The Salamanca actor Álvaro Mel is in fashion. He stars in the series “La Fortuna”, which premieres on Movistar + on September 30 and is directed by Alejandro Amenábar, which is why he went to El Hormiguero this Monday. In addition, it has answered the questions of La Gaceta.
-Amenábar has told that, with his casting, he imposed himself on more well-known actors, with more experience. Do you know the names of the discarded actors?
“What is it, what is it.” And I don’t think I would like to know either because, in the end, I am sure of what I have done. I did the casting for myself, to enjoy myself. I never have other actors in my head. If those actors are friends of mine and cast them instead of me, I wish them well. This time I don’t know names and I don’t want to know them.
– How is your character Álex Ventura?
–Alejandro Ventura is a born dreamer, a super idealistic person, a 24-year-old young man who has studied Diplomatic Sciences in New York. He arrives full of illusion at the Ministry of Culture. It contrasts sharply with all the characters out there, who are civil servants who are generally tired of their work, which is an environment that absorbs them. And when he meets the minister [Karra Elejalde], the minister is still an official, but he also has that illusion with which Álex arrives. They empathize with that illusion, with that wanting to do things well. My character is involved in an operation, in a trip, in a twist in history that makes him take the lead and be the hidden leader alongside the character of Ana Polvorosa, who plays Lucía Vallarta. Without Lucia, Álex’s character would not be anything either. Álex works because Lucia exists and Lucia also works a lot because Álex exists. Álex ends up turning 180 degrees, more sure of himself, absorbing things from Lucía, just as Lucía absorbs things from Álex and they end up complementing each other. In the first chapters you see a lost and inexperienced Alex and in the last chapters you see an Alex with much more world and much more traveled.
– Is there love in the plot between Álex and Lucía?
–The series is inspired by the comic, where it is seen that there is a little love story. But you have to see the series.
–Amenábar has said that he was born to play this role of “La Fortuna”.
–I think there is an interesting parallel between Álvaro Mel and Álex Ventura: I, without much experience, enter into a large project, the same as Álex, who is in charge of such a large project. I share some things with Álex and not others. And that is what working as an actor consists of, earning things to be able to play a character.
–The director told him “you’re already an actor and you’re not an Instagrammer” when he really cried in a sequence without the help of makeup.
“It’s a complicated scene.” And what happens in it is very important. We had worked a lot on the scene previously, but when it comes down to it, when it comes down to it, you have to cry. Or laugh, shout, be silent … In a sad scene many times it is convenient not to cry and hold the tears, but when in the script there is a dimension that says “Alex cries”, you have to do it. And the way to do it is to get into the character so much that you empathize with him, understand him, and cry like him. And that I did.
– At the end of a shoot, are you out of place, like in mourning?
-It’s sad. But I stay with what Ana Polvorosa told me, that the beautiful thing is that a shoot ends because it is a trip that you can count on. Finishing filming does not mean finishing the project either, which remains there forever. And there is also a very nice journey to present “La Fortuna” to the media.
–The series was shot in Spanish and English. Would you like to reach other markets?
–I would like to work internationally. Although, first, the series is released and then everything that has to happen will be seen. But if you speak other languages you want to expand, as in any other job, and go as far as possible. There are actors and actresses who do not need internationality to feel full: you can have a full career in your country. The culture here is very good. But if you speak a language and can act in that language, your plans may include expanding internationally. I would like to work with American directors.
–¿Hollywood?
–[Risas]. I wish. I see it far away, really. I have a lot to work on.
“It has its superstitions.” Which ones have marked this shoot?
-There were a couple of scenes under scaffolding and I had a hard time, but not because it was going to fall, but because I never went under scaffolding. And he always set the clock that Alex was wearing and every time the scene started, he would set it back to make it work. Outside of filming, I always wear the rings the same way.
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– What did you learn from Clarke Peters in the filming of the series?
–I have shared many work sessions with him, all the breaks, a long time … That leads you to conversations, to tell him your life and for him to tell you his. Off set, he conveys empathy, calm and all the good person he is. And on set, the tables he has caught my attention, how he gets into character, how he can improvise and how Clarke is playing: he gets to be someone else, the lawyer Jonas Pierce.
“He had to diet before he started shooting.”
-The quarantine affected me negatively in terms of diet. I weighed very little and in order for the character to look like a healthy person, they put me on a diet and an exercise routine to gain a little volume.
– He is an actor by chance. It is not something that was in their plans.
-Not at all. My vocation was architecture, but due to financial problems and lack of motivation for the place where I was studying, I went to Madrid. I wanted to depend on myself. Financially I was pulling income from social networks until I got the opportunity to be an actor. I did a couple of castings because I had nothing to lose. They caught me in “The Other Look” and I became much more interested in the world of acting. I really like it and I think I want to continue with it my whole life.
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