His dream was to be a pilot but even though he couldn’t fulfil his dream, fate made him an actor. More than once Abelardo López has proved his talent in the theater, that’s why he got to play Ernesto Che Guevara on stage.
Well-known in Cuba by giving life to Colonel Marcelo in the Tras la Huella series e trail, this time he plays Candelario in the big scren. In this latest film by director Jorge Luis Sanchez, Inevitablemente Juntos (Hopelessly together), Abelardo becomes the father of a wealthy family of the posh neighbourhood of Miramar.
How do you get to work in this movie?
One day Margarita Alonso, one of the assistant directors came to my house and asked me to work in the film. I explained that they had all the characters except one. The next day I met with the director who told me about the difficulties of the character and gave me the script to find out if I was interested. In fact I liked it, and I took on the challenge.
Because I was the last actor to join the cast, since the first moment the director worked really hard with me. It was pretty hard, when the entire cast took some time getting ready I had just a few days before starting to shoot.
How did it influence your performance the fact that it was a musical?
My character really does not dance in the film, but I was a little tense. Jorge Luis, the manager noticed and decided to enrol me in dance classes. He also recommended me several musicals to see them as part of the preparation. But the truth is, when the shooting started it took me quite a lot to get into character.
Why did Marcelo seem complex to you?
This character has his characteristics, is a pretty complicated, luckily everything went well. I liked to play a father, in this case a parent who pretends to be in front of his daughter something he is not.
Do you think the film represents well a Cuban family? Should we talk about racism in Cuba today?
Yes, there is much to say, here is touched but only superficially. Remember that the movie is a version of the work of Pogolotti to Miramar, which Jorge Luis, since he likes to do comedy, makes into a musical drama (which does not mean that people do not laugh).
It speaks of racism, but also of class differences. Candelario’s family lives in the high class of Miramar, and they are white, unlike the groom’s family’s daughter, who are black and live in Pogolotti. Then: Pogolotti-blacks, whites-Miramar, two things are implied here.
You have worked in television, movies, theater, they are very different. Do you prefer one? Why?
First I like movies and television, after them, theater. Theater is different because you have to face an audience that is waiting for you to say something, anything. An artist always feels fear in the first performance of a work, when he enters the stage, then he goes fast into the character. Now, also in the current Cuban cinema there is much to say, I think we would have to leave the circle, of reiterating the same topics, there’s plenty that could be said about that.
