Carmen Machi plays Sara Santano, a tax inspector who will investigate the Latin pop star Celeste. A series created by Diego San José and directed by Elena Trapé.
Diego San Jose formed for years with Borja Cobeaga one of the most glorious tandem of Spanish comedy. Together they were responsible for the cult program What a weekfrom the movies Pagafantas, Don’t control or, later, Faith of ETAalthough his great success at a massive level would come with Eight Basque surnamesthanks to which they finally got the screenwriters recognized in their authorial role.
The couple little by little began to concentrate on their private projects, as happened with Diego San José and his triptych. Vote Juan, Come on John, Come on Johna magnificent political satire starring Javier Cámara.
Now, the creator goes one step further with Celeste (Movistar Plus+) in which he completely distances himself from conventional comedy to compose one of the most original and risky of the season thanks to its unexpected mix of humor sad y traditional thriller.
Carmen Machi in ‘Celeste’, by Diego San José. (Movistar Plus+)
Question: You have always focused your attention on characters from our society who are not usually the typical protagonists of fiction. How did it occur to you to focus on a tax inspector?
Answer: I think it is the first time that a series has been made about a tax inspector. When we started developing it, we didn’t find references anywhere, so it is something unprecedented. But, above all, something happens that I really wanted to put into practice: making a series that did not adapt to the typical occupations, the usual ages, the normative physicists. Ultimately, I wanted to make a series that went against the algorithm, in which there are mature people, not particularly charismatic, with gray jobs in not particularly nice locations. Conventional audiovisual production would have told the story of the pop star, Celeste, but that was not the intention. As a screenwriter, I prefer the gotelé to the luxury villas in Miami.
Q: How did you find out about the procedure carried out by the Treasury inspectors?
R: I think that on this occasion the documentation phase has been one of the most special that I have had, because I did not remember approaching a world about which I knew less on a technical level than the entire tax issue. So I dedicated more time to it than ever and got advice so that everything was well said and presented. But I was also interested on a personal level what those people who dedicated themselves to that were like, because it fascinated me that it was a profession that the entire country hates. Because we all know that there are two Spains, but if there is something that unites them, it is their fear of the Treasury inspectors. So I sat down with some of them to explain how they felt.
Q: And what did they tell you?
R: Well, they always try to hide what they do. If you go to a wedding, for example, and sit at a table with eight people, one of them probably has a problem with the Treasury, so uncomfortable situations can arise. In fact, there is one thing that is curious. On our team, no one knew any tax inspector, and statistically that is impossible. So probably at some point in my life I have met someone, but I didn’t know what they did (laughs). It is very rare that there is a professional profile that is most similar in real life to being Robin Hood, because the function they have is to take from those who have the most to give it to those who have the least. But removing that poetry from the narrative, it turns out that they are the opposite, that they are considered thieves. A royal inspector told me a very ‘fucked up’ phrase: that people would rather find a lump in their groin than a letter from the Treasury in the mailbox.
Andrea Bayardo in ‘Celeste’, by Diego San José. (Movistar Plus+)
Q: From the beginning, people associated this series with the Shakira caseWas it intentional?
R: I guess it works more as a strategy. In reality, I have always tried to stay away from that, because in the series the viewer is not going to find precisely that story, there are no sensational or tabloid elements. The series is titled Celestebut it’s about who Celeste is not, it’s about Sara Santano, who is a tax inspector who has nothing to do with Shakira, who lives in a world opposite to hers.
The synopsis may refer to that case, but when you see the first episode you realize that the series is going in other directions. Surely a series about the Shakira case would have been good, but I didn’t feel like it. I wanted to focus on a lady who doesn’t know what to do with her life after she retires. We haven’t done the series about Shakira.
Q: On this occasion, your registration has changed. Celeste It is a little more difficult to classify than his previous fictions, and I suppose that also had to do with that desire to get away from algorithms.
