Although we were born in the same city, for those things that destiny writes behind our backs, we met each other on neutral ground. When talking about neutral I mean the congested 23rd street, in Havana’s Vedado. We were introduced by a mutual friend. Without much delay, in an uncommon act (I am little more demure in matters that require value), I said, without asking permission, that I would interview him. Of course, that was not the day, and even less the place.
The first time I saw Joel Angelino was on the big screen. It was a tremendous event to share and to swell up with pride in front of my classmates. He was playing ¨German¨ in the film ¨Fresa y Chocolate¨. By the way, he is from Sagüa la Grande town, just as Wifredo Lam, Aseneth Rodriguez and Victor Mesa.
During the conversation I knew it. It is inevitable; evocation of the past is connected with a lump in the throat. It always happens, when particularized reasons come to light in the form of tangible memory, stored for years.
” roposiciones group, in Sagua La Grande , marked a discovery in my life. I was 17. I had done amateur theater at the Central Havana House of Culture with Professor Humberto Rodriguez. However, reaching Sagua was like connecting with reality. We went to places, performed shows without nothing, we fixed everything ourselves. At that time I understood that this was what I wanted to do. ”
Away from Cuban scenarios for 21 years, Joel confesses without second readings that he has felt nostalgia. In 1993 he went to Spain with many dreams in the suitcase and also with the uncontrollable urge to learn.
“I cannot stop acknowledging that it was a tough time, everything was zero option. Honestly, I was lucky. I start doing the monologue of Fresa y Chocolate, this was before the film, and the director of Don Quixote festival proposes me to go to Paris with the show. I was 19 and wanted to know. I was at the Teatro del Sol in France, always trying to learn new concepts. I went to classes with the Opera Theatre. I worked for Sain Gervais Theatre and the Geneva Grand Theatre in productions such as Cenci Opera, by Ginasterra “.
He is an actor graduate of the National School of Performing Arts in Havana, so he knows how to control his emotions and does not teach me how to deal with mine. I begin to feel, through the words, his lump in my own throat.
“I feel a lot of nostalgia. I have invested heavily in the project I am presenting here and it is precisely because it means my reencounter with the Cuban public. I did not want this reunion to be through a trivial project, but with something to be proud of. I have performed on many stages, but I’ve never stopped being Cuban. The money is not worth what you want to do as an artist , so I have had to be my own producer and because this is going to be reconciliation with my audience . I’ve never stopped thinking about them at those times when Joel Angelino filled the National Theatre with the monologue of Fresa y…
I did not live the time he recalls, but I just went to a rehearsal at Llauradó Hall. The intensity with which he takes his characters gives no opportunities for distractions. I stay flushed during the whole duration of the play without doing anything else than looking at the stage.
“Now that I am 40, I think in many ways I have to go back to the way I was. The day my last contract ended in Paris I told the audience: Please, can you take me to your homes? I want to stay here. I want to keep learning from you. ”
Nostalgia is disguised i n his smile now. He lights a cigar like searching in his memory that time in Paris.
“You have to have the gall, and truth to tell people that you want to learn from them. My life has been quite hard; people think that when you are abroad everything is great. It is tough leaving behind places, friends …”
Mirtha Ibarra is among those friends; a woman who does not become older and with whom he premieres this month the play ¨Neurótica anonima.¨
“It’s not the first time we work together in the theater. We presented in Spain ¨ Obsesion habanera, ¨which is also a play of hers. We met each other when I was the boyfriend of Audrey, Gutiérrez Alea´s daughter. Our friendship already lasts 25 years. ”
It is too long. But I begin to understand that it is perfectly likely that a friendship to last so much when there is feedback.
“Her personality caught me, that madness. She’s a strong, humble woman. I think Mirtha has grown as an artist; being next to Gutiérrez Alea meant constant learning for her. when facing this show, I realize that Titón is present in the play. I love working with people from whom I can be nurtured. I have also contributed a lot to it. I’m the one who has made the staging, light design, the soundtrack along with Juan Carlos Rivero. She’s my friend, we discussed a lot, but it is a discussion to learn. Sometimes we do not the same point of view, but at the end of practice, we demonstrated it. I would always work with her. ”
Mirtha and Joel were part of the acting cast of the movie Fresa y Chocolate, co-directed by Titon and Juan Carlos Tabio.
“Fresa y Chocolate was somewhat surprising. We made the movie, not believing it would be that movie. Then it came the nominations to the Oscar, Goya, Silver Bear …and we were wondering: what have we done? I remember I was back, I was in Paris when its premiere. My mother never understood my work, she was always thinking that the artists went astray, and in the premiere she was proud of me. I was 20 and I kept wondering what we had done. Titón´s magic, his accurate hand, can be seen from the start to finish”.
Although he describes himself as a theatre man, Spain opened the doors to the Seventh Art. Regardless of specific genres, Angelino has moved from comedy to stronger stories with characterizations of times.
“In Spain I performed in a movie called ¨El Oro de Moscu¨ (Moscow Gold), the most watched film in 2004, then I was involved in Galindez Mystery, where I played a young Miravalles; that was in Canada. Then it came I love you baby, and also another one called Bunuel and King Solomon’s Table, I feel very proud of that movie. It was directed by Carlos Saura. I played a small character, but being involved in a true event that included Dalí, Buñuel and Lorca was really exciting.
As an obvious corollary of his versatility, he has appeared in many television series, with varying degrees of public acceptance. He has tried to put an extra in each of his characters that identifies him.
“I did a series called ¨El Inquilino¨ (The Tenant). By that time I had had a daughter, Isabella Angelino, and we had many problems to pay the rent. I went to a casting but it was said that the character was to a mulatto or black man. I was the last one in the line and I got the part. I thank Director Paco Arango for trusting me. The jackpot was having worked with Pilar Bardem, Jorge Sanz, actors with an incredible career. Then I worked in Con dos tacones, Ana y los siete, Un paso adelante, Aida. By that time I had a problem with producer José Luis Moreno, things did not end well, and we had to go to trial, but that incident affected my career in television. ”
Nightfall begins. From where are, we can see that people almost run, before the threat of rain. Joel and I are well protected. Some people approach us looking for shelter, but rain has not yet started. For these things that fate has, my interviewee assures me that he is still not satisfied, that he still has a lot to do.
“Now I’m going to make a film in Barcelona. It’s called Hazme lo que quieras. It’s an independent film. I wanted to find characters that have a force, a depth that I can defend. I will play an immigrant stuck in a powerful story of eviction. I want to make characters where I can prove all this work at the level of emotions, body work, a conglomerate of things that I can be proud of. In Cuba many interesting things are done, but mostly I’m open to projects that can be done here in my country. ”
I’m glad to have met him and I’m happy because he is from Sagua too. Pride for the village, I guess. Joel thanks me for the interview and I smile, leaving explicitly understood that it is me who should thank.
