As a child, her parents took her to the Filmoteca’s cycles, whether they were of Korean or Danish films. Her father wrote her stories and illustrated them, and she never found it tedious that they would send her readings at school, quite the opposite. Sara Sálamo (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 31 years old) moves her hands exuding confidence and insight; and, unlike the majority of actors in promotion, she does not seek pleasure or complacency. She sits in an armchair at the Hotel Urso, cold because her children – 3 and 4 years old – transmit both love and viruses to her, and she immediately displays her island character that she embellishes with a touch of exuberance and another with a critical spirit.
He has just released El Favor, a comedy about the woven fabric of the family directed by Juana Macías, and, regarding the title, he reflects: “It is not difficult for me to ask for help, but it is difficult for me to ask for favors.” Her words are easy and well-spun, she uses forceful verbs, typical of an activist who opens debates on feminism or animal rights, and causes, without looking for it, reactionary fires on the networks. This year she also directed the short film The Apple, an ode to mothers.
He writes threads in She went to diction classes to open up a wider range of characters in castings. And to this day she has played a Uruguayan, an Argentinian, a Malaga woman, a Madrid woman… never a Canarian woman. For the photo shoot, with jewelry from Mumit, Sálamo asked that the makeup be vegan, like Charlotte Tilbury’s cruelty-free products, and that there be no fur in the clothes.
Nina Simone said that freedom is not being afraid, do you agree with her?
Despite being a big fan of hers, I can’t say that I completely agree: I’m very fearful, especially after becoming a mother. I think where bravery lies is in the act of facing those fears and overcoming them. There are resources such as imagination and many other tools that we can grab to consider ourselves free, even if we are not.
And what are your fears?
All! I’m really afraid of many things… I thought she was going to be a very hippy mother and instead I’m quite protective – she was going to say hysterical! -. I am a very demanding person, also with myself: I push everything to limits of wanting to do it well that are impossible to overcome. And making a person, raising him and educating him, is very difficult. I think we are unconscious, and not brave, when we are parents. If we considered what it really entails, not all of us would take the step.
Do you think motherhood colonizes women?
Yes. You stop being the protagonist of your life, at least during the first stage.
Does the mother’s responsibility continue to be even greater for care and affection?
It depends on each case. Couples are asking each other more and more questions, but obviously we have not yet reached that 50% equitable. Not in motherhood, not in movies or in anything. We are on the way, but we are not there yet. They asked my colleague Inma Cuesta about conciliation and she responded that she also asked the men about her. And not.
What has been your experience with ‘El Favor’, by Juana Macías, your last filming?
It was probably the shoot of my life. Not only fun, but human. Many times you encounter complex personal situations when you are working. A very close person had a health problem in the middle of filming, and I was able to take responsibility without any problem. And that human level, with what it entails in a production, speaks volumes about what the team I was working with was like.
The film is about family. Do you think it complicates our lives?
The family takes us to therapy, yes, but if we were raised differently we would probably go too. Maybe it is the framework in which everything is established, and obviously it is the origin of our identity and many of our traumas… that is why it seems like a great topic to me, especially now that we are approaching Christmas.
One of Tolstoy’s emblematic phrases says: “All happy families are alike, but all unhappy ones are different.” What do you think?
I understand that it is ironic, since, in my opinion, they all generally look alike. And, in fact, the most common thing is to say that “even in the best families.” I think all the problems are very similar, the ways of relating to each other, even the clumsinesses. There is much more that unites us than what separates us. From one end of the world to the other, I think there are more similarities than differences.
How did you prepare for the role ‘The Favor’? Is it true that she was inspired by Tamara Falcó?
Yes, it was a great reference. The thing is that for me it was not feasible to have that extremely fast and agile way of speaking and for me to be understood. Modeling his essence and his aura, that is, but then we build from there a person who is on another planet, with a deep need to please everyone and who, when the feedback is negative, pretends not to see it. She is in a state of mind of perseverance, of seeking affection and of not connecting with herself. I think she is going to amuse the viewer a lot.
Is it different working with a female director than with a male director?
This is like everything, it depends on which woman and which man. But it is true that my last two shoots have been directed by women and they share a common denominator: they control with their left hand. A good atmosphere is created because they command without saying one word over another. He has a way of orchestrating the team with more calm and greater comfort for everyone.
Are those directors who demanded and squeezed the most out of it?
Not at all! Of course there are; That goes into the way the person is: there are men and women who, when leading, are aggressive, violent and violent.
And how is it managed?
It depends on how it catches you: if you are very young and don’t know how to react, you feel totally out of place and out of place; It can catch you in a more rebellious stage and you say “I won’t pass here”; and also at a time when you decide which battles to fight and which ones not to fight, and you choose not to fight today’s one, but to do it perhaps tomorrow.
Was there any author who deflowered her, literary speaking?
I think when they give you unlimited access to culture it can be a little dangerous, and that was the case for me. I read Mischief of the Bad Girl by Vargas Llosa when I was a very little girl and that stuck with me. In fact, I haven’t wanted to read it again because those sexual images were so shocking…
Did you talk about this with your parents?
Indeed. I remember once, in Tenerife, that we went to a performance in which the actors were inside cages. It clearly wasn’t for my age, but my parents always took me with them. There was nothing explicit, it was all very subtle, but I understood the message perfectly. A girl inside one of the cages kept saying “dad, look what I do, look what I do.” And that violence that was in the subtext made me feel afraid. These are things that marked me and have to do with who I am.
