• Archive.All the interviews of the 'against' of EL MUNDO

Palencia, 1975. She works as a Spaniard in Woody Allen's last Spanish film, who on the set came to 'cheer her up' by telling her that she was the "worst actress in history."

But

Elena Anaya

is proud to have worked with him at 'Rifkin's festival' (presented at the last edition of

the San Sebastián Film Festival

) even if it means that she is 'marked' by the detractors of the 'Manhattan' director.

How would you define your character in 'Rifkin's festival'? A woman with a bright career and a promising future, who has traveled the world ... but is constantly wrong. But she fervently believes in love. A character who rhymes against all winds and who chases all dreams, even if she already has a cluster of broken dreams on top of her ... I thought it was nice: a cardiologist who tries to save hearts when hers is so shattered. aware that a movie like this is viewed with a magnifying glass? For example, there are those who say that the protagonist, played by Wallace Shawn, is a slob with you - at no point did I feel that she was slimy. Neither that my character was making a mistake or giving rein for the other to make a mistake. What do you think of the current obligation to express an opinion on everything? I am a very strange person who does not feel the need to give an opinion on everything. So I don't know why others have it. She doesn't give me my life for that and I dedicate myself to other things in my free time. Personally, I am not so interested in people's opinions, unless they are people I follow and admire. I don't really understand what the point of leaving your mark wherever you go. Like the one who goes up to Annapurna and leaves her signature with a razor on a rock: But are you sub<2MASCULINE>? How are you experiencing that what surrounds 'Rifkin's festival' is more important, due to the accusations of sexual abuse against Woody Allen,. What about the movie itself? In life, and also in the cinema, there are things from the outside that have nothing to do with it and that stick so much that they eat the 'bug', they take away its importance, prominence and end. up almost killing it. It seems to me that everything that decontextualizes the art or the subject that is treated in a film is a bit out of place. Are you afraid of being 'crucified' for having participated in the film? Yes, it scares me. But that's life. When they asked me if I would work with him, I thought about it. But your case was dismissed many years ago, it seems doubly so to me, so: Why should I bring it up? Have you already noticed the consequences? I know there are many agents who would never work with me. And that there is a great movement within the 'business' in the United States, above all, that right now my name is totally off the charts, it is 'heavy' that, it seemed very unfair. Maybe I was wrong; I am not an expert nor do I analyze these matters, but my feeling is that when this man's case has been tried and dismissed twice, why should I join a movement? It's not a question of being 'cool' or activist. Why work with Woody Allen? I love my craft. And Woody Allen has called me and has chosen my person to put me at his service and make a divine character. I know the consequences can be tremendous, but I have felt 'chosen', somehow. And as to how this will make my life resonate from now on ... I'll have to take the repercussion. But I was not going to stick my head under the ground and let it be offered to someone else and shut up forever. It's time to be brave and pull forward. I have to earn a living. I have many responsibilities, but I am confident that things are not going to change as much as they might seem. In fact, I keep getting offers. What is it like to age on screen after 26 years of career? It makes me very melancholy. I see myself so small bringing out so many complicated characters. It is wonderful and it has brought me a lot of happiness. And I am deeply grateful to the universe and to the gods that they have let me work with so many great people, and may it continue to do so. But it is also a complicated path. I do not know if one day I will go crazy and start to have millions of things, but at the moment I do not use a moisturizer. I love eating very healthy and doing yoga and gyrotonic. But yes: I would love to be able to grow old on screen, take on what life and experience give, and the learning that is to grow up. All the things that living and being in contact with reality mean. I hope many years go by and I get a lot of wrinkles and blemishes on my face. Why does Spain have a love-hate relationship with its artists, writers, actors ...? They are admired and then denigrated and vice versa. I don't get used to that. It paralyzes me a bit, I am struck by the lack of common sense of people. And the lack of respect. But we must give more value to the majority, who do appreciate what they do. Those that are exceptions are not even nameable. Why do I have so many questions for you about Covid-19? It is the result of a need to want to know what the other thinks. Whether you admire it or hate it. When something as immense and devastating as a pandemic occurs at this level, I also asked myself many questions, and were there answers? What can one answer to oneself in this case? Every day the number of people killed by Covid was such that I imagined planes full of people crashing. I have had a very bad time and I have tried to cope in the best way possible, adapting my sadness, my great concern and my consternation for the people who have unfortunately lost their lives and for so many who are having such a bad time, for all the havoc, for all the famine it is causing. And how have you coped? Being fully aware that you had to stay at home, where you live, and not where you would like to be. And put on the mask and not take it off. Or not wear it on your chin because it bothers you and you smoke a cigarette in the street. Or not spit on the side. Those kinds of things that people keep doing that continue to cause me a lot of discomfort and worry. Is optimism a useful attitude these days? Being optimistic is not being unconscious. It is to put your grain of sand. For example, I wanted to buy a car for the first time in my life, at 45 years old, because of schools and all these things. So I bought an electric one to move with renewable energy and not destroy the planet anymore. Each one has to contribute whatever it is. What else? Fight for a collective, not to be increasingly individualistic. Do what is within my power: if it is to think of others, I will do it; If it is to take care of the environment, I will do it; If it is to vote when it is my turn to vote, I will. This pandemic is wreaking havoc, as always, on the most vulnerable. And those of us who live in this part of the world forget very quickly. So it is a time to be very aware and awake. If not, we are going to eat each other, as in 'The road'. Is there a positive way out of this? It's not that everything is going to be okay. The thing is fatal. In fact, friends from abroad send me very worrying messages, as always happens in Spain. Because we live in a bubble and we have representatives of society, which are politicians ... Look, I don't want to be cried out for talking about politics too, but I really miss the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, who for me she is the only mayoress we have had in so many years. A person who spoke from the heart and cared for everyone. Besides as a citizen, what can you do as an actress to help? Reject projects that I would not like to see. I always have, but especially now. I am more sensitized with what we show. And art can be very healing, but also very destructive.

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Know more

  • Final interview

  • movie theater

  • Woody Allen

CineElena Anaya: "Art should not have gender or skin color ... We must fight for equality, but without quotas"

San Sebastian Festival Rifkin's Festival: the laziest version of Woody Allen opens the San Sebastian Festival

The final interviewPepón Nieto: "What people like the most is being able to become a policeman for a day"

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