“The situation is very complicated in Argentina because the country has not grown for a long time. But I don’t lose hope because people are not resigned“, it states louis brandoni. It is an almost impossible task to synthesize the enormous artistic career of this performer who has excelled in theatre, film and television. His career includes memorable works such as the mythical version of “Las criadas”, together with the actors Héctor Alterio and Walter Vidarte, all in female roles, with the endearing Sergio Renán. The well-remembered “Coexistence”, “Made in Lanús” and “Justo en la mejor de mi vida”, among more than fifty shows by national authors. Unforgettable movies like “La Patagonia rebelde”, “Juan que reía” or “Esperando la carroza”, where the phrase “Three empanadas” came from, which popular wisdom adopted forever. Also hits from the small screen such as “Buscavidas”, “Mi cuñado”, together with Ricardo Darín, or “El hombre de tu vida” with Guillermo Francella. But there is another unavoidable facet of this passionate man, which is his commitment to the country and political activism. He directed the Argentine Association of Actors, was cultural adviser to President Raúl Alfonsín and representative of the Nation for the Radical Civic Union. His memories are reflected in “Before I Forget Me”, a wonderful book written in collaboration with Marcelo Ramos
At an age when others might be thinking about retirement, the “citizen actor,” as he likes to define himself, is very active. “Lezama Park”, the play in which he stars alongside Eduardo Blanco, directed by Juan José Campanella, at the Politeama, held a thousand performances and was applauded by more than 300,000 spectators, here and in Spain. It will be released soon “Nothing”, the series for Star+, directed by the duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, in which he shared the bill with Robert De Niro, no less. As if that were not enough, he is excited to be the narrator of “Mozart on the way to Prague”a show where music dialogues with literature, which will be offered at the Teatro Avenida on September 12.
Warm, emphatic in his ideas, he receives NEWS in the theater a couple of hours before getting into the skin of a tireless fighter who defends his ideas from a square bench.
News: Where do you get energy to continue working?
Brandoni: I don’t know (laughs). The truth is that I am not the same as I was 20 years ago. Surely not. Not only did I have more energy. He was stainless, unbreakable and immortal (laughs). But, well, in our work the real presence of the actor matters. Since I do not dare to do things that do not correspond to me, let’s say, due to physical limitations, that is enough to hide some disadvantage. The task, especially in the theater, is one of the few artisanal tasks left in the world. We became accustomed, when the day of rest was on Mondays, to getting sick that day so as not to have the painful experience of canceling a performance. That was something that made us feel bad. So that’s why there were many actresses and actors who performed very well when they grew up because they knew how to adapt to the real possibilities they had. For example, in this show for a long time on Saturdays we did two shows. The truth is that I no longer have the rest to spend five hours on stage. We just do one and it’s fine.
News: Do you take care of yourself when eating?
Brandoni: No, happily I am in good health. I always had good teeth too.
News: It is made of good wood as said before.
Brandoni: Clear. Also, because in my house, in my family, or rather, the table had a very large presence. I inherited that. Later, when I became an actor, I transformed it into a real ceremony. If there is something very nice that we actors have, it is to eat after the performance. The day ended and the after-dinner meals were unforgettable. It was a time when it was said that Corrientes Street never slept and that was indeed the case.
News: Who gave you the first opportunity to act?
Brandoni: Well, my decision was to enter the conservatory and spend four years taking classes from Monday to Saturday, I was practically a pupil. We did it with enormous pleasure and an unforgettable, unrepeatable body of teachers. I was a fanatical radio listener since I was a child. Television did not exist and all the great figures were on the radio. I had no idea what my life was going to be like, or if I was going to be able to make a living from my job. Happily, a classmate gave me the key, he told me: “Look, I study clarinet at the National Conservatory of Music and it seems to me that they teach how to be an actor there.” I had to take an entrance exam, I went and… well, here I am. The conservatory experience was a transcendental event in my life. My professional debut was on May 2, 1962. In ’64 and ’65, I was part of the stable cast of the National Comedy directed by Luisa Vehil, which allowed me to do nine shows in two years. It was an extraordinary experience with different directors, different texts, national and foreign works.
News: With age and experience, do nerves before a premiere disappear?
Brandoni: No, there is no way or remedy for that. At least it is the experience that I have and that I know of dozens, hundreds of colleagues that the day of the premiere is a fatal day that could not have been invented better.
News: Do you have cabals?
Brandoni: No, suddenly, I don’t know, I was stupid for a while and went to the Turkish bath before the opening day, which I don’t know if it was good or bad, but hey, it was something special for me. But I have no assumptions.
News: One of his films that I liked the most is “Realize” by Alejandro Doria.
Brandoni: It’s good that you remember her! It was my return to cinema, my first film, after almost eight years of being on the blacklist. Many of us couldn’t film and that is also another debt I have to Alejandro Doria. The following year he directed the famous “Waiting for the Float.” Doria was a great director that I don’t understand why he isn’t mentioned more. On television he made “Limit Situation”, with a book by Nelly Fernández Tiscornia who wrote one episode a week, alone. That’s where the text of “Made in Lanús” came from.
News: What do you feel about the current moment in general?
Brandoni: The economic situation is very bad. Inflation has never punished me, except at this moment, in recent years, which is something that cannot be tolerated. These are very difficult times that the country is experiencing, but I am hopeful that this situation will be able to be reversed. A change has occurred in Argentine society. There were things that are very unique. The fact of having made five spontaneous flags (separate the syllables when saying it) in the entire country, where it was demonstrated in more than three hundred cities, from Ushuaia to Jujuy, was one of the very important things that They demonstrate awareness. That, for example, President Macri (Mauricio) was the first non-Peronist president to finish his term after 91 years, is a very important fact. I think some things are going to be modified because it is necessary.
News: What do you suggest or advise young people?
Brandoni: It is very much on the table that young people want to leave the country and I think there are some things that should be modified. For example, parents should be suggested to tell the boys or girls that when they arrive at the place where they planned to go, at that very moment, they are going to become foreigners. They don’t tell you this. They talk about the euros they can earn and then they find out that their friends are not there, that the past is not there. This is what millions of foreigners suffered when they came to Argentina and found a generous country that gave them the chance to grow up and have children who lived better than them. It worries me how they insist that people want to leave the country. I would like journalistic notes to be made to those who stay here to study, finish a degree, and make a living, which are many.
News: What was the experience of working with De Niro like?
Brandoni: He was only there for a week because he made a special appearance, but it was very pleasant and we worked a lot, many hours because he was against the clock, because he had to come back. He is a great professional, as well as a very good person who really likes this city, and he does not hide it. He knows all the bad words we have (laughs). It was filmed in a very cordial atmosphere, and we had the pleasure of visiting the National Museum of Fine Arts. He asked for it especially because he knows a lot about painting and his father was an artist.
News: Was there any approach with the Argentine Association of Actors?
Brandoni: No, not at all. I left the Association because the board of directors stated in a statement that I had “contempt for democracy.”. They have no idea who I am or what I did. They didn’t find out that, unfortunately, I had to be re-elected when I was exiled in Mexico. I had been there for a period of two years and they re-elected me. I was there for eleven years in total and it was a time when we didn’t earn a single cent, no travel expenses or anything. Contrary to what happens now when the leaders do have a livelihood, and they never leave. They become part of the union oligarchy.
