It is microwave heated in the canteen of the Ateneo de Madrid, where we chat, and directly from the crematorium in the beautiful library of the learned home, where, later, the video is recorded with a digital version of this interview. Rubén Cortada — tall, wind-blown fur and a shirt open mid-chest, as one might expect from the archive photo — sweats profusely under the spotlight, without valid metaphors, but he has the vision for it. Does not lose a second or the aim of the camera nor the object of matter. Perhaps her childhood and adolescence in torrid Cuba, and her years as a catwalk supermodel, peeling off the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer, helped her suffocate the image and image of the best designers in the world. Interpreter of the famous Farouk, the bad guy of the series Prince, returns to the scene after gaining so much popularity after a sudden absence of three years that almost, he could not hit the street without rioting. Let’s get into trouble.
where was he?
Later Prince I added several successful chains: what did her eyes hide, Elms and Oaks… I was in a very sweet moment, but, in those moments, my father passed away, very young, the man I wanted to be. And two years later my mother died after a very complicated hospital procedure, chemotherapy and a lot of pain. I know it’s the law of life, that I’m not alone, it happens to everyone, but the duality with the pandemic joined me, along with the fact that a Netflix project I turned to failed me. gave in, and I hit rock bottom. I went through hell. It’s like someone said: You’re doing well, well, now you’re going to pay your toll. Today, that’s all froze, and I’m back.
And that idea of punishment? Are you religious?
No, but it seems to me, perhaps, to find meaning in everything that happened to me. He didn’t play so quickly and everything at once.
Admitting that you’ve hit rock bottom couldn’t be easier.
I cry and do it without any problems. I just try to be alone so as not to include the people around me. I like to hit a wall and torment myself, I don’t know if I explain myself. It’s very personal. it hurts a lot. I do not know if Sell Vulnerability or not, what do I know that I Bought when i see him. but you have to be enough High To help someone less, see what you can contribute. If someone is weak, put another burden on what you can’t do.
When did you begin to notice the impact of your presence on others?
in primary. It was very clear. The girls looked at me, whispered, gave me little notes [ríe], But talking about him is arrogant, no, following.
And when did you come to know that apart from your studies, your work could be a job opportunity?
In Cuba, beauty didn’t do me much good. I’m a survivor. I have always earned my living. I started traveling solo as a tennis player when I was five years old from Isla Juventud, where I was born. I was good at it, I competed on and off the island. I have always studied with scholarship and neither tennis awards nor scholarships have considered me beautiful. I was not looking at myself in the mirror. It was Elida, my high school literature teacher, who, in addition to infusing me with a passion for books, told me about La Maison, the fashion house in Havana, and it was here that my modeling career began, which led to my becoming an actor. I studied engineering but really I always wanted to be an actor even though I didn’t name it. That’s why I got fascinated by the characters in the books.
She was a supermodel. parade for gaultier, Westwood or Armani. From sleeping in a cot in a boarding school, he often went to super luxury hotels and parties. How did you experience that journey?
He was beautiful, cruel, I wish for all [ríe], Not seriously. I am well aware of my privilege. It’s for the lucky few. I understand that models are punished and humiliated. They think they’re stupid and no, I don’t even speak for myself anymore: I have male and female model friends who are brutal, very interesting. But we are punished like this.
Punishment again. Why is he killed so much?
It’s not like this. It’s like I know everything. I know very well where I come from. I know that my beauty is my visa, my passport to the great world. I have learned languages, I have known the world and very interesting people. I don’t complain. But I won’t apologise either. The model is also very lonely. You are in a five-star hotel, you experience incredible things, but deep down, you are alone. You may find a model girlfriend, but still you don’t match. You can’t share it with yourself.
Did you eat, drink and enjoy it to the fullest?
I am not opposed to living. Carefully, but intensely. I do not need strong experiences, I already had. I want peace of mind.
How many times have you been told in one casting Number of actors who are too handsome for a role?
Many, this is another toll that is paid, but on the other hand, it gives you the benefit of lower expectations. You might think they’re going to ask you less than others, but it’s the other way around: You have to prove doubly so in order to get caught. You can’t even imagine what I had to prove to get the role of Farooq. Multiply one’s by eight or nine times. In any case, I have no problem with rejection. As we say in Cuba, I have suffered a lot from this.
How does Cuba see Cuba from outside Cuba?
Cuba is where I was born, where my bones are, I love the country. It is in the process of changes that is complex and delicate. The second I think is a process of combining events that escapes me.
What’s the worst thing about looking like him?
that you do not go unnoticed. It doesn’t matter whether you are famous or not. It wasn’t like this before, and I wanted to think I could, but they made it very clear to me that no, I have already resigned. A lot has fallen with me, I am so grateful to my parents for joining me in this gift and leaving me.
His role in ‘The Prince’ brought him in number of fans. Do you think they will still be there?
Girl, I do not know, there are people who write to me on the network and like me very much. Physically I am not that special. We are many with our profiles. Maxi, Caytano, Mario…
Define your “profile”.
Well, a tall, black man, you know. The Spaniards have some. I think what he liked about me was not me, but how I did Farooq, how I did my job. In fact, he was a character that was destined to be short-lived and became a co-star. I think everything I learned in my life came out in that role. Since then, I haven’t stopped training as an actor. Now I am more prepared and I have more to contribute.
Have you ever felt like a vase-god?
Of course, but I have no objection to it. When I feel this happening, I go on autopilot. don’t you appreciate me? Neither do I I’m not going to explain to the person that maybe they’re missing something if they can’t even see. She remembers it.
model actor
Rubén Cortada (Isla Juventud, Cuba, 37 years old) is a man without pretense, or looks, but neither having false modesty. He is used to taking chestnuts out of the fire and earning his place by hand. At only five years old, his mastery of the racket led him to compete as a tennis player across the island, and later, his ease with studies allowed him to combine scholarship with scholarship when until he studied engineering at the university. Meeting with Alida, her high school literature teacher, was crucial for her to decide what to do with her life. He taught her to love books – “I love French literature” – and, on the more practical side, encouraged her to come to La Maison, Havana’s fashion house, to take advantage of her good looks. And take your first step. as a sample. After an illustrious career as a mannequin, during which she was the image of Jean Paul Gaultier and other fashion greats – “I have experienced wonderful things, such as being the only man in a women’s fashion show” -, Cortada reclaimed the dream he had never given up: being an actor. His Farooq character in the series Prince Launched him to stardom in Spain. With “The Fourth Passenger” by Alex de la Iglesia, which opens this fall, he hopes to pass his final test: the reaction of the public.
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