David Villanueva, the Spanish actor who currently plays Xavi Sáenz in ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’, has quickly won the affection of Peruvians with his witticisms and his alleged love affair with Mónica Sánchez in fiction. In an exclusive interview with the newspaper La República, Villanueva revealed his desires, his perspective on the situation that Peru is going through and his opinion on the national film industry.
It should be noted that ‘AFHS’ is not his first participation in a Peruvian production, since he previously worked in ‘Colorina’ and ‘Amor de madre’, among others. However, his role as Xavi has been a pleasant experience for the actor and even transforming into Francisco Pizarro, a Peruvian historical figure, he described as a feeling of “returning to his roots.”
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—How is Peru treating you, after so much time?
—Well, it’s been almost 10 years because I arrived on July 28, 2013, when I was 30 years old and now I’m 41. Back to Peru is always exciting, it is emotional, it is challenging. I think that every time I come I have to put in a lot of enthusiasm and above all the enthusiasm, which is already there from the beginning. Here I have an emotional family, great friends. It’s funny, I’m 10,000 kilometers from my blood family, but I arrive and feel another family in some way. It is also a fortune.
—Have you noticed any changes from when you first arrived to now, in terms of the entertainment industry in Peru?
—Let’s say that the entertainment industry right now is very diversified, that is, there are also digital platforms; something that television has evidently noticed and has had to practically adapt to new times. When I came to Peru, I have seen that programs have been maintained, but I think it happens on a global level, not only here, but in Spain as well. I think that production companies have to be very conscious of what they are going to propose because there is a lot of risk, also taking into account that social networks cover a large amount of entertainment time for the population.
However, television still has that magic that you come home and people are still very plugged in with programs like, for example, ‘At the bottom there is room’, at a cinematographic level I have seen great productions.
I think Peru has great directors and has to go that way, they have to keep telling their stories, even the ones we share. I think that as a Spaniard I share that on a historical level with both Peru and I would love for more to be told about that. And I think that yes, it is true that not only in Peru but in other countries, the Government is committed to cinema, in the end it is good for society because it is a culture that makes you think.
—What do you think about what is happening here in Peru, about Peruvian cinema?
—In politics, I can’t get involved, much less in someone else’s house, that is, I don’t know Peruvian politics as much as a witness. But the only thing I can tell you is that you have to bet on cinema. I always say the same thing: cinema makes a lot of money and certain people still don’t understand this.
At the tourism level, in advertising, at the artistic level. What do you think? That only actors work in movies? They work with carpenters, drivers, electricians, plumbers and more.
I hope that a film law comes to Peru that makes it possible and more attractive to be able to film here. I think the country has everything to tell, it is so rich in history. You leave Lima, you go to the mountains and it is another world; You go to the jungle and it’s another world.
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In ‘There is room at the bottom’
—How did you get excited and what was it like for you to receive the call from the directors for the ‘AFHS’ series?
—I took it cold. That is to say, I received it, I was excited, I liked it, I weighed it and then I decided. Leaving a country, leaving your family costs more and more and it is difficult to leave a comfort that you like. Many times we are tired of saying or hearing people say: “You have to get out of your comfort zone.” Yes, well, to a certain extent one has to embrace comfort because it is part where things are born, of course changes make you stronger and more creative; but comfort makes things grow. I also needed to be in Spain for a while. When they called me, I thought about it, but there was something in me that wanted to do comedy.
For me, Peru did not know me as a comic actor, but as a melodramatic actor that I have played in all the novels. And very well because I thank Del Barrio, the characters in each novel, but at this moment my heart was beating: “You have to reconnect with your seed, David, and my seed is comedy.” I enjoy it, there isn’t a day that I get up at 5 in the morning and don’t want to go record because I’m going to play and enjoy.
—Did they give you the description of the character or what was the creation of Xavi like?
—The first thing was a call from Jorge, the casting director of ‘Al Fondo Hay Sitio’, to see if I was available and interested.. I told him to give me a few days to think about it, I replied “ok.” and later I spoke with Gigio Aranda who is also the director of the series and he began to talk to me about where Xavi was going to go. At that same moment, I remember, in my bedroom, in Seville, I started laughing and said: “We can do this.”
