Actress, director, producer, singer, author, poet. She does everything and more. If he could, Itziar Castro (Barcelona, ??1977) would be immortal. “Not because of ego but because of a matter of learning,” she says in this new episode of the NUESTRO TURNO podcast in which we talk about fame, feminism, what it means to not be normative and about not throwing in the towel. Something she has never done, thanks in part to her mother.
“Life is complex but you don’t have to throw in the towel. Because, at some point, despite what it costs, if you continue, you will arrive. Even though people don’t want to. You have to love yourself and move forward even though you feel different. There are moments of weakness, obviously, of crying, of being screwed, of being bad. There are. But my mother has been a reference in that you can get where you want if you continue with tenacity,” she says during our talk.
The road has not been easy. “I have done circus, bachelor and bachelorette parties, children’s parties, I have worked on horror scenes, animation… I have been an advertising casting director for many years,” she explains about the jobs she has had throughout her life. She knew from a very young age that she wanted to be an actress. The Goya nomination for breakthrough actress came after 20 years of career. “María Galiana had the Goya Revelación with more than 60 and Lolita too, with more than 50. It is never too late. And whether you win it or not, revealing yourself is always okay,” she defends.
We have also talked about the most difficult part of his profession: instability. “We depend on other people to call us, to be aware of you, to believe that you are good” and that does not end when you are well-known and people know you by your first and last name. “I went to the Goya with -6,000 Euros in the bank because I invested a lot to get there,” she confesses. And it doesn’t all end there. The jobs have a certain duration: “In a series you work for four months and then you can spend months or even years without working.”
How is all this going? “You have a great network behind you that supports you and helps you in difficult moments, going to therapy. Why, Carmen Maura also said it and I totally agree, one day you are the most loved, the most desired and the next day no one calls you. Sustaining that emotionally is very complicated, not just financially.” And if necessary, he has no problems combining it with the family restaurant. She already did it while filming the series ‘Vis a vis’: “I have been serving in the restaurant and then I went to film.”
He also has a lot to say about fame, a double-edged sword. “Fame brings very good things, which is that you have a speaker to help people with social causes and that your work is respected. But then there is one thing, which for me is the saddest thing of all, and that is how it dehumanizes you. In these last two years, after 27 years of career, they make you feel that you are the best, that you are wonderful. But at the same time you are not a person. You are a pin. You are the photo,” she acknowledges.
Itziar Castro had to endure being bullied at school and now she has to deal with the haters who insult her, tell her that she is nobody, and wish her death on social networks. Why do they do it? “First because I won’t shut up.” There are those who are even bothered by her way of being a feminist. She is accused of not being a feminist “for saying that feminism must evolve and that it is inclusive. For that reason alone they have taken away my feminist card,” she explains.
He maintains that he always speaks from his perspective and personal knowledge. “People who speak from theory bother me a lot. Do you really know someone who is racialized, someone who has transitioned? Have you lived with them throughout that journey? Have you ever been bullied for being different? I always speak from myself, from my experiences or from knowing people who are experiencing that. And if not I learn.” I have learned and enjoyed this conversation a lot. Thank you, Itziar, for showing yourself who you are.