R: I think there is a very nice thing that is happening to us screenwriters. 15 years ago, when fiction was made openly, the genres were very defined, and if they were not, they specifically asked you to define them as much as possible. That is to say, if you made a comedy, it had to be funny all the time, and if you made a drama, it couldn’t become funny at any time. So, they were like watertight drawers, very compartmentalized. Now they offer us more freedom and it is the part that I enjoy the most, playing with genres. It is something that I have tried to put into practice in Celestewhere there are moments in which you laugh and others in which a very deep pain runs through you. And it is something, furthermore, that has nothing to do with budgets or themes, but with tone.
Q: And how would you define the tone of Celeste?
R: I think that tone is one of the most abstract and least concrete things that exist, but I think it is where projects are really determined. The most ambitious of Celesteat all times, was the tone, to the point that when filming I always insisted that we make it very serious, that no one do comedy, because we trusted that all the comedy was there before filming. We wanted our tax inspector to be investigating a case as if she were the FBI. So the tone was very strange, yes. We are neither comedy nor drama, but we are both at the same time. I don’t know how far they will let us experiment with this type of things and reach less expected places.
‘Celeste’, by Diego San José, a series for Movistar Plus+.
Q: It seems as if you have broken free from the restraints after the phenomenon of Eight Basque surnames.
R: In 2014, when we do Eight Basque surnames and becomes the highest-grossing film in Spain, there were two paths. One, basically based on economics, continue replicating that type of comedy, not only through sequels, but betting on the same model. And then there was the other possibility, which is the one that I have tried to follow and think: well, I have already done that. I wasn’t motivated to continue doing the same thing and I decided to complicate my life a little and go for different things. It also has to do with getting older. You’re getting older and I think that the issues that worry me now are less frivolous than when you’re in your twenties and your life is more playful, festive and, suddenly, now I’m calmer, it gives me more time to look around me. and to look for other topics that open more interesting debates, as in Celeste and the case of the public and ideologies.
Q: In the case of ideologies, we are experiencing a maximum upheaval, how do you see that as a creator?
R: I think it seems even more important to make series that challenge them. At the editorial level, Celeste It seems more pertinent to me than ever, because it talks about the importance of having a strong state, that we all contribute so that public institutions are powerful, and for that it is not enough to say that you are leftist at a dinner, but that you really are leftist when one contributes with their taxes. I think that many supposedly aware people, when it comes time to pay personal income tax, try to haggle 75 euros from the Treasury. And then, I think there are people who say that they are very Spanish and that they care a lot about their country and that they try not to pay taxes.
One can vote or not, but your fiscal relationship with the State is inevitable, you will always have to contribute, there will always be taxes. But it is something that, paradoxically, has never been explained to us. Neither in school nor in high school do they explain to us what taxes are and what they entail. This makes many adults think that they are a robbery, but at an educational level the importance of public services, of the Welfare State, is not taken into account.
Q: In Celeste There are no heroes or villains. Tell me about character building.
R: I hate when in fiction they make it clear to me who the bad guy is. And I’m not referring to murderer movies, but to any social drama. I hate it because it leaves me out as a spectator, I am not asked to participate in an ethical diagnosis. Therefore, in the design of the characters of Celeste There were two objectives. One, that Sara Santano, the tax inspector, had a bad side for the viewer, that they did not see in her a clean and insurmountable, perfect heroine. And then, on the other hand, and this seems very important to me, that the characters in the series had their own arguments to explain themselves, even if I didn’t think like them.
Elena Trapé, director of ‘Celeste’ (c), with actresses Carmen Machi (d) and Andrea Bayardo (i). (Helena Margarit Cortadellas)
Furthermore, if we think that it is a thriller in which there is a police officer chasing a thief, I did not want Celeste to be a typical thief, for her explanations to be humane and sensible. It doesn’t matter who the villain is, and I like that you don’t end up liking the protagonist at all. Even Carmen Machi herself, at first, disliked her, and that seemed perfect to me, because it seemed to me that her character would then be poorly written.