From the first moment they have been open to me, to feedback on ideas. I saw it very clearly: this is Xavi, I already know where I’m going to take him. So, when I arrived, obviously certain things had changed, but practically the essence was the same and I continue to build day by day.
Every day I try to find something new for Xavi. He is a chameleon, he is a very rich character within his genre. He is a mischievous character, he is a liveist. I think he obviously likes women, but, above all that, there are his interests.
—Will you stay much longer in Peru?
—I must be in Peru practically until the end of the year. First of all, because I have a theater project called ‘Travieso’ that premieres on July 20 at the Aranwa theaters, where I starred in this play with Wendy Vázquez, Andrea Luna and it is produced by Carlos Arana and directed by Mateo Querella.
—Has your family had the opportunity to see your work on ‘AFHS’?
—Yes, they have been seeing it since last year and they are enjoying it, they already knew a little about that energy, that nuance of comedy that I have always liked.
At six years old I was already doing imitations of my classmates, my teachers and that was with me all my life, until I was 20 when it became something professional, where I started working on radio and television, in which I imitated famous and so on, until I started training as an actor, but it has always been from comedy. What a beautiful way to be able to give back what Peru gives me and share it through a screen doing something I like.
—How has it been working with actors? In this case, in particular, with Mr. Gustavo Bueno, Mónica Sánchez and Giovanni Ciccia, prominent actors from Peru.
—Gustavo Well, first, I admire him as an actor, when I even saw the movie ‘Toribio’s Erection’. He did an excellent, wonderful job and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to be in a country that I never imagined I would be in.
We even share the dressing room with Giovanni Siccia, I have a great time in the scenes. I have really enjoyed it, there is good chemistry. It’s funny because I only worked with him on ‘Margarita’, which was a film he worked on, so we also agreed there. And with Mónica Sánchez… I already knew Mónica, of course, from her: I had worked with her in ‘The candidate’, a film by Álvaro Velarde. It is very nice to be able to work with Mónica because, apart from being a great friend, she is very generous on stage and I think we have very good chemistry with the characters. It’s fun and I had a great time, very nice anecdotes have also happened during filming.
—Did you have a relationship with Mónica Sánchez?
—Yes, we were together for a while, it’s clear. But that happened a long time ago and now I think it’s only possible to say how happy I am for her and how good I see her with her partner. I feel very lucky to have met Mónica because she is also part of this Peruvian history, she is a fighting woman.
-Like actor, I would always love to play historical figures. What actor doesn’t like to play about history? It’s very fun and, on top of that, it’s like very epic. Getting into the shoes of Francisco Pizarro, even if it’s from comedy, seemed very interesting to me. I think it is a wonderful exercise to be able to see our common history from that place too, from something lighter, from that fun point as proposed by ‘At the bottom there is room’.
We share a language, we share plates of food. What would ceviche be without the lemon that came from Spain? What would a potato tortilla be without the Peruvian potato? What would flamenco be without the Peruvian cajon? What would the sailor or that guitar from Avilés be without the Spanish guitar?
We are mixes, fortunately. Or is ceviche just fish? There is something that seems so rich to me and that is having the opportunity to appear in ‘Charo’s’ dream. Although the characters never met because Mama Occllo obviously belongs to the other era and Pizarro was also very funny and I liked it.
—Do you think you are missing some type of genre that you would like to perform?
—I always have the dream of interpreting of all kinds; I liked playing police and detective characters. It’s a thorn that I have and I hope that the apus listen to me.
—What is it like working with Alex Béjar in the role of father and daughter?
—It was like a crush at first sight, arrive and feel a very jovial, fun energy. She stops screwing me (in a good way) and I think that’s just what a daughter does. She is very funny, a good girl, noble and the truth is that we are having a great time. We really enjoyed the scenes we recorded, because we want to give a meaning to that father and daughter relationship that is different from the common one; they are partners.
