Putting a Javier Cámara in the cast fixes any series. Even some pretty bad ones. This has been known since this actor made his first cameo in ‘Eve and Adam, marriage agency’. In that TVE production of the 90s, Verónica Forqué and Antonio Resines commanded a company that tried to resolve sentimental situations of the most bizarre nature. And in one episode Resines suffered an accident, was admitted to a hospital and was about to lose a kidney due to the confusion of a stretcher-bearer, who was played by Cámara. He barely had two sentences of the script but he already showed his comic side, which has later exploded in other television titles such as ‘Ay Señor Señor!’, ‘7 lives’ or more recently in ‘Vota Juan’. In other productions he also showed that he was also capable of generating intrigues, doubts or tears. Everything comes out. He could have had a role in ‘Patria’, ‘Antiriots’ or ‘Veneno’, to cite three examples of recent works, and we would have believed him. Even in ‘Lost Fagot’ playing Bob Pop if he wanted to. Because versatility, it seemed, was this.
Now he premieres ‘Rapa’ and gives life to a disconcerting teacher, who one does not quickly guess what role he is going to play in the thriller. And he is fine again. A Javier Cámara solves everything.
Something curious and intelligent in the trajectory of this actor from La Rioja is that he has never given up any medium if the job they offered him interested him. Or he suited her for other reasons. He was not disgusted by the series as soon as cinema with capital letters -this is Medem, Almodóvar or Coixet- began knocking on his door, nor has he signed up for the latest series taking advantage of the fact that they have become fashionable. He has continued to do television, cinema and theater indistinctly. He did series in the 90s, in the early 2000s and in the last decade. And there is everything between what he has starred in. But he always solves. A Javier Cámara on time always helps. Let’s see how.
1990-1991
‘Eve and Adam, marriage agency’
That said, he barely came out for a couple of minutes at the end of episode 14, with a gag that worked great and made him stand out. That clumsy orderly, who doesn’t even notice which patient he picks up for a transplant, had a series. And Javier Cámara more hair, although the operating room cap prevented him from showing it off.
1994-1996
Oh, sir, sir!
The revelation. Where did this actor come from? On paper, an impossible couple with Andrés Pajares, both giving life to priests. In practice, they worked wonderfully, with incredible chemistry. One, modern and fun. Another, more expensive and irritating. There were chapters that were seen by more than 6 million people. And everyone was delighted with this new actor that we had never seen on screen. Behind some of the dialogues was none other than Fernando León de Aranoa.
1996-1997
This is my neighborhood
First it was ‘Lleno por favor’, a melodrama built around Alfredo Landa at a gas station. It was a success. Then ‘Who gives the time?’, to the greater glory of José Sacristán in a market. He also triumphed. So Vicente Escrivá, author of the previous ones, reoffended and created, again with Sacristán, a series of the same works, entitled ‘Este es mi barrio’, which also achieved a million-dollar audience. Here Cámara had a secondary role, again as a priest. He had worked well in that role and why change, the writers must have thought of him. They were not yet aware of the actor’s potential.
1996-1998
Hostal Royal Manzanares
If before he had to be in the wake of Pajares and Sacristán, this time the same thing happened to him but with Lina Morgan, when she was a theatrical star that the television networks disputed. What times. Everything in the series revolved around the occurrences of the actress. Camera, as a paparazzi hired for the protagonist’s wedding, shot ten chapters, enough to learn the best old school tricks.
This was crazy. First, he achieved his own and complex role: to replace Álex Ángulo, who was leaving the series and that was a pillar of it. He was successful in the challenge. Later he returned to carry out a ‘crossover’, that is, playing the same role as in another series – that of Paco Gimeno in ‘7 lives’ – that the newspaper was going to know. The two titles were from the same production company and that explains everything.
It was sensed that the relationship between mother and son -Amparo Baró and Cámara- could work, but not that much. They gave memorable moments during the seven years they filmed together (until Almodóvar told him to come and he left everything), so much so that the actor is still remembered even though 20 years have passed. They entrusted him with the pathetic character, who always trips over something. In theory it was going to be used to replicate the rest (Toni Cantó included), but he turned the classic role of clumsy around, made it endearing and witty, and ate up the series.
The series of lawyers have never worked in court in Spain (‘Turno de oficio’ is the exception that confirms the rule). And this one had no better luck, although it had Javier Cámara at the head of the cast, as a cynical and unscrupulous guy. The proposal was interesting until they began to twist the script and introduce characters to win over the public and the original spirit was distorted. Cámara continued to give it his all as a shark executive but there was little left to scratch.
Cámara and María Pujalte were entrusted to embody the first married couple in Spain to divorce in the 1980s. The plot boasted a fun starting point but quickly deflated. They did not know it, but the good series for both of them was yet to come.
Javier Cámara also speaks good English. Surprise! And he keeps Jude Law’s pulse unblinking. He hung up his cassock again, but now under the orders of Sorrentino, who makes everything devilishly beautiful. And he is capable of making beautiful a complex character like Monsignor Gutiérrez, full of internal conflicts.
Pablo Escolar was no longer there and the series was already a success when Cámara was hired to play Miguel Rodríguez’s accountant, the brains of the Cali cartel. The challenge for Cámara this time was not to notice that he came from Albelda de Iregua and not from Valle del Cauca, to hit the spot with the Colombian accent and say if they asked him “mischievous son of a bitch” without being out of tune.
Cámara didn’t have to prove anything and yet ‘Vota Juan’ (and later ‘Vamos Juan’ and ‘Venga Juan’) has been confirmation that his talent is immense. Calling him chameleon sounds cliché, but if anyone deserves this adjective, it’s him. The production is gaining as the seasons progress. The character of Juan, who begins as a caricature, discovers layers until he achieves a perfect portrait of that despicable politician/businessman/manager (but at the same time a poor person) who has been growing in the Spain of the ball and nobody knows how. What a joy. If he didn’t have little to do with acting, Camera also directs. And he leaves for note. I have seen the episode ‘Istanbul’, in which he debuted behind the scenes, several times. And I’m not masochist.
‘Rapa’ is not ‘Iron’ although it is evident that it has been made with similar wickers to get it right. That was difficult and not everything works as well as in that one. Cámara makes his debut in the ‘thriller’ with a strange character, who takes time to understand, who always seems to be hiding something, who is disconcerting, who in the hands of another actor could have crashed. That is why the Coira (wise creators of this fiction) put a Javier Cámara in their series.
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