MarÃa de Nati is one of those people who radiate light. Close and always with a smile, the sweet and childish features of this 25-year-old actress have not prevented her from playing such vile characters as the drug trafficker Nata de EntrevÃas or the pornographic actress Sara Bernat in Nacho. In addition to these two major productions that have catapulted her into the media spotlight, the Madrid actress has starred in series such as Las Pelotaris 1926, Victim number 8 and Debts, among others. But the flesh-and-blood Maria has little to do with the one we’ve seen so far on the screen.
Who is Maria de Nati?
My name is actually MarÃa DÃaz, but fed up with the fact that castings never remember my name because of how ordinary it is, I decided to change it and pay a small tribute to my grandmother, Nati Vidal. He was the first person who saw my potential and, in fact, he is my lucky charm: I have a tattoo with a phrase that he used to say to me and whenever I go on stage or see that a difficult day is coming up I touch it and feel that I am gives strength.
How did you start in the world of cinema?
I have the memory of wanting to be an actress since I can remember. At the age of three there are already videos of me saying “I want to be an actress”. It’s also funny because I don’t have anyone in my family related to the industry. My parents didn’t really believe it, but based on doing castings, little by little, I ended up dedicating myself. Already in the first one I did, to play Pilar de Borbón in a miniseries, they took me. I was 15 years old and I thought “great, this is my thing”. Then I realized that it’s not that easy…
The best advice you’ve ever been given.
Before being an actress I did a casting for El Hormiguero to be in a girl band but it didn’t go well. Pablo Motos came to my dressing room and told me: “I’m going to give you some advice, even if you fall apart or feel that everything is going wrong, you never stop, always keep trying.”
Do you sing too?
Yes, I like it a lot but I am very embarrassed. Over time, the fear of the stage has gotten worse. Although I like all kinds of music, I am passionate about indie and electronic music. Right now I can’t stop listening to Tame Impala.
How do you prepare your characters?
I do something very mine, it is something very personal. It helps me a lot to look at people on a day-to-day basis. I see a friend of mine and I think my character could be him. He fixed me on his gestures, on his way of thinking and I took him to my character. It’s funny because by doing it and feeling like it’s not part of me, I feel protected and free to do whatever. I think that this way nobody is going to judge me because it has nothing to do with my real self.
Of all the characters you’ve done, is there one that has been especially challenging?
Without a doubt Sara Bernat. It’s the opposite of me, in terms of her aura, her way of entering a place, that fire she has. For me the challenge was not so much to show off physically but psychologically. I thought, will I be able to enjoy this? And in the end, if I succeeded, it was because of the team that surrounded me.
The series has aroused great suspicion due to the social stigma that surrounds pornography. How have you experienced being one of the protagonists of ‘Nacho’?
Not talking about things or sweeping the problem under the rug is not going to solve it. If I’m completely honest with you, when I came up with this project I wasn’t sure I was going to do it. People around me told me to be careful in case I got typecast. At all times Teresa was honest and she told me that she did not want it to be an exemplary series either, but she did like the idea of ​​being able to talk about a subject that creates so much social controversy and portray it through fiction. Because pornography is, after all, a fiction and people have to see that this is not real and that it cannot serve as an educational system or reference for young people. It is important that people see it and can draw their own conclusions. In the end, there is a lot of consumption of pornography and we cannot pretend that this is not the case.
Is this fear of pigeonholing recurring in the industry?
I have not been in a position to choose between many projects either. I’m not at that point in my life. I do see that around me there is a certain amount of care not to pigeonhole oneself. But I also think it’s a lot of fun for us actors to get out of what people think you are. And I really like that, being able to completely get out of myself and be a doctor one day and a drug addict the next.
Is that what you like most about the world of acting?
Yes, being a chameleon and entering worlds that I couldn’t in my real life.
At what point in your career are you?
I always intend to go step by step. I have a lot of respect for the profession and I have had moments of crisis but I try not to analyze the moment I am in so much and enjoy the present. What I do know is that I have been very lucky.
What character has made you grow on a personal level?
The Sara thing was a challenge but with whom I have grown the most has been with Nata (‘EntrevÃas’) because when I realized what they were putting on the table for me, many fears came over me. She is such a strong woman, and I saw her as very different from me, because of my voice and appearance. There was a lot of distance with the character. I had to search for it a lot because I was afraid it wouldn’t be convincing.
Are you satisfied with the result?
I have noticed that my character has been liked and hated a lot, which was the intention. However, I’m rarely happy with what I do, I think I’m too self-critical. I take viewings really badly, seeing myself on the screen, it’s hard for me and it’s something I’m trying to work on because I know it helps me improve.
Has the interpretation changed you?
Completely. I was, and am, a really shy person. But I have always felt that the characters come to you at the time in life that you need them. Each character comes to me just when I need it to get something out of me and that is precisely what I take from each one. With Nata, for example, I didn’t have that strength and “I don’t care what other people think.” I was in a very weak state of mind and she helped me get that anger out, that strength. With Sara physically I didn’t feel so sexy and she also gave it to me. They put me in a place where I feel like they are coming to me for something and they help me get what I need in my life. Psychologically, acting challenges you and places you in places outside of your comfort zone.
What is cinema for you, as a spectator?
It is something very personal. When I was little I used to go with my parents every weekend, twice, to the Kinépolis. It’s like going to another world and leaving. The feeling that I like the most in the world is leaving the cinema with the film in my head and thinking that I am still in that world that I have seen on the screen. It happens to me much more with the cinema than with a series.
Is there a movie that has marked you?
Looking for happiness. It broke my soul. It marked me because I realized that when everything is lost, whoever follows it gets it.
This has been one of the first fashion productions in which you have collaborated. What is your relationship with fashion?
I haven’t had the opportunity yet to have a stylist or create my own look to go on the red carpet. Fashion attracts my attention a lot, I like to see the Met gala, the fashion shows… I think that people inspire from their personal point of view and experience it in their own way.
Before starting this interview, De Nati was reading the script for his next project. “My hair has been cut a lot,†she says excitedly. When we finish she will take one of her therapeutic walks, “the best medicineâ€, to the sound of Let it happen by Tame Impala, the song that she listens to on loop these days. Music is her other great vocation and, although she takes the stage badly, her impetus to continually challenge herself will surely end up getting her on them.