As a result, was she a mature girl from very early on?
Back then, things weren’t given names, but now, seeing it with my oldest son, they call it “high abilities.” It’s a difficult topic. I feel ashamed to share this because it seems that all mothers say that our son is very smart, but he has a very important part in how he tolerates frustration and digests what happens to him because everything hurts him a lot. Everything hurts us a lot. The world hurts us a lot. I think that’s where I am vegetarian, for example: I wanted to kiss animals, not eat them. Everything is related to the sensitivity I have with and for others. I saw a dog under a car full of oil and I had to bend down to pick it up.
Has having high abilities allowed you to better understand the pain of others?
He said that, at that time, he was not diagnosed, but what he did receive were constant rants and calls for attention. When they proposed an exercise in class, in a minute and a half I had already solved it. Just by listening to the teacher he retained the information. And what he did then was start asking the person next to me about his life: “What did you do yesterday?” And, of course, he was annoying. He didn’t let others do their jobs. And that translated into calls to my parents. Every two years I changed centers.
He wrote a novel, ‘The twilight of the monkey that scratched the wall’, with a lot of black humor…
Yes. When it was published they called me to take it to the movies, but I turned it down. I had no idea how to do it. That’s why in 2020 I started studying screenwriting and directing. And three years later I have ventured with a story that I have written and directed. It was difficult for me to take the step, I was worried about failing… I even researched all the directors that I liked and I thoroughly searched for their first work to tell myself “allow yourself not to be a genius the first time: you are not going to make a masterpiece from the first.” Whatever you do, allow yourself to develop.”
What is your relationship with power?
I have always been very normative, I am very structured to define good and evil. I have been educated to understand and abide by the rules because otherwise the system is unviable; but also in asking myself questions, in knowing if what is established is right or not, if something is law or norm…
In the face of political power, how do you position yourself? There is always something vindictive in you…
I have a critical spirit, yes, but also empathetic. I always ask myself: “With how difficult it is to manage a house, what will it be like to manage a country?” I think it must be very difficult, especially with the tension that exists now. I am clearly leftist.
How have you managed hate messages on networks?
This goes very much in stages, there are stages in which it does not affect me at all, there are others in which it greatly affects me, especially when threats are directed at my children, which already cross the lines, and I suppose that this goes very hand in hand with the sensitivity that have at that moment… But I also receive a lot of love, positive messages, although it is true that those tend to be more private.
They reproached you for being “rich and leftist,” and you taught taxes.
It’s just that I don’t understand that those of us who have privileges – in whatever area – are required to enjoy them without looking back. Just because I have something good doesn’t mean I don’t worry about others not having it; I want good for everyone. Like you have to wear dreadlocks, without showering.
The aesthetic demands of women. Do you think it gives us insecurity?
Very much. I never understood the controversy raised at the Goya for not wearing makeup. I was absurdly nervous and it all came from a conversation at home, because, as I mentioned before, I have this sensitivity towards animals and they had to look for vegan, cruelty-free makeup, something that always causes me problems. My partner asked me why I didn’t go without makeup and imagining the situation made me so nervous that I began to wonder if the same thing happened to another partner: getting nervous about going with a clean face. “Will the same thing happen to a man who goes to a wedding or some event?” And on the other hand, women, it makes us restless and uneasy to go with our own face. I was prepared for what was going to come, for the criticism. But I thought they were going to be one of those “see, without makeup it’s not worth a penny”, and not that it was all a lie and I had makeup artists for later. I didn’t see that one coming. It was absurd. A martianade.
What was the experience of filming ‘Strange Way of Life’ with Almodóvar?
Very good. I met a very funny man, very close, who made it very comfortable for all of us, far from the image we might have of him, that he is cold or distant. I enjoyed it a lot.
Did being chosen by him give you more security as an actress?
When I arrived here in Madrid, I met him at an event, and he joked with the people he was with, saying “can you imagine I throw a video book on the floor and say “look, Pedro, you dropped that.” I think it is the dream we all aspire to.
Do you want to go out on the international scene?
Don’t know. It’s something I’ve never considered. I think it could be tried, but right now I’m more focused on directing and telling my stories.
She is united with the Betis footballer, Isco Alarcon (they announce a wedding) and on the networks they show themselves as a couple in love…
The truth is that yes: we are in a very beautiful moment, very happy.
In the world of football, girls are finally on the front line but there has always been a stronghold of machismo. For example, it seems that there are no gays
Yes, some will have come out of the closet, but very few. It is true that machismo harms men greatly, men are men because of how other men see them, they have to be demonstrating that archetypal virility, because if they go beyond what is considered virile, they will be singled out by the rest.
“If feminism doesn’t bother, it’s marketing” is a phrase of yours, what still bothers?
Any question that is going to take someone out of their comfort zone is annoying. And this happens with all social struggles throughout history. I think that if it is done in a polite, formal and careful manner it will not reach the other side.
Photographer: Pau Palacios (@pau.palacios.photo). Makeup and hair: Vicky Marcos for Charlotte Tilbury Beauty. Styling: Tam Vekic for Room Service 039. Art direction: África Colado. Production: Ester Gallén. Location: CoolRooms Villapanés Palace
