Argentinian from Rosario, like Messi and other ball stars, DarÃo Grandinetti also dreamed of being a footballer, but he soon saw that he “managed” better on stage. Committed, vindicative, he has given life to figures such as Pope Francisco, Gardel or Perón (Santa Evita), Almodóvar repeated with him in Talk to her and Julieta and has lent his powerful gaze to types like the sinister guru of La residencia or the shady DÃaz from the successful Hierro, together with Candela Peña. In May he premieres another series, Honor, and two more shoots await him shortly.
Now savor the premiere of a comedy (“finallyâ€): Empieza el baile, an atypical road movie on Argentine lands directed by Marina Seresesky. A journey of secrets and lies, where she coincides with her partner for six years, Pastora Vega. A script with sparkling dialogues about what was and what could have been, to the rhythm of a bandoneon and with the aroma of provoleta.
The film conveys complicity.
It was an endearing, fun shoot. We have known each other for decades, we know our children. We already had a relationship and that is transmitted. In real life we ​​have also made fun of ourselves together.
He plays a former tango dancer… but I think that’s not his thing, right?
No, the truth, as Marina, the film’s director, says: tango is in the collective imagination in a way that is not real. People believe that any Argentine dances tango. And it’s not like that… It’s like in Spain… Wow, I don’t know if you’ll play the castanets… (she laughs).
What is the message, if you have it?
Talk about those things that should not be lost, those relationships that must be preserved. The lesson for those old friends is: why were we apart for so long? I take care of that, I often hang out with schoolmates. To eat, on a trip… We try not to spend a long time without seeing each other.
What moment would you like to revisit?
To have my young children again, for example. The truth is that I am quite careful not to forget things and people from the past. I’m not afraid of the word nostalgia. I like the word melancholy less, but nostalgia doesn’t bother me.
It doesn’t have to be sad.
That’s how it is. And with tenderness, which seems to me sometimes more important than incomprehensible joy, that of laughing at anything.
You are 64 years old, has going beyond 60 changed your focus on life?
There is no need to fear that figure. Paradoxically, what age has taught me is not to rush. There’s time. Time until things happen… Something you long for maybe too much, then it will come, it will leave and you will say: I waited so long for this and maybe it wasn’t such a big deal! In addition, acting is a background job. With the passage of time, richer characters appear to me than 20 years ago. At 30, no matter how Marlon Brando you are, you can’t make a King Lear. The years put things in their place. Of course one must collaborate, not everything will happen just because, it depends on how one arranges the pieces in the puzzle of life.
What makes you happier about how you have decided to live?
Having been able to grow with a job that I chose, that I enjoy and from which I continue to learn. Of the characters I’ve been able to play, the people I’ve met, things I didn’t even dream of when I started doing theater in Rosario. Much better things have happened to me than I have allowed myself to imagine.
You liked soccer, and being from Rosario, why did you win the performance?
Well, I really don’t know… Well, I remember that one of the first things I experienced when acting was that they were paying attention to me. That does not mean that as a child I felt that they ignored me, but it does mean that in one of my first exercises in theater they laughed at something I said and that was not foreseen. And then I thought: “Ah, look, I drive here, I can make you laugh.” I realized that one there on stage has the upper hand. I felt good.
Do you have a history in the family?
No, my father had a radio program but when he got married and was born I had to leave it to win the fight. I sang, I played the guitar badly. Nobody said about me, as other colleagues did, that: “this child is going to be an actorâ€. Nor did they say that he would be a footballer, although I did want to, of course. I decided to make a living from this trade and I have far exceeded my desire.
What is your strong point as an actor?
Oh, I don’t know that. They tell me things that I don’t use as tools when acting, like I have presence! (laughs); I am not aware of it. I like comedy and they hardly offer me.
His best virtue?
I am aware of being privileged. I have developed a trade, I have grown in it, with people who have helped me improve as an actor and as a person, brothers for life, like Jorge Marrale (his colleague in Empieza el baile) and even two of my children, Laura and Juan, they found it attractive to dedicate themselves to this.
A defect.
I’m very mouthy, it’s hard for me to keep quiet about some things. And speaking clearly, sincericide sometimes brings problems.
He has said more than once that he believes in politics, something unheard of in the “all politicians are equal” era.
Yes, I believe in politics and that there is a high percentage of honest and honorable politicians, with whom you may not even agree. I think the only thing that can save us is politics. Because when there have been problems with some and we get fed up with them and say: “Let them all go”, then the Macri appear, for example, the president we had in Argentina. And what does he know about people? What neighborhood has he walked through? The only thing he has done is put the country in debt. And that happened because society said: “We voted for him because since he has money he won’t steal.” Well no, I believe in that policy that improves citizenship.
What is the first thing you would change if you had power?
Well, it would implement all possible measures to achieve economic and social equality once and for all.
Are we going backwards in that sense?
Absolutely. I would put an end to neoliberalism, which becomes a problem for itself. In my country, for example, it has led to the end of consumption. And what capitalism exists without consumption? People don’t have money to buy, to travel… all this that generates a virtuous circle and neoliberalism has destroyed it. I am optimistic for many things, but I believe that the battle is lost. Although I will continue thinking like this, of course, and choosing roles that can sensitize.
Do you choose the papers with that idea?
Yes, I am interested in telling stories that matter to us. I don’t think the mission of the actors is to change the world, but to provide a perspective that helps to understand some things. We cannot aspire to much more.
What can’t you stand about others?
The lack of class consciousness. A poor person who votes for the right, I don’t understand that.
The quality you appreciate the most?
Above all, honesty, sincerity, not accommodating yourself as appropriate.
A vital learning that you want to share?
Over the years I have learned to work patience. He was more anxious, he wanted things fast. My father used to say “everything comes and everything happens” and I didn’t really agree. Something tragic still sounds to me, like that thing of fate, of “this is how it is and I will not be able to change it”. But it is true that what you want is likely to come. You have to be attentive, because sometimes it comes when you are looking the other way.
