She can\u2019t walk down the block without being stopped at least 10 times\u2026 Meanwhile, there is no taxi or \u201calmendr\u00f3n\u201d (classic American car driven as a cab) driver who would not happily take her right to her doorstep, something that is not always easily accomplished in today\u2019s Havana. While some describe her as the \u201cnew face\u201d of Cuban cinema, one thing is certain: Blanca Rosa Blanco can be seen in many of Cuba\u2019s latest films and in other audiovisual productions. This prolific, successful actress is featured in Pages from Mauricio\u2019s Diary, is a winner in The Booby Prize, plays the game in Habanastation, and flees from zombies in Juan of the Dead, to name a few. And as if that weren\u2019t enough, she also teaches classes, has tried her hand at directing\u2026 and more.<\/p>\n
I am trying to reorganize my life in terms of time; I\u2019m realizing that I need eight hours of sleep. It\u2019s taken me 20 years to realize that! For a long time, it\u2019s something that you\u2019re not aware of, because you have to study, work and prioritize other things. Now I\u2019m rethinking my priorities \u2013family, home\u2013 without giving up on work.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had my share of rough times \u2013my father\u2019s death, my grandparents\u2019 aging, my older sister and her children moving to Spain\u2026 inevitable, painful separations. Now I look back at those events and I hold on tight to those who are close \u2013my son, my mother, my brother, my partner. Every minute of my free time is for them; even when I\u2019m at my limit and I know that when I get home I have to have to study for the next day, I make sure that we eat together and that we listen to each other for a while, laugh, argue, plan a vacation \u2013something that is totally new for me. Learning about different cities and cultures is utter enjoyment for me, as is reading a good book, watching movies\u2026 and dancing!<\/p>\n
I would like to know what it\u2019s like to have a normal day, but my days have the charm of always being different. I never know where I\u2019ll be tomorrow, how I\u2019ll spend my time, what the house will be like where I\u2019ll film. It is an everyday exercise in discovery, and I really enjoy it. In constantly meeting different people, and I am nourished by their stories and their conflicts.<\/p>\n
Once a year I organize a big party at my house. I live in a neighborhood on the city\u2019s outskirts, San Agust\u00edn. On that day, I make a giant paella on a charcoal grill; my friends and family come over, and it has become the official menu, ha ha. Luckily, I always have something to celebrate. I was born in this area, and I\u2019ve lived in this open-aired temple since I was four years old, along with our dogs, cats, fish, avocado and mamey trees, guavas, mangos, bananas, orchids, ferns and the smell of earth in the morning. These things, big and small, fill spaces for me; other spaces are filled with constant questions.<\/p>\n
My most complete and, in the end, imperfect accomplishment is my son. C\u00e9sar is like his era, the one he is living in today; we are going through adolescence and learning together every day. I am confident that he will be a good man, with all of the virtues that we mothers aspire to. He wants to be everything: a musician, computer programmer, physics professor\u2026 the important thing is that he never stops dreaming. I am never going to take away his dreams.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t always choose your characters; there are stages you go through. Now I can decide when I want to do a character or not. I am always trying to put myself in my characters\u2019 shoes, and there is always a moment of fiendish possession involved.<\/p>\n
New face? The so-called faces of Cuban cinema have been icons, and if there is a new generation and I\u2019m part of it, then I am indebted. I am where I am because of them, and it would be wonderful to be seen as part of that history some day.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve filmed in Spain, but I would love to make an Indian, Russian or French film, each of which has its own hallmark. It is an interesting experience; it allows you to understand our place in the world. Cuba\u2019s case is unique, because we have that damn circumstance of water on every side, as the poet says. I know a lot of actors like me who could be part of and learn how to work in a system like Hollywood, for example, even though it might seem so distant. So, if some day I am given the opportunity, I think that I would use it very well.<\/p>\n
At the [Film] Festival in Michigan, I did not expect people to know who I was, but Michael Moore did know who we were, and it was very funny when he introduced us. He said, “I would like the Julia Roberts of Cuba to come up and receive the prize.” It was really exciting to have somebody consider my work as similar to that of a Hollywood star. Our cinema still has a way to go to be recognized in the world, but that\u2019s beginning to change.<\/p>\n
Being Cuban means not giving up on being authentic; out there in the world, it makes a difference when you keep being yourself and express yourself as you are. You have to learn how to be part of the world and how to be able to compete and win, but without losing your roots. That\u2019s when we realize that Cuba has a place in the world \u2013we\u2019re not so far away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She can\u2019t walk down the block without being stopped at least 10 times\u2026 Meanwhile, there is no taxi or \u201calmendr\u00f3n\u201d (classic American car driven as a cab) driver who would not happily take her right to her doorstep, something that is not always easily accomplished in today\u2019s Havana. While some describe her as the \u201cnew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":8378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13930],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33575],"class_list":["post-8393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technologies-of-communication-and-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n