The Turkish passion returns to the screen 30 years after Vicente Aranda directed the film adaptation in 1994, starring Ana Belén, of the popular novel that Antonio Gala had published a year earlier. A love story taken to the extreme that now stars the Malaga actress Maggie Civantos and the Turkish actor Ilker Kaleli in a miniseries already available on Atresplayer and that this Thursday the 9th will premiere on Antena 3 openly.
Many viewers must still remember The Turkish Passion of Ana Belén. Was it the main challenge to face this project?
Yes, of course, we all have that reference. But from the first moment, production and direction made it clear to me that this series was an adaptation to new times and that I had to capture the essence of the protagonist but at the same time make the character my own. And that relaxed me a lot.
Had you seen the movie?
Yes, but I decided not to review it so as not to condition myself. Nor read the novel again. I wanted to get away because if not, it’s like a shadow that follows you and you can unconsciously fall into comparison. This adaptation is made in a way that will capture an audience that has this story from 30 years ago in their heads but also a more modern audience that will feel reflected in a more current protagonist.
And about that more current protagonist, who is now called Olivia and not Desideria, what aspects have attracted you when interpreting her?
The courage you have to face the unknown. Of course, on the one hand it is what loses her, but on the other it leads her to rediscover herself as a person and to feel alive, beyond her relationship with Yaman. Olivia is a very rational and organized woman who, suddenly, what attracts her most about this relationship is the leap into the void and the unknown, losing control of it, although there comes a time when she loses it too much. In that sense, it seemed like a very attractive project to me because of Olivia’s entire trip to hell throughout the six chapters.
The series takes place in current times.
Yeah. Character context has been updated. Olivia is a professor at the University of Fine Arts who is going to Istanbul to do a thesis. She is single and part of the problem she has is that she does not fall in love and does not find a partner until she finds Yaman. My challenge was to show how an empowered and totally independent woman is swept away by that passion that makes her lose her mind and takes her to hell.
How has the experience of working with Ilker Kaleli been?
I admire him a lot because he did not speak Spanish but he interpreted in this language. It was a challenge for him and at times it was complicated for both of us because we communicated in English. But I think the result is brilliant. And then, obviously, the filming was also complicated because it is always delicate to film intimate scenes.
Hadn’t you filmed many scenes of this type before?
In Vis a Vis I had to work on some intimate scenes but here I have obviously had more. Especially in the first three episodes, because then the thriller prevails more. The truth is that we were very supported by the privacy coordinators. Although for me, more than the sex scenes, it was much more complicated to film scenes where Olivia’s vulnerability is extreme.
What was it like filming in Istanbul?
Very beautiful. We were recording there for two months there, in real settings like mosques or the apartment where Olivia lives, above a restaurant where you eat fresh fish and smell like the sea. For me, what Istanbul has is the very particular mix of traditional and modern that you don’t find in many places. I remember how funny it was to have to stop filming because they pray six times a day. And then there are those beautiful sunsets. The series has a very rich audiovisual language.
