It’s a surprising truth that international stars Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas have never spent more than two minutes on the big screen.
They made a brief cameo appearance in Pedro Almodóvar’s “I’m So Excited” (2013). Both have appeared in the director’s 2019 movie, Pain and Glory, but they didn’t share the scene because the characters lived in different times.
48-year-old Cruz plays the eccentric and curly-haired Laura Cuevas, and 61-year-old Banderas is Felix Libero, an empty and self-centered opposition to the seemingly modest but devoted Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez). Actor.トリオがクエバスの次の映画のリハーサルをするとき、彼らの不謹慎で利己的な動機のそれぞれが表面に浮かび上がります。
Together via a video call from New York where they attended the US premiere of the film at the Tribeca Film Festival, Spanish actors discussed their ideas about their opposite type of role and awards. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Were there any other projects you were planning to work on before it didn’t happen due to a schedule or other accident?
Penelope Cruz: No, that’s the weirdest thing. There was nothing that was offered to both of us, and what one of us could and the other couldn’t.Pedro [Almodóvar] Sometimes he tells us his thoughts on what he wants to make with us. He teases us and raises the possibility of a “marriage Italian style” remake. We want to make it with him, but I’m not sure if he’s just joking or if it could be a reality.
Antonio, which do you want to be between the fame-obsessed Felix and the disdainful Ivan?
Banderas: Felix is arrogant and frivolous, but smart. Even if I had to choose to be one of the two actors in the movie, I would probably choose Felix. Ivan is wise and pretends to have this pure ideology about art, but when you are distracted, he can steal your wallet. He is a dangerous character. When Ivan pretends to win an award in front of a mirror, he shows how in the film industry, and even in politics, people can become what they criticize.
Have you ever met Laura and someone similar to her tactics in your career?
Banderas: In the arts, especially in the film industry, it’s a subjective world with many scammers. It’s easy to hide behind the subjectivity of the field. For example, in excellent acting schools such as Stanislavski’s method and Stella Adler, the techniques that support the acting of actors have been born from decades of testing. However, there are many scammers who try a very strange process and tell you that the truth about their behavior is behind the teachings they sell. And there are naive individuals who buy it.
Who were you channeling or imitating in the whimsical Laura portrayal?
CRUZ: I can’t say their name, but I was inspired by a few people, but not all of them came from the film industry, and not all are women. The director and I watched a lot of video interviews with these people to note the ridiculous things about them. [laughs].. I created Frankenstein characters based on them and created what we all shared about the strangest things that happened to us on the set.
How helpful was the eye-catching wig to your makeover?
CRUZ: The wig helped me a lot because she wanted to be seen when Laura entered the room. She always believes that what she has to say is more interesting than what everyone else has to say. She is not good at listening to others and is very lonely because the ego devours her. She’s intolerable, but it was a lot of fun to play her.
In one scene, Laura tortures an actor by destroying a precious trophy.そのシーンに関連する賞の重要性についてどう思いますか？
CRUZ: It was fun in that scene. But some of them were our real prizes, so we worked hard to get them, so I didn’t want to get hooked and accidentally break them. They are worth it and should be grateful.
Banderas: But if we think about it, the trophy is a reification of something that has already been given to you. This means that if you win an Oscar, you can put it on a house or tree in your country or lose it, but the fact that you were awarded an Oscar remains in the history of the film. Our attachment to the reification of the moment is extraordinary, and what Laura is doing is probably one of the most coherent scenes in the film, “Detach, Man! This is symbolic. Even if I destroy this, you are already the winner of whatever it was. ”It’s strange how much we love medals and shiny things.
CRUZ: Antonio, I don’t think Laura does that. She discards her award, but at the same time, Felix can just re-shoot her entire movie, just playing both characters. She knows exactly what happened to Ivan. But she doesn’t ask a question because she doesn’t want to know the truth. She only cares about moving the movie forward. She will continue to care about her awards above all else in her life.
Do you keep your prizes in a special place?
CRUZ: No, I’m at home.. But when I just won the Oscar, I took it to the beach for a few days.
Banderas: So he was able to get a tan [laughs]..
