Actress Veronica Lynn, with a career of more than 50 years, is an icon of Cuban artistic manifestations ranging from theater, cinema and television. She talks to us as reflexive, chatty and spirited as usual.
Form fiction to successful reality
“I come from San Diego de los Baños, Pinar del Rio, a small but colorful town, with wonderful thermal waters worldwide.
I used to play alone with my dolls, my paper dolls, I even used to sketch dresses for them and I rehearsed my plays, I gave them voice, made them cry and laugh but I didn’t know for certain what I was doing.”
Hope
“My mum used to love Cuban artists, their radio soap operas, but mostly Carlos Gardel. We used to call her Gardel’s widow. But no one ever imagined one of her daughters would become an actress. By that time people was really old fashioned and she was a poor woman and her way of thinking was a bit narrow, though later on she accepted many things, she grew in the inside.
My father was an interesting character; he even used to read the telephone book. But his philosophy was not much practical. He used to say a minute of luck was more valuable than a lifetime devoted to working and he died waiting for his lucky minute. So my mother raised us and worked for us. Poor her, her health wasn’t that good.”
“…and I’m still thinking about you”
“Pedro Alvarez was important for me. He taught me to understand politics. From him I received my first lessons on socialism. We loved each other and we respected each other very much. We had our discrepancies, of course, and also our diatribes on arts as it is logical but there was someone to talk to.”
School
“I always wanted to be a radio, cinema and television actress, because in the 50’s we already had television and my partners always used to say to me: And a theatre actress too Veronica. Ah, yes, of course… it didn’t matter for me even if it was circus. It turns out than one of them, Alfonso Silvestre –who later on became a first actor in television–, was to stage Amok, by Stephan Zweig, and he needed an actress. And he made me the proposal and I said yes. I didn’t even set foot in the theatre because it was “teatro arena”. Then, I found out there was a system of study, a guide for actors and their training and I decided I wouldn’t take lessons from just anyone. I was taught by Professor Andres Castro and I finished my training with Adolfo de Luis.”
Why do you think that being an actress is an addiction?
It is a wonderful addiction. (She laughs) Addictions are never good.
Do you have any vices?
At some point in my life i used to smoke, but I no longer have that habit because it is prejudicial to my health, but not because I don’t enjoy it anymore. It’s like someone trying to come up with a cure when the cure is already there. These are my addictions and the love for my family, of course.
What can you say about awards and recognition?
It is the same for every artist from any manifestation. It is a recognition you receive from your country because you’ve earned it and it is always worth appreciating it. I’m not sure if it is vanity but it is definitely a pleasure.
Sweet, tender and irreverent
“I don’t have an attitude when I am observed as an artist. Let’s be honest, at home I can get very angry, really angry. In public, I can also get angry in view of what’s wrong and unfair because I don’t like that. I don’t mean I’m perfect, but social indiscipline and constant rudeness in the street upset me. Perhaps, in my private life, in a specific moment I may cross the line a bit, but then I go back and put myself in the right place and I say: there’s no need to get to that, ever.”
“People say Taureans spill the beans. I hate indiscretions because I am indiscrete sometimes. One should know oneself, something I should have learned that already given I’m old enough. However, I’m not always in control and that bothers me a lot because these are habits and ways of behaving that can be improved and avoided.”
Perhaps I forgive, but I don’t forget
“I’m no one’s enemy. I don’t bear grudges against anyone and I don’t like to air the dirty linen. That’s bad for the soul; it wrinkles and makes you bitter. I forget. Well, I don’t know if I forget, I perhaps forgive. Sometimes I ran into someone else –I’m telling you because it has happened to me– I greet that someone and then I say: oh, she did this to me. But I forget about it, that cannot be the center of my life, do you understand? ”
The clock is ticking
“When I look in the mirror, I find I got anew wrinkle. (She laughs). Obviously, you are referring to magic mirror. I can be sweet, tender… but I can also be rough and irreverent. I have a virtue though: I do listen to people”. It is not that I don’t like to talk, in fact I do, but listening is not easy.”
“Whenever I learn something I realize of all that I still have to learn and the best way to use the time I have left is by learning”.
“I’m aware of my age, but I’m not constantly thinking about it. I know I cannot run down the stairs or go up in a hurry. I know I cannot clean the windows at home –I live in a sixth floor– as I used to do it with one foot on the stairs and the other on the edge. I’m aware I cannot dress in a particular way, but I’m aware I don’t like and will neverlike to dress like an old lady, except for interpreting a character.”
Modesty
“I am a fool. I don’t have any records of my work. Perhaps that’s too absolute. But I’m not one of those people that keep records of everything they do. That’s why I’m a fool, because that’s my story, my poor story; I think I should reflect a bit more on that.”
Do not let tears prevent you from seeing the stars
“I have lost many dear people, a 24-year old nephew who was like a son to me, he died in an accident, and that’s something I cannot forget. It happened in 1982 and it still feels like yesterday. I also lost my husband, my mother, my grandmother and my grandfather, which is the first loss I recall. So, yes, I have cried.
“Everything dies and transforms itself; it is good to believe that. For religious and materialist people at least you don’t fall in a limbo. I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe there is something. Imagine: a human being that enjoyed life, laughed and supported his family dies, materially he decomposes and what about spiritually? Is there nothing left? That’s impossible. I don’t know if there is a final destination for spirits (she laughs). People die when you forget about them.”
The significance of transcending
“I would like to be known as a good Cuban. I’d like to be recalled as a good actress. Your contribution to society matters; otherwise it stays at home, within your social circle. But people can transcend at work, no matter if it is a carpenter or a builder, there is where people transcend but also in their social and professional roles. That’s why I’d like to have a little bit of that and be recalled as someone who fought for it, loved its people, and fought for changes. My lucky minutes are the result of my work.”
By: Jaime Masó Torres
Picture: Taken from Juventud Rebelde
1 Actor Pedro Alvarez, worked for radio, televisionand theater. He was one of the most handsome men of the Cuban television by the late 50’s and early 60’s.
