We spoke with Humberto Zurita via Zoom about his next visit to Peru to present the play Papito querido (this May 20 and 21 at the Santa Ursula school theater in a double performance from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.) where he shares the stage with Stephanie Salas, his new sentimental couple with whom the Mexican actor decided, after being widowed four years ago, to give himself a new opportunity.
— In Dear Daddy, paternal love stands out. Do you consider yourself a loving father with your children, Sebastián and Emiliano?
-Clear! What one does for the children, right? The work has two great reflections: the love of a father who is capable of even dressing as a woman for his daughter, and the other is the double standards that society maintains in these times.
— Have you dressed as a woman before?
-I had already done it in another play, that time I wore bustiers, but now I wear heels and the truth is that I had a lot of fun because this man decides to dress as a woman when his daughter tells him that her in-laws are coming to meet her parents and he is divorced. In complicity with her, I dress as her mom and that’s why it’s a funny comedy, because he makes a lot of mistakes, and he’s an irreverent guy. I have tried to create a character that has a lot of light and charisma with a lot of love and respect. And, fortunately, he has done very well for us.
— Also, you are sharing the stage with your partner Stephanie Salas. How is that relationship going?
-Yeah. We’ve been in a relationship with Stephanie for some time and what’s better now that work brings us together on stage. She is a great actress. We had already worked together on works that she produced with Christian (Bach, her late wife). But I’m several years older than her and I never saw her as a prospect, besides, she was married. Now that we meet again, we have a great time and on stage we have a lot of chemistry.
— A few days ago, in Mexico, Stephanie was asked if she would like to marry you and she implied that she would. Would you be willing to marry a second time?
-She would like! (laughs). It’s not in my plans, and I don’t think it’s in hers either. I think we are having a great time, we are adults, she has two daughters and I have two sons. She has her space and I have mine. I travel a lot, that’s fine, leave us like this for a little while. I believe that the most important thing in a couple is affection, respect, whether they live together or not. I live for a long time in her house or she comes to my little ranch here in Mexico where I have horses and we share there. We’ve also been on Papito darling’s tour since the beginning of the year and there we share a hotel so as not to pay for two rooms (laughs).
— It is true that your children and hers have known each other for a long time.
They’ve known each other for years. It’s funny because Christian was really close with Stephanie. We had a great relationship with Sylvia Pinal, her grandmother. We work on many occasions. Christian was a very loving and affectionate person and he tucked Stephanie in for a while, she always included her in the deliveries and our children, especially Michelle, the eldest, went to Sebastian’s piñata parties and vice versa.
— And now that you are coming to Peru for the first time, what expectations do you have?
-All, for many reasons. I know the kind of people Peruvians are because I have several friends and Peru is one of the tourist places that you should not miss. I’ve been there twice, but in passing. With Stephanie we are scheduling dates to see if we can stay to go to Machu Picchu later with her daughter Camila and my son Emiliano. I’ve been seeing a lot of Peru in ‘La reina del sur’ now that they filmed there. I couldn’t go because ‘I’m the president of Mexico’ I can’t move.
— Yes. The terrible Epifanio Vargas… What satisfaction has this character given you?
-It’s interesting. In the first season, she only participated in 15 episodes, but it was so successful that they began to include flashbacks of the character, and from there she became the axis of the story together with Teresa Mendoza. The truth is that I have a lot of fun with Epifanio, who is cynical and cheeky, who has now ended up being president. It’s a bit like reality: he comes from drug trafficking and ends up in a drug government. Note that it is not an apology for evil, it is the opposite, it is showing corruption.
