Actor first and dubbing interpreter second, Ramón Langa (Ávila, 1959) confesses with a laugh that, even though he is the Spanish voice of international Bruce Willis, he is not confused on the phone as many times as we might suppose. What happens next to the line when he gives his name, is that they instantly identify him as ‘oysters, the actor who gives voice to Die Hard’. Something like that, allow us the literary license.
Ramón premieres this Friday the film Silver Dolphins, a thriller directed by Javier Elorrieta with an imminent attack in the background and that touches on so many aspects of today that it captivates any viewer. A film in which Ramón Langa Jr, the son he had during his marriage to the journalist and writer Marta Robles, also intervenes, along with Rodolfo Sancho, María Blanco, Will Shepard, Luis Fernando Alvés and Andoni Ferreño.
As we speak, you are on your way to another jury session for the Costa del Sol International Fantastic Film Week, in Estepona. And enjoying, right?
It is a very beautiful festival, made with a lot of love and of which I am already a part. The first time I went because they gave me the Unicorn of Honor for my career, then because we made a short film with the people from the festival that was awarded, then to deliver a prize, then as president of the jury and this year I am again. I love being able to watch movies with colleagues from the profession and people who are very cinephile, creative and, in short, people who adore cinema.
Silver Dolphins is a thriller that looks very good, that captivates, and in which you are the Director General of the Police. It is a proposal, I don’t know whether to say modest, but one that achieves a hectic pace.
It is a great job that Javier Elorrieta has done because the film really does not have many means, it did not have much help and Javier moved a lot, so that is his merit: with a low budget he has achieved a thriller that hooks you: it starts slowly placing each piece in its place, it seems that nothing is happening, but it begins to grow and grow, to grow and the film ends up here. And it is how it should be done. Javier is a guy who knows how to roll and knows how to keep his pulse. And of course, with a script based on a very good novel.
If we played cops or robbers, what would you choose?
Well, look, taking into account that I played a policeman and a thief and I hope to continue doing so (laughs). Actually, I don’t know how to tell you if I feel better in one role or another: once I make the role mine, I enjoy it exactly the same. Well, and if I’m a thief who manages to emerge victorious from stealing 10,000 kilos of gold from a bank, well, damn good (laughs).
The film largely revolves around the clandestine relationship between the fashionable bullfighter and the Minister of the Interior, no less. A brave script that can stir up any hornet’s nest…
Man, you have to be very brave, yes: I believe that art, cinema, literature, theater, music, etc. it is definitely a reflection of society, and then you have to have the courage and freedom to express it, as long as you do not cross the red line of education and respect, but the things that happen in life have to be told and art is there to do it.
There is a scene where the Home Secretary is lying to your face without his face moving a muscle. Have you ever, that you know of, been lied to as blatantly as in the movie?
Well yes, many times. So I look into your eyes and on occasions I have played dumb, which is perhaps more comfortable, but on other occasions I have said that you can lie to me all you want but it is another for you to deceive me.
Your son has also entered the world of interpretation. In fact, he is in this movie. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given him?
Yes, he is a kid who is starting and who promises, I really mean it. My advice is to take his job very seriously, to love him to the fullest and to fight for him. You can not do anything else. You know that in the old days it happened that if a young person said ‘I want to be a musician’, they responded ‘you, lawyer, like your father and like your grandfather. And what do we have? Well, we are missing out on a great musician and we have a mediocre lawyer. I believe that everyone should do what they think they should do and fight for it. Circumstances in life or misfortune can take you down other paths, but if you really want to do something, give it a try.
I am going to ask you a devilish question: as a dubbing professional that you have been for many years, what do you feel when an actor denies it and despises the dubbed version for the original?
As you know, I left dubbing a few years ago and I’ve only come back if there was a Bruce Willis movie coming and… anyway, not anymore because the poor thing is really annoyed and has had to retire. There are different possibilities, for everyone. I always, always, watch movies in their original version, even when I was dubbing. But that’s not why you should charge against the dubbing industry when you can always see the movie in VOSE.
And not only because many families make a living from it, but because there is a viewer, perhaps older, who has grown up watching movies dubbed into Spanish and deserves respect.
Of course, and if the dubbing is good and is faithful to the film and the actors it dubs, there is no major problem. Dubbing was instituted in Spain by an Italian named Hugo Donarelli, because it started in his country and today it is deeply rooted in ours. These people annoy me, you know that this is a cainite country, and it is enough for someone to yell “That must be eliminated” for a mess to break out. But do you know what you’re saying? Here they are shot first and then they ask themselves ‘Why did we shoot him?’ And he sees that reflection is cheap.
You spoke before about the ailment that affects Bruce Willis: I know that several media called you when the news broke that he suffered from aphasia and that you declined to assess it out of respect.
It’s just that I think you have to be respectful and not give rise to something similar or give yourself a clue with the illness of a third party, and even more so in my case with a man to whom I owe so much. It is that the gossip thing is something that I have very badly. Look, I’ll give you a case: Bruce Willis had a girlfriend in Spain, in Malaga, a woman named María Bravo; They were a couple for a while, a long time ago, and nothing was heard from again. Well, when it became known that Willis suffered from this ailment, he began to appear in all the media. But let’s see, are you really going to go out to the media to take photos of yourself taking advantage of a man’s illness? A little bit of class, a little bit of respect, man.
Let me ask you: Joan Pera did know Woody Allen. Have you been able to get to know Willis?
I’ve seen him a couple or three times but we’ve sat down to chat. He really wanted us to have dinner and people we have in common called me to tell me ‘Bruce is looking forward to meeting you, he’s filming in Madrid, let’s see if you can come over and have dinner with him…’ but I was filming 200 km away in Ciudad Real the movie Captain Thunder, so it couldn’t be. He sent me a very affectionate telegram but… there it was. It has not been.
Let’s not move from Castilla: you are from Ávila and I understand that you are a reference there. Sell ??me your province to go on vacation.
Ávila is a province with wonderful people, a province that must be understood, pure Castile: they say that only Machado understood Castilla and that he was born in Seville (laughs). It is very cold in winter, dry in summer, but a wonderful, authentic, pure place. And then it has such beautiful landscapes, such authentic people –whose hotels and rural houses treat the traveler in an excellent way– and such brutal gastronomy that it is like traveling to another era. I travel 180 kilometers from Madrid to my house in Gredos and when you get there and you don’t need a cell phone or a watch or anything. Time stops. There are many possibilities: mountains, horses, bikes, hiking, walking in the mountains… Many people are settling there to live. Of course: to those who go on vacation, I encourage you but on one condition, that they take care of the environment as if it were the living room of their house.
Caring for the forest is one of your most personal struggles.
I have been asking for years, because it annoys me, that the Administration clean the mountains in winter, that they put in the crews that were in the past and pay them a wage to do it; fewer photos of the politician on duty when there is a fire and more prevention: as the countrymen have always said, fires go out in winter.
