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You´ve starred in La reina de Indias, Fugitivos or La Pola,
productions that involved long filming periods outdoors,
through jungles and amazing places. How is it to live on a
travelling set?
I’ve been lucky enough to be in large productions lasting 6 to
7 months where nothing was filmed on the set: everything
was filmed outside for real. These are very complex shoot-
ings, which require great physical and mental efforts, since
the recording plans are very intense and hard. The double
unit means that you have practically no days off if you are
starring, because you will always be rolling in some of the
units. You have to give 200% to keep up, but the result drives
you forward. The comforts of a recording set are greater
but one can´t quite believe it. I love shooting outdoors and
if the character is in a castle, let it be real, no tricks. I love
it even knowing the extra effort it requires from the actors.
When you start filming with the characteristics of La
reina de Indias, what do you take with you?
Well, I'm a disaster. I pack everything: as if I were going to
shoot on a desert island. I can't synthesise despite the fact
that, in the end, you're shooting for 12 hours and when you
get to your hotel, you take a shower, put any old thing on,
have dinner and then you go to study or have a beer. You
don't really need a lot of luggage for this, but I like to be
very prepared.
Can you tell us some funny filming anecdote?
I could tell you a lot, especially about the period sets with
horses and fighting scenes. I’ve been blown off a horse twice
and in the fighting scenes I´ve had a lot of injuries. On one
occasion, a stunt specialist had to perform an 8-metre jump
into a lake but I insisted on trying it myself because I'm very
stubborn. They called the producer and banned me, even my
agent mediated to convince me. I agreed with him, but when
I hung up the phone, I told the director "let's take a shot and
then let them decide". They got very angry, but after see-
ing how well the shot had gone it was all forgotten. There
are countless anecdotes in an outdoor shooting because it
takes many months and scenes. They are small adventures
and you have to know where the limits are, nonetheless this
is what stunt actors are trained for.
After many years in Colombia, what about your accent?
The accent thing is a mess. I always try to speak in Castilian
Spanish, I don't like to pretend the accent, as they ask for, for
example in Mexico. My first project in Colombia was play-
ing a Spanish military man, so everyone knew me with my
accent. In the following productions, what they wanted was
for me to soften the “z” and “c” a bit, but I’ve never played a
Colombian. You must have a lot of respect when it comes to
interpreting an accent. I don't like to imitate. I understand
that in a movie, having several months ahead, you can pre-
pare your 70 scenes with a coach. You have time to become
that character and get closer to how he speaks, which is
very different from imitating an accent. If I had to speak in
Colombian, I would work to internalise it, I wouldn’t imitate