Q: There is also a dichotomy between the culture of success and failure, of colored lives and gray ones. How do you think all of this is integrated into our society?
R: I think it has been in our veins from the beginning, since we were little. Since you were pasting photos of celebrities in your school folder. There is always a kind of longing to have lives very different from our own. But I think something has happened that didn’t happen with the classic stars, and that is that we have come to understand that almost all of those lives are in shit, especially in emotional terms, of loneliness, of feeling admired by people, but embarrassed in the intimacy of what his career is, his image. So, what we consider gray lives can have everything that bright life longs for, which may not really have family or friends. It is good to tell those miseries, because I think we have to break a little that kind of mirror of aspirations in fame, because we have already seen that it should not give us so much envy, but, sometimes, a little pity.
Q: What has it been like working with you again? Carmen Machi? Furthermore, in a register so different from the one we had seen so far.
R: When we did Eight Basque surnamesshe already seemed like a legend to me, like the mega actress of our generation. It is a spectacular thing, because she is an absolute comedian, doing television and achieving successes as Aida. But he also gets on stage and receives applause from the most erudite people in the theater. So I wanted to do a project that combined the two things. I wanted a Carmen where I could combine a joke and shortly after an anxiety attack, without editing, without cuts, pure her.
* How does San José’s desire to break away from genre conventions influence the audience’s experience of “Celeste”? Does this freedom enhance or complicate the storytelling?
This is a fantastic interview with Diego San José, revealing a lot about his creative process and the thought behind his new series “Celeste.” Here’s a breakdown of thematic sections with open-ended discussion questions:
**I. Breaking Free from Genre & Algorithm Constraints**
* **Q:** San José mentions a desire to move away from strict genre definitions. Do you think this openness benefits storytelling, or does it risk confusing viewers?
* **Q:** How does the rise of streaming platforms and their algorithms impact the type of stories that get told? Do you think it’s positive that creators like San José are challenging these trends?
* **Q:** The interview mentions the “tone” of the series being crucial. How important do you think tone is in engaging viewers, and is it something that can be consciously crafted?
**II. “Celeste” and the Exploration of Ideologies**
* **Q:** San José argues for series that “challenge ideologies.” Do you agree? What are the ethical considerations of using fiction to address sensitive political topics?
* **Q:** How does “Celeste” portray the relationship between individuals and the state? Do you think the series presents a balanced perspective?
* **Q:** Is there a danger in simplifying complex ideologies into easily digestible narratives? How can creators avoid this pitfall?
* **Q:** The interview highlights a lack of understanding about taxes and public services in society. Do you think this is a widespread issue, and what role can art play in fostering civic engagement?
**III. Character Development and Eschewing Heroes & Villains**
* **Q:** San José deliberately chooses to make his characters morally ambiguous. What are the benefits and challenges of this approach? Does it make it harder for audiences to connect with the characters?
* **Q:** The interview mentions having “human” justifications for the actions of even the characters we might perceive as ”villains.” Is it important for viewers to empathize with all characters, even those who commit wrongdoings?
**IV. Success, Failure, and the Culture of Image**
* **Q:** San José contrasts the “bright” lives often portrayed in media with the potentially richer “gray” lives. Do you think this media portrayal of success is harmful?
* **Q:** What are your thoughts on the pressure to portray a perfect life on social media? Do you think it’s contributing to a sense of inadequacy?
* **Q:** How can we learn to appreciate the value in “ordinary” lives over the unattainable ideals often presented in media?
* **Q:** Do you agree that focusing on vulnerability and authenticity can be more engaging than portraying flawless characters?
**V. The Collaborative Process: Working with Carmen Machi**
* **Q:** The interview highlights Carmen Machi’s versatility as an actress. What qualities do you think make a great actor?
* **Q:** What role does trust play in the relationship between a director and an actor when tackling complex and nuanced roles?
These are just starting points. Encourage discussion by prompting for personal experiences, differing opinions, and further exploration of the themes raised in the interview.
