there are making average films and I have no interest in that. If they were to offer me a good film, of course, there are many American directors that I like but not precisely in Hollywood, to tell you the truth.

·   Do you think it is possible to break with the Latin stereotype represented in the Anglo-speaking cinema? 

Well, unfortunately I think that to speak about “Latinos that triumph in Hollywood” is depersonalising the issue and  putting everyone in the same box. The stereotype of Latinos, Latin-lovers in the case of men and the super explosive woman with big bosoms in the case of women, is a cliché that will be very difficult to break  and it is because of it that I am not willing to participate in it, because I think it is quite absurd.

·   Tell us about “Perfect Crimes” and your experience working with Alex de La Iglesia.

It is difficult to explain with words. For any Spanish actor, working with Alex is a sort of culmination. When he passed me the script I thought it was a character that was very difficult to interpret and I was not sure at all that I would be able to do it, so I decided to live through that gigantic fear that I had and surrender myself into the arms of Alex, which was the best thing that I could have done because he is a great director, because he knows actors and he likes actors and he knows how to deal with them. He does not consider you an enemy as, unbelievable as it sounds, happens in other films. He is also a guy that has an enormous sense of humour, who is very intelligent and who knows a lot about cinema and he shoots well. For me this job has been the most intense experience that I have had in the cinema.

·     Our magazine is aimed at many Spanish speakers that live in London and, seeing as  you lived in the United States for a year, tell us about your experiences living away from Spain…

In 1986 I was 15 years old, I was a very bad student and then, well, typically, they took me to the United States to see if I could pass the subjects as it was in theory very easy. I spent a wonderful year in Athens which is a small town near Atlanta, a place with a lot of musical culture, REM and B-52 are from there, there are so many bands; there were a lot of bars, and well, I had a great time. The truth is that I learned a lot, I made good friends, I felt loved because I was living with an American family with a son with whom I got along really well and it was an extraordinary experience, I will never regret it. More so, I could not thank myself any more for having  insisted on my parents letting me go there. In the United States, without actually having thought at all about being an actor, I had my first contact with the theatre. I had not gone for that, I was there only to pass the subjects, and one day I got into a room where they were teaching theatre and even though I wasn’t completely hooked, 4 or 5 years later in Spain I got into a school of acting, in a very casual manner as if that was IT. When I finished 5 years later I decided that I would give it a try and things have turned out ok, with a lot of luck, truthfully.