Carmen Maura: “What I like best about work is being close to home”

He received four Goya awards for his achievements in cinema. He made people laugh in “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” by Pedro Almodóvar, he made people cry with “Ay Carmela” by Carlos Saura and now Carmen Maura is scaring people with her latest film: “Vieja loca”, written and directed by the Argentinian Martín Mauregui, who stars alongside Daniel Hendler, Agustina Liendo and Emma Cetrángolo.

She is one of the European actresses who has won the most international awards and in this case has already added a new award for Old Crazy. He received a special mention at the Mórbido Film Fest in Mexico. He arrived in Argentina where he assures that he is having a great time despite the twelve-hour flight in support of this film being released in cinemas. Here he awaits his next participation in the Spanish series Furia, which is entering its second season.

—What was it like filming horror?

-Fun. There was more play than ever before. I was very surprised when I saw the film because I saw myself as a different person and said, “But what an idiot…” because I didn’t know what I was doing because I was having a great time. What I remember most about this shoot is the great time. Firstly, because I was with Martín (Mauregui), the director who loved me, adored me and we had rehearsed a lot. He told me, “More like this, more elevated and I gave him total attention.” Because I understand very well what a director wants. And then I was with Daniel (Hendler), who is charming, very sweet and also humorous, so I could tell him everything and he put up with everything and always laughed. And that helped me a lot. Daniel was a great support to me during filming as there were many shots where he helped me get up from the floor. He worked with me in many moments.

—You emphasized the sense of humor. Is it very important? Do you have it?

– Yes, it comes out on its own, but without wanting it. Often, even when I’m studying. Now I’m preparing for my next performance and suddenly I’m laughing alone. But when I arrive on set, you’ll never see me laughing at a joke. Maybe people laugh at something, but I remain completely serious. The good thing about having a sense of humor is not saying, “Now I’m going to be funny.” But I’ve never been in a film with so much blood and punches.

—Was there any prior preparation for playing Alicia?

—Yes, I did a lot of weight training for three months to gain strength, so I had them during filming. I’ve made a serious commitment to lifting weights at the gym Monday through Friday. This is how I discovered the world for older people, because they help to maintain balance better and strengthen the muscles. I don’t like gymnastics at all, I just love swimming and doing Pilates exercises. Now that there are so many trips and festivals, I’ve given up on it a bit, but as soon as I get back to Madrid I’ll do it three times a week again. I stay in the gym for three hours, between weights and swimming.

—Are you very methodical?

—I take my work very seriously. For example, when it comes to preparing it well, I am very demanding of myself. Just as filming seems like a game to me, preparing it doesn’t seem like that to me, and I also feel a heaviness when I have to memorize something. Now I’m studying my next role. I will star in the second season of the series Furia, written and co-directed by Félix Sabroso. I will be the mother of Nat’s character (Candela Peña). Due to the success of this first season, they will record the second.

—What makes you take on a project? Last year, “Como el mar” by Nicolás Gil Lavedra premiered here, in which you were particularly involved.

– Yes, Zoe Hochbaum asked me, I knew her and liked her very much. Then I found out that Sofía Gala would be there, a wonderful actress. I admire her deeply. So the three of us had a great time while I was in Uruguay, a country I didn’t know. I also found it a very nice and friendly place. To film now, I choose more and more what I want. There was a time when I had to work, but at that moment, for example, the person I have to obey, the director, is already telling me a lot. This is fundamental. Sometimes I can say yes because I like the director so much, it gives me so much tenderness that he wants me to do his film so much. It depends on how it touches my sensitive part. On the Fury series, for example, we are several women and each works for fifteen days because we have different stories that intertwine.

—And the theater?

—When I started, I learned a lot at Café Theater and worked on impossible things. My school was hard, I never took a class or anything, you learn so much working in different fields. I went down the stairs with feathers.

—In Spain you premiered the play La golondrina by the Catalan Guillem Clúa, there are only two characters. Is this your return to the stage?

“I premiered it in Madrid, we took it to other Spanish cities and then I wrote the French version and we did it in Paris with the actor Grégori Baquet. I really enjoyed doing it. We got along really well with this artist and, above all, we did a different show every day. This had never happened to me before. Suddenly, instead of going to the right, you go to the left and the other person knows how to react to you, also a loud sequence, you say it quietly and the partner follows you on stage. Yasmina Reza, who directed me in a film, came to us and complimented me on my accent. But I don’t know whether I will do theater again or not because after this experience I have become very demanding when it comes to the stage.

—You studied philosophy and literature at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris…

—Yes, and I graduated as a simultaneous French interpreter from the Catholic Institute of Paris, based in Madrid. That was until I was twenty, then I got married.

—Is that why you live between Paris and Madrid?

—Now I go less and less, I’m lazy, Paris has changed a lot after COVID. Ultimately it was always an unfriendly city, but I got used to it and have my little apartment. But right now, what I want most about work is being close to home.

—Did your relationship with Argentine cinema begin with Valentin de Agresti in 2004?

—Yes, Valentín was a beautiful film with Alejandro Agresti, a somewhat insufferable director, but the film was wonderful. I can say it because everyone knows it. I admit that Valentine seemed very beautiful to me and the child who is no longer a child was wonderful (Rodrigo Noya). While filming we became close friends, we protected each other because we had to protect ourselves. He’s a bit difficult to work with.

— Does the success in Latin America seem strange to you?

—No, not in Latin America, it seems strange to me to be successful in the USA, because Americans are much more demanding. We had very good reviews with Vieja loca in Malaga and Sitges. This is a film for people who like horror, and there are many who love it. In Spain, for example, young people are generally passionate about horror and there are several specific festivals.

—Next projects?

– The closest thing to me is my role in the Fury series. You never know what I’m going to do because I read everything they send me, even the short films. Of course, to make a short film I would have to love it. Now more than ever is the time to do what you want. With age, whatever you want. I don’t go to dinners or parties that don’t attract me.