“A profession as volatile as that of an actor causes great mental instability”

– Ana, you are part of “Reflection of a commitment”, a beautiful project that unites art, solidarity and hope. What prompted you to participate?

-What pushed me to participate in this project is the commitment and beauty it exudes, uniting art, support and everything that means. Also because every time they wanted to count on me for a cause or an action in terms of support against breast cancer, I was always there.

-Twelve years of collaboration have already passed between Solán de Cabras and the Spanish Cancer Association. How do you perceive this continuity and this commitment?

-I perceive it as a truly faithful and very honest relationship. I think that today, in the way the world is a little preoccupied with the question of causes, of brands, it seems that everything is sometimes a little superficial, that everyone is with a very rapid consumer interest… The fact that Solán de Cabras and the Spanish Association against Cancer have been collaborating for so many years and strengthening their relationship shows that it goes beyond the immediacy of the impacts.

-The book pays tribute to those who accompany. Is there a personal or close story that brought you particularly close to this cause?

-Well yes, the truth. In my maternal family, we experienced it very closely, with my grandmother, who had breast cancer and died. She has always been very present, particularly in terms of checks, paying a lot of attention and a lot of prevention to all the women in my family: my mother, my sister, me… since I was very young. For us, prevention and controls are very, very important.

-Often, when we talk about cancer, we think of the disease, but this project highlights support. What have you learned by accompanying and allowing yourself to be accompanied?

-I think that accompanying, being at your side, is super important, because of the energy that is transmitted. Listening and sometimes even silence are fundamental aspects both for the person experiencing the illness and for the family member, partner or friend who accompanies them. But I also believe a lot in the energy and courage that is formed in the face of illness, stress and all kinds of things.

-In a world where image is essential, “Reflection of a commitment” suggests looking at ourselves with more empathy. What does the mirror reflect back to you at this stage of your life?

-At this stage of my life, my reflection in the mirror gives me more wisdom, more serenity, more putting on the table and on the scales what gives me peace and compensates me, what is not… That everything in life, obviously, has a sacrifice and that we cannot have everything constantly. And maybe when I was younger, I prioritized work, success, career, going out more… But today and at my age, I prioritize other things: calm, mental health, travel, family, my dogs, my home, being healthy and having that peace of mind both mentally and physically.

-How do you take care of your emotional and mental health, beyond screens and cameras?

-I take care of her with therapy, I eat delicious things, I sleep a lot when I don’t have to get up early to work, I hug and give lots of kisses and cuddles to my dogs, I surround myself and look for people so I can laugh a lot – I think laughter is like shots of those dietary supplements that are so popular now. For me, laughter is like taking four food supplements: I take care of it with music, by going to the cinema, by watching series, I take care of it by painting pictures, and here where I live, in nature, by listening to the birds and looking at a tree. I prioritize my emotional and mental health by trying to be in the present as much as possible.

-What personal projects are you working on at the moment?

Right now, I’m on a personal project to look at everything I’ve built over the last few years and be proud of it. That despite everything that is happening in the world, despite the work, the difficulties of a profession as volatile as that of an actor, with moments when you work a lot, and others when you don’t work, this causes you a lot of mental instability. There are times when we are afraid, or on the contrary we are sometimes saturated with so much work…

I had years of a lot of work that caused me a lot of stress, but also a lot of change, personal and difficult things that I experienced… and that made me focus a little more on solving and moving forward. Now, from time to time, anxiety appears, because it is something that is there and that is part of all of us, and it appears when it should appear, because precisely it tells you that everything is not okay and that you have to look at things and get them out of this trash.

-In networks, you appear very natural and close. What role does authenticity play today, both professionally and personally?

Yes, I have always been very natural. I’m not the type to sell, to speculate, to create morbidity… I haven’t done strange or scandalous things either. And when sentimental things have happened to me, I have always taken them naturally into the public life that I have.

And thanks to this naturalness and kindness, I believe that I have always been very respected by the press and the public, and this is something that allows me to live very peacefully.

-If you had to dedicate an illustration from the book to someone special, who would it be and why?

Well, I guess I would dedicate it to my mother, for always being a fighter with everything: with her children, with her job as a teacher, with everything she overcame, with the loss of my grandmother, her mother, with breast cancer, as I said before. This level of how she overcame that, putting all this love into her children, how she raised us, how she was always so fun and enjoyed life so much.

-If you could send one message to everyone who fights or supports someone who does, what would it be?

If I could send a message, I would say that I have a lot of faith in the mind related to physical health and, of course, mental health. I have a lot of faith in the human mind, in the development of many things that we have inside through thoughts, feelings, dreams, the unconscious, desires, what we project, what we feel, the words we say…

So, regarding the theme of diseases, and in particular cancer, my message would be a bit like this: the power of the mind, of laughter, of love and the feeling of this love through nature, the air, the sea, a mountain, animals, the love of family, the love of friends… I think it is the most powerful and that which transcends time, space and everything, as Christopher Nolan explains well in Interstellar, the film.