When Pedro Alonso (Vigo, 52 years old) was just over 30 years old, he thought that his career in the world of acting was over. Now he is the protagonist of Berlin (premiering Friday the 29th on Netflix). Because even though we witnessed the death of his character in Money Heist, it affected the public so much that we had to find a way to restore him. The conversation at the Netflix offices in Madrid started about his new series and eventually moved into more philosophical directions. “I am a transcendent calling,” he says.
Questions. How is Berlin different from the one we saw in Money Heist?
Answer. I feel like Alex [Pina] and Esther [Martínez Lobato, creadores de la serie] They put us in a wormhole and we emerged in another universe. The most sensitive question was what the tone of the series was and for me that this development did not undermine the DNA of the character, but that this DNA did not represent a burden to dare to play her. It has tested me greatly, but it has been a constant in everything that has happened to me on this adventure. The character was alive, he pushed some very interesting buttons in terms of danger, density, that murky energy, and he sets off on a journey to something lighter, brighter and younger. It's complete absurdity. No one could have written a progression of this caliber if we hadn't worked toward the unknown. Stylistically it was very delicate, an exercise in walking a tightrope. But I crave encouragement and a good conversation, and we've had some of that this year.
Q I don't doubt it? There is always the danger of dying from success. He is a character who died, then returned and is now the protagonist…
R. I was least worried about making him the protagonist. I know there were concerns, he's a very special character who is almost always on the sidelines, but if we put him at the center, will it be too much? In my case, the doubt had more to do with whether the dragon could lose its connection to the ground and why take on this character when we transformed it into something else. In the first month and a half of filming there was a moment of great dizziness, there was a very critical week. But then I felt like it clicked, and at that point I know the character had the energy to take it further. Now I think I could incorporate Berlin into a Shakespeare film and it would work.
Tristán Ulloa and Pedro Alonso, in the second episode of “Berlin”. TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX
Q What is your relationship to Berlin? Do you like him?
R. It's disgusting. The other day they asked me if I would have a drink with Berlin, and one drink yes, but two drinks no. One yes, because I'm curious and try to be open to any kind of experience, but when you do two you already know what you're getting into. He is unimaginable, indecent, perverted, selfish, narcissistic, emotional terrorist, liar, manipulator… it's the worst. But he's always looking for a moment of real emotion and sometimes he gets it. And of course, narratively speaking, it's a goldmine. I surprise myself with what I feel in the character. It's a total ambivalence. Fiction is not there to catechumenize anyone, it is there to evoke feelings. It is a reflection of our misery and our greatness, our worries and our sadness, which also allows us to take paths that one would not normally dare to take.
Q What did a hit like “La casa de papel” mean for your career?
R. Over the past few years, I have had time to strongly affirm that life is made of cycles and there is no way to predict where a person's life will go. I am determined to break the system of expectations because it serves no purpose. I live anchored in the present, often full of wonder. I know it can happen quickly because my memory is very short, but it has given me the opportunity to travel, meet incredible people, say no, say no again and say no again a lot.
Fiction is not there to catechumenize anyone, it is there to evoke feelings
Q What a luxury.
R. Absolutely. I don't just want to become the Dalai Lama, but I haven't done it at all by prioritizing money. I have stability and I'm looking at what I can invest it in, namely in growth, in my own work. And it gave me a stability that allowed me to explore a completely different side, a more independent, spiritual journey. It opened up a world of possibilities for me and also presented me with very challenging problems. Because the energy movement was very strong at times. And no one teaches you that, with this level of stress, this level of pressure. But that's neither good nor bad, it depends on what you make of it. I try to take care of it in the way that best suits my way of being in the world, and then I disappear and do other things.
The actor Pedro Alonso, protagonist of the series “Berlin”, in the Netflix offices in Madrid. INMA FLORES
Q It hit him when he was almost 50 years old. Did that help?
R. I've had time to realize that age and experience don't guarantee stability in the face of something like this. I've seen some who I thought were going to be overwhelmed but weren't, and others who seemed super balanced and were really crazy people. But more than age, it has caught me in a cycle of my life where I have worked a lot and my priorities have led me to see it from a distance and have protocols to deal with it and not assume that it is already there. I know that will happen, I don't mean to condescend that entertainment is more or less than nothing… It's up to you to turn something into wealth or into your grave and I'm trying to turn it into a garden. And this is work, it requires a lot of attention.
Q What was the craziest thing you experienced at La casa de papel?
R. Being in the jungle in the Amazon for two months and having someone looking for you. That the culture minister of Turkey persecuted me because Erdogan wanted to take photos with me. Crazy things happened to me, they seemed like a hidden camera. I'm a guy who doesn't have access to places… And the next day, Erdogan's culture minister is on the hunt for you. Life is a joke.
La casa de papel gave me the opportunity to travel, meet incredible people, say no, say no again and say no a lot more.
Q And all of this with a series that has already ended.
R. Yes, yes, we had completely mourned. But since I've been dead, things keep happening to me.
Q He has sometimes said that he has suffered several work-related deaths.
R. When I was in my early thirties I said the train had passed me by and it was never coming back. Ruined, with a four-year-old daughter and no clear perspective that would make me think I could get back in there. But even though it was a terrible year, from memory it was one of the most interesting years of my life. It forced me to reset and start in a different place. Life is falling apart. It assumes that life is made up of cycles. And then it is important to take care of your own garden, to know what your garden is, what you see and what you don't see, what wealth means. Wealth means that you find your garden, that it is healthy, that there is physical health and relationship health in your environment, that you know how to say “no” and say “no” again and say it as many times as necessary. I have fewer and fewer certainties. I try to be more open and flexible to recognize the signs.
Pedro Alonso, in a picture from the series “Berlin”.TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX
Q How did you get out of that rut?
R. There are two tools that have accompanied me ever since. One is meditation and the other is painting, which is basically the same thing. I meditate a lot, I paint a lot, I transform my work into something that passes through my hands, I paint, I organize my house, I clean my bathroom, I take my bike, I go get bread… I try to let it go my life look as I understand it: a real life.
Q Haven't you been too fascinated by playing in Berlin since 2017?
R. The character is an incredible gift narratively. Vertigo has been the energetic commitment to date, but creatively it hasn't raised any doubts in my mind. And while I've published a novel, I've been a producer, I've written a non-fiction series, I've traveled a lot, I live simply, I continue to write non-fiction, I want to write a screenplay… There are actors who say, “I want to different things.” Well, not me, I want it to have chicha. Showing that you are very versatile is not my priority. It's not my obsession to prove anything. I am interested in communication, I love it. I hope I continue to find the space to continue to grow and renew myself. The other thing… Everything can fall into the hands of the ego, but I don't want to demonstrate, I want to learn and develop.
Q If you could go back in time and meet Pedro Alonso, who was in his early thirties and thought his career was over, what would you say to him?
R. [Piensa un largo rato] I would tell him that he needs to have love for himself. I probably wouldn't have understood it. Look, I say it and I'm excited. A lot of what we do isn't for us, it's because I want them to love me because I think it's okay… we live a vicarious life, and that's a lack of self-esteem . You must learn to love yourself and love what is hidden in this mountain of learned ideas, beliefs, aspirations and ambitions that are not yours. Find out who is under this pile of rubble and tell them, “I love you and will do whatever you want for you.” This is why I often rationalize the success story, because success is a projection of what success will be should. I appreciate this cheap thing and that people see this, but this isn't a success, it's an entelechy. I would say, 'Who are you? Love yourself'.
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