Miren Ibarguren, actress: “He who invented machismo created the most profitable company in the world”

Like a hardworking ant, Miren Ibarguren (San Sebastián, 43 years old) has been climbing the ranks of Spanish comedy. Like many other Basque actresses, her career began in the ETB series

Goenkale,

before jumping into film with

The Thirteen Roses

and achieving popular recognition with

Marriage Scenes

and

Aída

. Gone are the times when “at some

casting

they told me that they hadn't taken me because I wasn't good enough”, now she combines series like

Arde Madrid,

Supernormal

or

Todos mienten,

with films like

Mama o papa,

El test,

Fenómenas

o su su tomorrow Friday,

Methuselah premieres,

about forty-something rappers who enter university as students. All of the above hides the fact that two years ago her life has changed after becoming a mother. And there she starts the conversation with a sober and very kind interpreter.

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The extraordinary normality of Miren Ibarguren

Ask.

Is calling his son Rocco proof of cinephilia?

Answer.

It's a beautiful name. I love Alain Delon in that film

[Rocco and his brothers,

by Visconti], and the same goes for a boy and a girl.

Q.

In recent times you have almost talked more about motherhood than about your profession.

A.

It can, although I no longer know what is right or what is wrong. On the one hand, I don't see the point in being an actress and working for the general public that I have to show my entire life. I don't understand those who do it. Although, as long as I safeguard my son's privacy, I think I can reflect on my personal experience. However, I like to keep my privacy locked tight.

“I like to keep my privacy locked tight.”

Q.

But if relevant people talk about interesting things, topics similar to those shown in the series

Supernormal,

in which you starred, debates can be opened about dynamics that no one previously mentioned.

A.

With a profession like ours, you can have the option to open certain debates, and you can collaborate a lot in certain movements that are very necessary for the world to continue moving forward. I'm talking about the fight against

bullying

or against the mistreatment of women. There are many initiatives that prosper thanks to public faces, and I find that interesting.

Look at Ibarguren, in the series 'Supernormal'.

Q.

Choose projects based on the scripts rather than the person responsible. Are you looking to adapt to them or for them to adapt to you?

A.

I look for stories that I haven't done before, and sometimes it's not easy to find them. I believe in multicolored comedy. Not only can comedy be done with a single tone, but the one that works has many nuances. And without a good script you can't do anything. What the director doesn't do well can perhaps be fixed in the editing. What the actor doesn't do well can perhaps be retouched in post-production... But without a good script, there is nothing to do.

01:32

Trailer for 'Methuselah'

Q.

As a comedian, do you reflect on the limits of humor?

R.

There are types of humor like types of people. Each of us finds different things funny. I don't know where my limit is, but I can tell you that when that limit appears, I will know how to detect it. For now, I haven't come across it. I have sometimes rejected projects, although because I didn't like them.

Q.

At home, do you talk about how far humor can go with your partner, Alberto Caballero [co-creator of

Aqui no hay que viva, La que se cerca, El pueblo

or

Machos alfa]?

A.

Well, we do talk about it, because it is true that the limits of humor vary every day. And we like to be updated. Especially Alberto, because he writes a lot. And it's true, you look back 10 years, and jokes were told on the street that you wouldn't say right now. I think that in humor the limits are created by updating. At home, since we do the same thing...

In humor, the limits are created by updating.”

Q.

Do you take a lot of work home?

A.

We try not to. For the sake of both of us [laughs].

Q.

In

Methuselah

he enters into the problem of Peterpanism, elevating it to the bucket. No matter how many sweatshirts he wears...

A.

...age is age. Fifty is the new fifty, and forty will always be forty. We have to get out of our heads what the big multinationals want to tell us that you should stay young and buy the creams they tell you. I think

Methuselah

speaks very well of this. David Galán Galindo [director and screenwriter of this comedy] wrote the protagonist based on himself. And he remembers that he wore

hip-hop

chains

that the younger people said to him: “Where are you going with those chains? "Don't be ridiculous, at your age." His parents, the same. And then he asked himself: “When am I going to be where I want to be?” Staying true to yourself is the biggest challenge we have today in modern society. We go crazy with crazy things. In reality, we are clear about the important things. Everything else must be endured with a little more joy.

Look at Ibarguren, in Madrid.INMA FLORES

Q.

Has motherhood rearranged your list of important things?

A.

Total. My internal rumination has changed color. You go from a me, me, me, to a let's see, here we have to raise a person. It changes your mind, thank God. And you finally forget about yourself [smiles].

P.

However, in Spanish society women continue to be the caregivers.

A.

Being a woman is a real problem. Let me explain: society presents all stages of women as a problem. If you are young because you are too young. If you are 20 because you are no longer 15. If you are 30 you are no longer 20 years old. If you are 40 you are already old. If you are 50, who are you? All stages of women, if you are a mother, if you are not, if you have children, if you don't, are a problem. The one who invented machismo created the most profitable company in the world. Capitalism feeds on it. Imagine if someone blurted out now that half the population is inferior to the other half. I don't know, a sect against redheads, or that anyone with dark hair is considered an inferior being. It would seem crazy to us, right? Well, machismo is invented to get rid of half of humanity. It is so established that we don't even realize it.

Q.

Do you feel that things are changing in the Spanish audiovisual sector?

A.

It improves, yes. And it is noticeable in the female roles, which are richer, or in the age of the women who appear in the series. Two decades ago, if you appeared on the cover of

Man,

things were going to go well for you or it signaled that your career was taking off. Today it doesn't even cross our minds. Of course, little by little. According to one government, we are making some progress; with others, we retreat. With the entry of new directors come much more varied and interesting stories. Think about trans children and

20,000 species of bees.

Chiquito was a genius; “Someone who makes you laugh like that is priceless, it's a gem.”

Q.

On your Instagram there is a tribute to Chiquito de la Calzada.

A.

It's part of my childhood, like Tuesday and the 13th. Many of my memories are of things or people who have made me laugh. Chiquito was a genius; Someone who makes you laugh like that is priceless, he is a gem. And he also seems super cute to me. He will never age because he is super futuristic. The future is in the absurd, everything is in the absurd. What do we do here, on Earth? Why don't they come for us now? Oh, Alf, take me away soon.

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