Nominated for an Oscar in her first film performance, the Mexican Yalitza Aparicio, 28, can be seen since the 16th in an unusual role: that of Lua. No, it is not a person who calls himself that, but the Earth’s own natural satellite.
In the second season of “Los Espookys”, a series that mixes low-budget horror and surrealist comedy, the star becomes an advisor to Andrés (Julio Torres), one of the creators of the company that gives the series its name. New episodes are coming weekly to HBO Max, always on Fridays.
Her wardrobe, a body-hugging outfit that leaves only her face exposed, became a concern. “Society’s comments about the image and body came in a little bit,” he recalls. “I was cheating on myself by letting myself be afraid to wear the clothes. But when I saw myself with my makeup in front of the mirror, I thought, ‘Of course I do’.”
The case illustrates the moment that Yalitza has been going through. “It wasn’t that long ago that he told me to put aside prejudices and misconceptions,” he confesses. “I have no reason to accept that kind of thing.”
Until then, Yalitza had only played the role of Cleo, a maid who is the protagonist of “Roma” (2018), by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. At the time of her Oscar nomination, many Mexican artists complained about the fact that she was not trained as an actress, as she was a primary school teacher when she was cast in the film.
For the role, she became the first Oscar-nominated actress of indigenous origin, something she couldn’t even dream of. “I was an incredulous person, who thought that cinema was a medium totally alien to my reality and not for everyone”, she explains. “I’ve been bombarded by subliminal messages over the years. And in addition to accepting them, I was reproducing them.”
“It wasn’t until I started to be part of the industry that I discovered the strength of everyone’s voice and that we can do whatever we want”, he continues. “It’s not a foreign world, but it’s just not yet as open as we would like to accept different faces. That’s what motivated me to keep going.”
But anyone who expected her to amend one role after another after that ended up being frustrated. It was only this year that Yalitza starred in her second feature, the thriller “Presencias”, which is not scheduled to open in Brazil. In the meantime, anyone who wants can see her on the HBO series.
When she received the invitation, the actress was worried about not being marked only by a role. “I was talking about how they put us in boxes and I was anxious to somehow manage not to fall into that,” she says. “I was prepared to go years without taking on a character or to try and write something for myself if given the opportunity.”
A short time later, the invitation to “Los Espookys” arrived. “When they told me what the character consisted of, I started watching the series to understand,” she says. “The narrative caught my attention and made me laugh a lot. I wanted to try it, because it was different from what I had imagined I would be invited to do.”
The fact that it’s a comedy, whose tone isn’t always hard to get right, didn’t scare her. “It’s a very quirky comedy, you don’t have to be cracking jokes or falling down to make people laugh,” she explains. “It’s a more sarcastic thing, where you end up laughing even at yourself. I had a lot of fun and tried not to burst out laughing in the scenes, it takes immense control over yourself.”
The experience with different genres has been productive. “This makes me mold my ideas and not stick to a single type of production, which has worked very well for me”, he evaluates. “I’m learning a lot, as each one has its complexity. When you dare to play in other zones, you realize that each one has obstacles to overcome and learn from that.”
She says that being a character with less screen time doesn’t make her any less complex. “Cleo was something that had nothing to do with me and that involved having to analyze a little more deeply the person I was inspired by in order to bring her to life on screen, keeping the essence”, she says.
“In the case of Lua, she is a more confident character, very charismatic and pure when it comes to doing things and sharing her ideas”, he compares. “I also had to figure out how to build this character — and it’s not as easy as some people think. Each character has its essence, you have to build it somehow and look for what you want to reflect from it.”
Ready for new projects, Yalitza says it was worth the wait and hopes she doesn’t lose sight of someone who is constantly starting over. “I want to continue doing everything as if it were my first day, with all the passion and giving myself to the maximum in each project”, she says. “This is a fight that is not just about words, but also about actions.”
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