The legendary Argentine actor Héctor Alterio died this Saturday at the age of 96 in Madrid, where he lived decades ago. His final scene, true to his style, was full of emotion and part of the Spanish series “His Majesty”which premiered in February of this year and in which his son Ernesto was one of the protagonists.
“It’s like a pearl, a detail and, well, it made me very excited,” he said. Ernesto Alterio when they asked him a while ago about the scene between his father and Anna Castillo, the other protagonist of the series.
Héctor Alterio played an old man who has a dialogue with Princess Pilar (Anna Castillo) in a scene full of emotion and humor. The two chat while sitting in a huge armchair in the middle of a modern, half-empty living room.
“It is the credit of Luis San Narciso, the casting director, who suggested it and suddenly the thing came together and everyone liked it,” said Ernersto Alterio about the emergence of the possibility that his father could be part of the series.
And he emphasized that “all the people on the team were very supportive and made sure everything went well.”
“The audience, my audience”: Héctor Alterio’s last dialogue and advice to the Crown Princess
In the preview of the final scene, the old man played by Héctor Alterio has a brief dialogue with Guillermo (his son Ernesto), Princess Pilar’s secretary. Guillermo is annoyed by the princess’s character and Alterio, smiling, makes a joke and approaches her, who was sitting in an armchair and refused to attend an event where she was supposed to hand out medals and welcome Spanish artists.
-Héctor Alterio: It’s normal to be afraid.
-Princess Pilar: I’m not afraid
-HA: Since it’s also normal for you to deny it. I always say that I’m not afraid before I go on stage. Will you say a few words?
-PP: This thing you’re doing is coming up to me and saying four nice things to convince me to stay. I really appreciate it, but I have more important things to worry about.
-HA: One time I had to go on stage straight after a call from the hospital. My mother, very serious. I look at the stands. What do I see?
-HA: The public, my public. I went out, did the show, called the hospital and they told me my mother had died. We both know how hard this is. The difference is that your audience is the whole country and your theater is the whole country. What you need to do can wait, and if it can’t wait, it must be done
-HA: Have you changed your mind?
Alterio, whose emblematic appearances in The official storywho won the Oscar; The bride’s son, Wild horses or the series Winds of waterAmong many other productions, it became a landmark of cinema and television. He had lived in Spain since 1975, when he went into exile.
In February of this year he made another trip to Spain with his autobiographical work a little story. And he explained: “I still enjoy entertaining others on stage. When I do that, I still feel like a king. At 95 years old, I am already humbly surrendering to life like in tango.”
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