Luis Zahera, from collector of luxury coats to favorite for the Goya

To learn to call, Luis Zahera had to go to New York.

After all, he couldn't be afraid of the phone if he really wanted to be an actor.

And that, according to his account, he decided the same day that his sister took him to the theater for the first time, when he was 16 years old.

It was February 12, 1982,

.

“I felt a revelation.

As if the light from the stage passed through my head, ”he recalls.

Becoming an amateur interpreter seemed easy to him.

But, then, he discovered that his head was between him and his dream: "I was afraid to go to the

.

He was not able to take the step to professional.

And I got frustrated."

It turned out that her mother had ties to the Big Apple.

A family collection paid for the visa, flight and other expenses.

And there went the young Zahera, from his native Santiago de Compostela to the other side of the ocean, in search of courage.

Before, actually, he found more prosaic things in New York.

For example, a job as a coat hanger in a fancy Italian restaurant.

And a surprise, by dint of looking in the pockets of customers: "A stuffed rabbit head!".

His journey took him to the painting or demolition of buildings, including some works in the Twin Towers.

So much so that his father, "who had a great black humor," was the first to call him when the Al Qaeda attack brought them down a decade later: "My son, you won't have anything to do with it, will you?"

But, by dint of adventures, Zahera also achieved what he was after.

Hence, upon his return, as soon as he learned that the theater director Roberto Vidal Bolaño lacked a character for his work, he did what he had never dared before: he applied.

Luis Zahera and Diego Anido in a still from the film 'As bestas'.

There are more threads that connect the beginning of his professional career with the present of a renowned interpreter, 56, who is already predicted by everyone his second Goya, for

at this Saturday's gala in Seville.

Because Vidal Bolaño made an appointment with him at a cocktail bar, he told him that the vacant role in the show was "a drunkard" and that he should give him a demonstration right there.

The patrons of the bar would hardly imagine that they were attending a

.

And, incidentally, to the first of many dark and haunting roles for Zahera.

“We start from the basis that the serious problem is not working.

But it is true that in many cases they count on me only for the villains.

They tell me: 'How wonderful to have you as a bad guy'.

It's okay, but I hope it can change too.

It may be that in Spain they pigeonhole you a bit”, he reflects.

Although perhaps the best summary is the title of the theatrical and personal monologue that the actor represents these weeks in Madrid and Barcelona:

More information

All the nominations for the Goya Awards 2023

This is also how one could define what he considers his first “important role”: in the short film

by Jorge Coira, together with Luis Tosar.

Or the corrupt businessman who gave him his first Goya, for

by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

And, of course, something shady also eats away at the Galician villager he plays in

, by the same filmmaker.

However, at the same time, his latest film also shows everything that has changed.

His theatrical intoxication barely occupied the stage for 10 minutes, after an hour and a half of work.

In his film debut,

(José Luis García Sánchez, 1987), he only had one sequence, with Paco Rabal, and a phrase, which he now recovers with a smile: “They bring his wife in a car, exposed to shame."

And even though his dialogue with Antonio de la Torre on a balcony impacted many viewers of

the film gravitated around the actor from Malaga.

Luis Zahera with the Goya for best supporting actor for 'El reino', in 2019.PACO PUENTES

In

, on the other hand, Zahera is probably the main pillar.

His is the most commented character in the film;

his a phrase that has already entered the iconography of Spanish cinema — “Are you bored, French?” — and his a talent that made his co-star Diego Anido confess in a recent interview with

: “Zahera imposed on me” .

During the conversation, the actor also displays a prodigious memory.

Every time he comments on a work from his past, he quickly retrieves the first and last names of the director and co-stars.

He remembers the fascination of the boy who suddenly acts in a movie with Ana Belén and Aurora Bautista, and even more so when the second one used words like “hullabaloo”;

He cites Shakespeare as well as a gypsy guitarist who one day enchanted him and his friends through the streets of Santiago with his music.

“He was a miraculous being.

We asked him: 'How do we have to do to reach your level?'

He answered us: 'You have to know many things.'

He stuck with me."

So he continues to apply it, to his life and his roles.

Despite his consecration, yes, Zahera's characters almost never monopolize the spotlight.

They stay close, but to one side, while another shines.

“At 22 we all want to do

, but then you realize that we can't all be protagonists.

If one falls, great, but I consider myself a secondary and happy actor ”, third.

Perhaps it is maturity, the applause received or a change of mentality.

Because the interpreter confesses a more turbulent past: “I had my egocentric moment.

I thought only I knew how to do it.

It leads you to be a problematic actor and it's absurd.

People's faces change, you become a little dictator.

I'm not saying it, but I agree: 'The devil does not exist.

It's you, your ego."

Luis Zahera, in a detail of the poster for his play 'Chungo'. User

A couple of practical examples seem to corroborate his vision.

In both, Zahera corrects himself.

First, he stops short of using the term "fundamental": "It's a very pretentious word."

And shortly after, when he notices that a phrase is unconsciously leading him to compare himself with Javier Bardem, he stops short.

His colleague by profession and cast in

on the other hand

does involve him in a prestigious comparison: "To make an exception to the ego discourse that I understand, you must at least have the talent of Bardem or Marlon Brando."

All this does not mean that Zahera has given up her ideas.

He is known for being an actor given to improvisation, to bring his own touches to his characters.

He says that he reads Mexican crime novels to strengthen his vocabulary;

that on his recent trip to Cuba he wrote down a few expressions;

or that the public's comments also serve to shape his roles.

Greater creative wealth, without a doubt;

but also more potential for conflict with directors.

“When I started, the script was untouchable.

Today there are young filmmakers who suddenly tear two pages and modify them.

You meet people who write wonderfully.

And others who do not want to vary anything, ”she reflects.

In

Sorogoyen and he found common ground: the director, with a reputation for having everything under control, was open to "changing some things," according to Zahera;

and, at the same time, he understands that his contributions would end up discarded.

What's more: the interpreter's favorite sequence was eliminated in the editing phase.

What remains on screen, however, has garnered rave reviews.

And perhaps the highest point of her film career.

He has even just done a good job, in

, an upcoming film by Pau Durà.

But success does not prevent the actor from continuing to define himself as "a work junkie."

“My father insisted that this dignifies.

Then others told me that it is not so.

But I think they instilled it in me.

When he was in New York, I also liked to paint or demolish.

I love any kind of work."

So, since he dared to call, he has not stopped going on stage or on camera.

Zahera is no longer afraid.

Now, if anything, he infuses it.

Luis Zahera, this Tuesday in Madrid.

alvaro garcia

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