After an extensive career in theater and leading roles in film, actress Wendy Vásquez traveled to the United Kingdom to study directing. Last year, one of the Golden Globes sections described her as “established actress.” We spoke for a few minutes with her within the framework of the Lima Film Festival. “I have done very well, I studied a master’s degree. What motivated me? Actually, I think the pandemic, along with my second postpartum (smiles), was too much information, I think I needed it. I had always said: ‘I want to study film at some point’ and I felt it was the perfect time. Peru…yes, she gave me enough input for that and I left.”
Along with Magaly Solier, they are two Peruvian actresses who appear on the Golden Globes page, like the filmmaker Francisco Lombardi. “That’s very nice,” says Vásquez, who worked with him on Black Butterfly and Two Kisses. The actress believes that the entry of the Peruvian director into the Oscar Academy was something that had to happen.
“I received the news with immense joy. You know how much I love Pancho, in addition to having done several works, he is a friend and a person that I respect a lot. It’s been a while since we needed to recognize ourselves and what a shame that those large-scale recognitions don’t come from ourselves, they come from outside. That no one is a prophet in his land is sometimes very true and regrettable, but at the same time, it is a joy to be given this recognition,” he added.
-You said that the challenge of Peruvian cinema continues to be “bringing audiences to theaters.” Is it a greater challenge for The Monroy Affair and other auteur films?
-Yes, it may be a film that could be more accessible, you know? It is independent cinema, it has a personal, author’s view, it is not commercial, but it has humor and talks about justice in our country, I think we all have a link there, a problem with that (smiles).
-And your character is also a challenge, right? Have you done anything similar in theater?
-My God! That was crazy! (laughs) In theater I had done the Merchant of Venice, my character disguises herself as a man, but this is different. He hadn’t done anything at that level and it has been challenging. Also, he really wants everyone to think that he is a man, he thickens his voice… but the most curious thing is that I made that movie when my second son had just been born, he was two months old. So, I went to the shoot with him every day and they blindfolded me to make it look like I didn’t have boobs, but I was breastfeeding, crazy! The agreement was that, every time my baby cried, he was going to breastfeed. In fact, we were recording and they were like, “Cut! Feeding time.”
-What do you think that the film (based on Visiting Day, by Marco Avilés) makes visible various issues that happen in the women’s prison?
-It’s great, because we have to talk about things, everything that we don’t dare. That’s what cinema is for. That has been my interest in studying film direction, there are so many topics that need to be shown, put on the table and… so many taboos.
-Are you already working on your first film?
-I’m starting to write the script. I can only tell you that the axis is the bond between a mother and her daughter. It revolves around what things we inherit from our mothers and what things we need to cut. I hope to only direct, but it has happened to me in short films that I have made and I say: “I’m not going to act,” and I end up acting.
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