It will never stop surprising me that for a slice of bread with jam and butter and a cup of coffee served by a moody waiter in a lost alley somewhere in London one accepts to pay £5'50.
Emerging Star6_Cuestión de Suerte
Hay rodajes en los que nadie te vé, y a nadie le importas. “Necesitamos a diez: tú, tú, y yo nada”. “Otros diez” y nada de nada. Y así se puede pasar uno el día entero en la carpa de ‘las multitudes’ comiendo galletas y hablando con otros bomberos, jugadores de criquet o guerreros medievales. Y ojo, no es nada personal, no hay matemática ninguna en esto; es una pura cuestión de suerte.
Otros días ocurren cosas inesperadas como la de hoy en el set de “Ready Player Juan”, la última película de Esteban Espelbar en la que soy ser-humano#190-en-la-escalera-del-fondo más fondo. Mientras espero el “background action” se acerca el 1erAyudanteDirección para saludarme, un poco avergonzado de no acordarse bien de qué nos conocemos. No nos conocemos de nada pero le sigo la corriente y me pregunta mi nombre y le hago el chiste de LeidiGaga, y veo en su escarapela Alan y cuando me empieza a contar sobre sus vacaciones en Mallorca lo llaman por el radioteléfono.
Desde lejos Alan me indica que lo acompañe. En literalmente 1minuto he pasado de ser-humano#190-en-la-escalera-del-fondo a genio-informático#2-en-un-computador junto a los protagonistas. Muy cerquita de Esteban Espelbar. Desde ahí lo oigo todo, lo veo todo, me asignan una tarea, me maquillan entre tomas y y Alan viene de vez en cuando a contarme sobre Mallorca. Yo, eso sí, todo el tiempo en personaje para no perder la compostura mientras mis compañeros de la escalera del fondo me preguntan por señas que de qué conozco a Alan.
Al final del día me llevan a un cuarto para hacerme un escáner por si me tienen que mapear. Yo encantado. Me pagan £50,50 de más por acción especial en la escena y busco a Alan para darle las gracias y un abrazo. 1hora de tren más tarde floto desde la estación de Waterloo hasta mi lugar favorito en Firth Street donde celebro todo esto con noodles y una cerveza, porque hoy, hoy es lo más cerca que he estado de ser una estrella.
Emerging Star5_No Foreplay
Yeah! Got a casting after 5 weeks.
-(him) Hello Alasandro, thanks for coming. Sit on the chair and let's take it from where your character says:"Dunno".
Try to deliver the lines with a clear Latin American accent from NY.
-(me, sitting on the chair) Dunno what you're talking about. Please stop doing this to me.
-(him) You know where the damn thing is. Tell me, just tell me.
-(me, sitting on the chair) Stop please. Yes, I have it. Follow me.
We do the thing once again.
-(him) Thank you very much Alassandro.
And that was a casting.
Pain
I go to gay bars and dance salsa, kiss in public, have the right to get married to other men in both of the countries I belong to, but yet I am sometimes reminded that there is still a lot of intolerance going on.
And still a lot of pain as a result.
Emerging Star4_It's In Your Eyes
Hi. Name, agent, profiles.
No hands today.
Did you know that a standard person blinks 16 times per minute?
Okay, so you will now stare at the camera while I play "Eye of the Tiger". When you blink I'll turn the music off and your casting will be over.
Thank you.
Emerging Star3_Models
After many weeks of silence I was happy to hear from my agent again . She had a casting for me -stills for a new product for the treatment of psoriasis.
When I arrived everyone was handing in their composites. But wait, composite…. isn´t that something models are supposed to have?
I positioned myself strategically next to the casting director assistant to see how the guy before me executed the task. I could see him balancing on a stool making funny faces, ‘show me your smile’, click-click, ‘lift your chin’, click-click, ‘add some mystery’, waving his arms and legs in the air.
I am sure I know that face. Of course, it’s the guy in the Uniqlo ad I pass by everyday outside Mile End station.
Right before my turn the assistant to the casting director turned to me and said “It’s not easy to look great in such an absurd situation. That’s why we called professional models for this casting”
Emerging Star2_An Extra
Almost everyone -except my agent- knows that I work as an extra every now and then. It is not the greatest thing for an actor to do, but hey, it pays the bills.
As an extra you can be asked to play different situations like the bar of a casino or a dancing guest at a ball, but considering my ethnic niche in the British industry the situations I fit in are more like plebe crowds standing on the street, airports or Mexican mental health hospitals.
Today we are shooting a working class riot in a Mediterranean city and apparently it will be a long day. As an extra however, extra is all you wish for: no lunch break +£20, haircut +£15, extra hour +£16, and of course being featured will not only double your pay but rise your status to 'featured working class protestor' and appear in the credits next to Russell, Brad, or Hugh.
At times you are not even used and you spend the entire day sitting down feeling miserable. But wait, they are calling me now and I can't find my hat...oh, here it is, inside the pocket of my grey protestor coat.
Emerging Star1_Gnome
I ironed my shirt and travelled an hour to find myself inside a room full of "handsome looking men around the 40 mark with great acting skills and a naturally elegant behaviour".
They call me inside and after the usual things -name, agent, profiles, hands, availability- make me walk across the space, meet a gnome, say hello and walk away.
Twice.
Thank you very much.
At the Theatre_Playing Games
Lately I find myself very satisfied every time I go to the theatre. I think it has to do with the fact that I have progressively learned to differentiate what I might like from the rest and that's cool because it saves me a lot of money and protects my kharma.
Complicite's "Like Mother, like daughter" at Battersea Arts Centre last week explored the contrasting visions of tweleve mums and their daughters. Two nights ago Greg Wohead's "CelebrationFL" at The Yard spoke about human encounters.
What these shows had in common and made them authentically interesting was the fact that they were not about actors performing a text. They were about witnessing people react to each other while playing a game. Literally. A well designed, thoughtful, yet simple game that seemed imperceptible. And let me tell you it was fun. Lot's of fun
Kings of Convenience
Missed my Tuesday morning meditation so I popped in the cafe across the road to have breakfast.
They are playing Kings of Convenience and I can't help to be transported to my Barcelona years when I used to listen to them all the time: on my way to work, to Estudis, and to the tap jams in the park.
It feels good however to be here now, holding a nice cup of tea, feeling healthy, feeling in love and closer to being who I want to be.
Advantages of Chewing
The other night at this party I met a lady who talked to me about this documentary on the oldest man alive. Apparently he is above one hundred and ten and lives in China.
So I asked her to tell me something about him that had caused an impression on her and she promptly answered that he chew his food one hundred times before swallowing.
At the Theatre_Candoco
Last night I saw Jérôme Bel's piece 'The Show Must Go On' performed by Candoco Dance Company and it was truly evocative and mind triggering. I found it rationally driven yet deeply emotional.
The piece was simple, human, very smart, truthful and full of humour. It made me think how commonplaces highlight individuality when seen through the lens of diversity.