It’s the same Antonio Recio than a ‘vermin’ that waits for its mother’s death to inherit. The actor Jordi Sanchez, a face as popular as Recio, who is one of the most mythical characters in the series ‘La que se cerca’, has moved to the other side, behind the camera, to write and direct alongside Pep Antón Gómez ‘Alimañas’, a film of humor as black as the one we are used to in his well-known role as the best-known wholesaler of national audiovisuals. Sánchez is also part of the acting cast of a film starring Loles León, Carlos Areces, Carmina Barrios and Sylvia Abril. The interpreter presented the film this Wednesday at the Kinépolis cinemas in Valencia. He has done it accompanied by Gómez, with whom he conceived this story for the theater and which now jumps to the big screen with its national premiere this Friday, October 27.
-In the film you are surrounded by a cast like Loles León, Carlos Areces, Sylvia Abril, Carmina Barrios… has it been easy to deal with these ‘Vermin’?
-This casting is not easy to get. But we actors are very submissive. And in the same way that if Loles (León), who is a partner in ‘La que se cerca’, asked me to tell a story her way, she has done the same with this film. They are great actors and comedians, with an ease of changing and making a brutal metamorphosis.
-In this film, the title is very clear: it is full of vermin that do everything to achieve their objectives…
-Not even God is saved. The two protagonists (played by Sánchez himself and Carlos Areces) are two brothers who wait for her mother to die so that they can inherit by any means necessary. But they meet the tenants of the building, who do not want to be kicked out of their house because they pay very low rent. In this film not even the mother is saved. Everyone has a miserable life.
«In this film not even God is saved. “Everyone has a miserable life.”
-He writes and directs the film with Pep Antón Gómez and also plays it. What has it been like to work with four hands and get behind the camera?
-I have been working with Pep Antón for 20 years and it is not difficult to write with four hands. He comes to my house every day at nine in the morning to work, he is very punctual. At the time of filming my scenes, I just dedicated myself to my thing. Then I saw myself in the plane.
-And the experience of directing? Will he repeat?
-It has been pleasant, tiring, rewarding and wonderful. From the first seed of the project, in which he decides what you are going to tell, to being worried about Loles León’s wig or the painting in her mother’s room. It’s all very intense. But I would love to repeat, it has left a very good taste in my mouth. Of course, like my ‘compa’ Pep Antón.
«In this film, reality surpasses fiction»
Along with Jordi Sánchez, Pep Antón Gómez also writes and directs the film. “In this film, reality surpasses fiction,” says the screenwriter. «In it you see extreme situations but that have occurred in reality, for example the plot of Sylvia Abril, which is so surreal but comes from a close anecdote that I have experienced. If you add that extra bit of black comedy to this, it turns ‘Alimañas’ into a very easy film to watch. Pepe Antón Gómez has spent half his life working with Jordi Sánchez. »I am used to directing alone and at first I felt a certain strangeness. But there is a lot of complicity and I can’t get angry with him,” says the director, who defends that it has not been easy to bring together such well-known actors on the recording set. »The filming has gone smoothly. There are projects that are touched by a magic wand and this has been one of them,” he asserts.
-The film is announced as only being seen ‘exclusively in theaters’. Is it a personal bet that it will be seen on the big screen in the face of the rise of platforms?
-That has been decided by the producers. We are scriptwriters and directors and it does not depend on our preferences. Although it is better to see it in the cinema than on a tablet and I am a consumer of series and movies on my iPad… But ‘Alimañas’ has to be seen on the big screen, leave the couch, go out and laugh in a group.
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-So you are betting on the coexistence of platforms and movie theaters?
-With this movie there will be one. Televisions and platforms put money into cinema. Here is Spanish Television. In the audiovisual sector everything has an order and there is no problem.
«People seek to recognize their neighbor on the screen»
-He is very popular thanks to the role of Antonio Recio in the series ‘La que se cerca’. Do you think his fame will make viewers go to the movies?
-Not just me, the film’s comedy cast is very important. The popularity of all of them matters because the cast is exceptional. From Sylvia Abril to Resines, Saturnino García…
-He is a specialist in comedy roles but with very black humor. Why do we like these types of characters?
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-People seek to recognize their neighbor on the screen. We feed on our environment.
-The promotion of the film catches you when the last season of ‘La que se cerca’ has been released… How do you combine it?
-I finished recording the last chapters a month ago. I don’t do everything at once, it wouldn’t occur to me, it would drive me crazy.
«The intensity of fame has not decreased because they show the series all the time»
-He is well known for the role of Antonio Recio. Has the level of intensity of fame gone down or are they still chasing you?
-It hasn’t gone down because they show the series all the time. People keep telling you things, thanking you for giving them a good time during their breaks, but there are also those who tell you that they don’t like the series.
-Do you get tired of playing this character? I ask you because even you say that he is a despicable guy…
-I don’t get tired of it, I perform it four times a year. People think that we don’t stop filming, but we have life. We make about eight episodes a year and we can film other projects. If I were always in his shoes, playing that homophobic, racist character…
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-But El Recio’ and his phrases are already part of the collective imagination…
-The public understands that it is not me and that the creators criticize a certain profile of person through it. He makes it funny and I enjoy it.
-What projects is Jordi Sánchez involved in?
-I continue writing with Pep Antón Gómez and in April I am going to film another season of ‘La que se cerca’. Also, I’m waiting for the release of another movie, ‘I Hate Summer’.
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