After her return to the big screen in "Parallel Mothers", the actress gives life to a successful woman willing to do anything to be a mother
Aitana Sanchez-Gijon says that not much had been documented about the controversy surrounding surrogacy. Illegal in Spain, and common practice in countries as disparate in terms of Human Rights protection as the United States or Georgia, having children by the "surrogate womb" method still sparks heated debates even within feminisms themselves.
In her new film, the surprising "solo" nominated for a Goya is measured in the interpretive and plot aspects with the Argentine Cumelen Sanz, who puts a face on a young woman who recently arrived at the company. In the middle of a "work-related" maelstrom, an unwanted pregnancy will connect both of them, willing to cross the limits of the legal, the moral, and the ethical. Nominated for the Palatino Awards this weekend, the actress responds to reason about the questions about the film, the debate around surrogacy, and a career in full swing, which will lead her to premiere the play "Malvivir". , at the Matadero in Madrid, on May 5th.
At what professional moment did you premiere “La jefa”?
In a moment of full boiling and vital change, of the stage. Professionally, I am very satisfied because fabulous things are happening to me in all areas. To have made two films in a row, with characters so complex and so rich, so out of the mold… I am exhausted but very happy and grateful.
Why are you joining the project? What was there in him to draw your attention from the theater?
"Because the story fascinated me." The script arrived and I saw that there was fabulous material to tell a story of complex characters, with a disturbing story full of twists and turns and unexpected events. I spoke with Fran (Torres), who is a new director and was facing his first job, but he is also someone with twenty years of experience in advertising. I was fascinated by his two short films, in which I saw an actor's direction that impressed me. The moment I sat down to talk to him about the script, and saw that we spoke the same language, we went ahead. There was also the fact that it was a small production, which was shot in four weeks... where that was what it was, we considered the need to rehearse and dedicate a long and exhaustive time to investigate what happens in the lives of these two characters. Everything to create two complex human beings involved in a story in which the genre is at the service of a story of characters and not the other way around. Each time we went further along this path and I think we have achieved it. It is a story in which, if the viewer gets hooked, it is because of the relationship between the two women. And this is a consequence of who these women are and at what vital moment they are.
He was talking about those four weeks of filming, an unmistakable sign of the change of times. You who come from that other cinema, studio, weighty, how do you see the paradigm shift?
Since the platforms broke out, it is the first case in which I have felt the pressure of the budget to tell a story with scarce means. We have had to work against the clock and we have had to juggle so that the film does not suffer. And this is always at the cost of human material, work, sacrifice, and team hours leaving their soul. The worker always ends up paying the price for this type of bet. This is so. But not much has happened to me yet because I hadn't made a film for a long time and it wasn't the case in “Parallel Mothers”. They are the producer and the dream production, almost, for anyone. It has been my first case of a film financed in part by a platform.
Have we seen her less in the audiovisual because of that change of pace? Are you more comfortable in the theater?
Well, you've seen me less in audiovisuals, beyond “Velvet” or “I'm alive”, for doing theater. Because it is where I have been offered the most powerful and incredible characters. And out of passion, because I am a theater bug even though I love cinema and audiovisuals. My path of growth, learning, and deep connection with the profession is more on stage. That said, I'm going to take a break after “Malvivir”.
