Clara Lago and Antonio de la Torre, presenters of the Goyas: "It's strange. We are neither presenters nor are we funny"

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If it were a boxing gala, not exactly a fight, the presentations could be as follows.

In the right corner, with 14 Goya nominations and twice overall winner, the actor who moves the fastest, who speaks the fastest and who says the word fast the fastest, the only one,

On the left, with at least eight surnames, all Basque:

, the earliest interpreter with a single nomination achieved when she was barely 13 years old

"It's strange. We are neither presenters nor are we funny," says the first, the second agrees with him and who knows if the statement does not also include the presentation of the presenters in this paragraph.

What we were going to

They are in charge of presenting the Goya gala next Saturday.

They will do it as they are, perhaps the best representatives of the two souls of the industry.

If the cinema was born at the same time as a business and as an art, as popular entertainment and as a method for reflection and one's own thought, few are as suitable.

And not necessarily exclusively.

If the awards are the depositories of prestige, De la Torre can boast of being

(even above Javier Bardem) and Lago is, for the moment, the interpreter who has brought the most Spaniards to the cinema thanks to

and its Catalan sequel.

It would be unfair to classify them and, in fact, both popularity and recognition equal them.

But it is not convenient to allow reality to spoil another paragraph.

The second tells that the first time she was aware of what that could be about the Goyas, she was a girl.

And '

' girl.

"I think I remember that it was a year before they nominated for 'Carol's trip'. I was at home watching the gala and I remember that Juan José Ballesta won it. In some way, I felt identified with him. At the next gala, he was I was the one in his place... It's funny, and we'll make jokes about it on Saturday, but

because she wouldn't have the minimum age according to the new regulations", she says while acknowledging that, despite not winning the statuette of yore then, she felt like a winner for simply seeing a dream come true: "That day I met Penélope Cruz and, to me at the time, that was much more important than anything in the world."

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The story of De la Torre is another.

And 'a lot' another.

He was at the Goya before always being, year after year... at the Goya.

His colleague Alberto San Juan ("we are more than just friends from the journalism school") invited him to watch, attentively, the 'No to war' ceremony on February 1, 2003, perhaps the most famous of all since the Goyas are Goyas.

"I experienced all of that as an intruder. With a lot of excitement, but nothing more than as a voyeur who was surprised by all that. It was all a mixture of curiosity and pride.

And here, the surprise: Wasn't it in 2003 when Clara Lago was nominated for her at the age of 13?

_

!

That is to say, before they met, before they even knew that they were going to be what they have finally been, Clara Lago and Antonio de la Torre were there, at the Goya Awards, not exactly together, but almost.

"The truth is that I was very young and I have to confess that I didn't find out anything. I think I was even scared a little by so much commotion with the banners, the badges and all that... but what I really remember is what Penélope Cruz", comments Lago to settle the question and the surprise.

Antonio says that for a moment, when since '

' (2007) his name appeared season after season among the candidates, he got bored.

He says it jokingly, be careful.

"It's strange, the first nomination you live with the greatest of joys, as is logical.

But then you get to get mad at applauding gala after gala how others take it, " he says and insists on the joke ("That later everything is misinterpreted").

And he continues:

. "

Another joke.

And so until in 2019 with

he won it again.

Lago, on the other hand, was selected once... and that's it.

"I can't feel mistreated at all. This is going to be one of the '

' recurring on Saturday. It is a commonplace to say that it is already a privilege to live in a profession in which only 8% have a job, but it is true It's like that. I don't have '

', but I have public recognition. I have the feeling that a film like

' did something important: it

he affirms convinced and declaredly happy (the latter is witnessed by the laugh with which he ends each statement).

Well looked at, the two are even more united.

Not only her position, let's say, equidistant with the awards and her debut at the Goya, but also her attitude towards life.

Do they consider themselves committed actors?

"We live in a time in which, thanks to the networks, you will always find someone who is against anything and people who are offended by anything you say or do. It is irremediable," Lago replies.

And he continues: "I know that politics is everything and, therefore, I prefer to say that I am not interested in parties than to say that I am not interested in politics. What happens is that instead of criticizing anything, I prefer to work and promote good emotions : empathy, generosity, solidarity... That's why I've set up a foundation.

For De la Torre the matter is simpler if possible.

"It's always good to use popularity, which comes to you for free, for a good cause. They call me and tell me if I want to collaborate with this and that. If I see it as good, I do it. But you realize that it's not so much what You think like what others think you think. I don't know if I understand myself".

Pause, "I can only say that as the father of children in a public school, what I think of many things is the same as that of many of the parents of my children's classmates. The difference? Well, what I say comes out published or picked up by a microphone. I don't feel more committed than any person... than any committed person.

. And there he leaves it.

Be that as it may, both are aware that this year's gala has something different from all the others.

And we are not talking about another war, but about an outbreak.

Spanish cinema is in luck, thanks to international awards and its very acceptable run at the box office, and who knows if it isn't already walking a new path;

a new cycle.

A piece of information: for the first time there are more female directors nominated for best film than male directors.

"All this is very subjective, but it is true that the fact that women are more and more protagonists has changed everything," says De la Torre, without missing the opportunity to formulate a wish (not a plea):

.

Lago looks further up (or further, depending on): "The truth is that the Metoo has changed everything. It has transformed the perspective and I notice how women not only appear in the direction, but that there are more and more of them in the filming in all positions. For the rest, and in the darkest part, it is clear that

That is the problem and that is what has to change until it levels out ".

Thus, Clara Lago and Antonio de la Torre, a couple, whoever wins, ready for a technical KO.

----

*Funny, popular, generous, supportive, animal lover, non-judgmental, loyal to her friends and vegan.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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