“Remember your teachers, the teacher who inspired you to do something,” says Adriana Barraza in a promotional video for The Last Wagon, her latest film project, released via her Twitter account. She remembers them. He mentions Mrs. Lolita, his elementary school teacher, who knew how to reach out and give him love in a difficult moment. He also mentions director and producer Sergio Jiménez, who died in 2009 and is a “master of generations”; and Alejandro González Iñárritu, a teacher “within what work is” and whom he also considers a friend since he gave him a first in Amores perros (2000) and later in Babel (2006), a film that made him worthy Chance was 21 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
After her recent role as the teacher Georgina in Mexican director Ernesto Contreras’ “El último vagón”, Barraza (Toluca, 67 years old) doesn’t hesitate to show her gratitude after empathizing with a character that prevented her from doing the to read the script. “I finished reading and cried. Tears mean nothing, right? Because it’s very easy to buy drops and pretend to cry. No. It’s a really beautiful story, told in a way that isn’t overly melodramatic. Ernesto has a point of view on filmmaking that I really like. You can talk about very difficult topics. He treats his characters as beings who, in addition to vices, also play a very important human role,” tells the actress EL PAÍS.
Contreras’ new film, which won the Sundance Best Dramatic Film award for Sueño en otro lengua (2017), introduces little Ikal and his family who live on a railroad that runs across the country. At his final stop, Ikal meets Chico, a rebellious boy; Valeria, a very intelligent girl; Tuerto, another boy belonging to the railroad community, and Quetzal, a non-bred dog who chooses him as his new owner. The four friends are students of Georgina, a steadfast teacher who will do anything for her students with what little she has. Together, they will make Ikal feel like he belongs in a place for the first time.
“The Last Wagon” is the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ángeles Doñate, whose original text is inspired by a Mexican teacher who teaches in a school wagon. The school carriages are a holdover from the golden age of the national railway network in the 1920’s. These schools provided educational support primarily to the children of workers who, like Ikal, depended on traveling around the Republic. “Together with Ernesto, I realized that Georgina has a lot of what I am as a teacher. Discipline, but also a very loving part and, very importantly, optimism for the future. “It’s a very upbeat film because it speaks very well to the possibility that man has to make the best choices,” he adds.
Inspired by Konstantín Stanislavski, Barraza, who studied for two years at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences before switching her profession to acting – her true calling since she was 15 – is guided by the teachings of the Russian pedagogue, who is a lecturer and drama teacher and draws on what he calls “the knowledge of the human heart” for his roles. “Every human experience is within you, because not only have you lived, but you’ve also watched films, seen an aunt, a grandmother, a friend go through situations, you’ve gone to an exhibition and looked at a painting that makes you… has inspired. The whole accumulation of experiences makes you think about certain things. It’s the knowledge of life that you have, and that’s what I’m using in this case.
Mexican actress Adriana Barraza during a fragment of the film “El Último Vagón”. Alejandro Lopez Pineda (Netflix / EFE)
Barraza, who has a history of more than 60 film, television and theater projects in Mexico, the US and Europe, doesn’t think this is a minor role. It places no limitation on whether it is a lead, supporting or supporting role, on the contrary, it focuses on the empathy with the character and what she contributes, albeit minimally, to the overall picture of the story. It was this work philosophy that led her to share the stage with actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Robert Duvall or to work with Guillermo del Toro or Sam Raimi. At 67, she is not short of work and her age was not a constraint like other fellow actresses who are cast into certain roles or no longer considered fit for certain roles.
“I see this situation with great pain. I remember reading when I was nominated for an Oscar that Judi Dench said with great sadness that there was no more work for her. I said ‘Wow! What to expect when a great like Judy Dench is short of work? Luckily I can say that I didn’t miss it, but of course I’m aware that it’s very difficult for actresses to be pigeonholed and that after a certain age there are no more jobs,” says Barraza.
With the leap to Hollywood and other international markets, which he dared 17 years ago after his participation in Babel, he was pleased to see that, in addition to leading roles, other actors such as Tenoch Huerta or Pedro Pascal were also able to take this important step and in important productions such as “Black Panther: Wakand Forever” or “The Last of Us” and that the stereotypical roles portrayed by Latino actors and actresses as criminals, gardeners or domestic workers have been partially abandoned.
As an example, he cites the case of Blue Beetle, the DC superhero film – another of his upcoming projects – which has a large Mexican ensemble or Mexican descent, such as Xolo Maridueña, Elpidia Carrillo, George López or Damián Alcázar. “That’s what the director asked for. [Ángel Manuel Soto] and of course Warner when it comes to Jaime Reyes the Blue Beetle. I think that there are many paradigms that have been broken and others that have not yet and that work is being done,” he specifies.
Barraza had a busy agenda. Although he doesn’t want to stop working and retains a lot of energy and drive, he says the passion is still 100%, but he feels the energy isn’t the same anymore. “I get tired. A lot of things in my body hurt, no matter how much you diet or exercise. I’m not trying to rush everything, I’m trying to manage things better,” she admits, for that reason she’s picky about her roles, but still, like she said, small roles don’t exist for her.
Adriana Barraza at the St. Regis Hotel in Mexico City on May 24th. Aggi Garduño
Another example of this is his participation in the short film El tesoro. This production, a tribute to the seeking mothers – directed by David Rodríguez Estrada – will premiere in the first week of June, first at the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival and later in Guadalajara. “It’s an issue I wanted to address, to speak specifically about the seeking mothers in Mexico. The short film is much more difficult than a film because you have to say something with emphasis in a very short time. Giving a three-hour speech is not the same as giving a 15-minute speech. David, who is extremely talented, has found an extremely talented and creative way to speak about this issue of violence that has long plagued our country,” says the actress.
Barraza also has a supporting role in the film Mónica, opposite Patricia Clarkson, about a trans woman at a crucial crossroads. Her boyfriend wants to leave her and she is forced to return home to take care of her terminally ill mother, whom she has not seen since she was a child. The film is in theaters in the US, but the actress hopes it will be released in Mexico soon.
For now, Barraza will be taking a break from his work schedule in June to be able to spend time with his family, but that won’t last long as he returns to the ring with new projects in July. Surviving cancer and surviving two heart attacks have taught him to “relax a little”, but even after more than 50 years of work he still has the desire to do things. “We need to be with family as much as possible. Life perspective changes with age, don’t think so, sometimes not even with diseases as serious as cancer, which of course changes them, but age tells you, I think you have to stop here a little and also be more together with those who we love,” he concludes.
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