21 years after his last theatrical work in “The Supper of Fools,” Damián De Santo returned to the stage with “Like – Everything for a like”, an unprejudiced and fun comedy by Alberto Rojas Apel directed by Javier Daulte, who recently said goodbye to the billboard. The work talked about new love paradigms and how social networks changed the way we relate.
In it, the actor who gained notoriety playing a gay lawyer in “Verdad Consecuencia” and a rich boy addicted to cocaine in “Vulnerables”, plays alongside Paola Krum in Paseo La Plaza a couple with a young daughter who sees Her somewhat routine life is disrupted by the appearance of a centennial nanny who will modify that marital bond.
Although without experience in this type of relationship, De Santo also broke the mold a year ago by deciding to live in separate houses with his partner of 23 years: the tango dancer Vanina Bilous, with whom in 2008 he moved to Villa Giardino, where they grew up. their two sons and they have a complex of cabins. And between his trips to Córdoba, he receives NOTICIAS to talk about these relationship changes, his difficult childhood and adolescence as the son of separated parents, and his career.
News: How familiar were you with triejas before doing the work?
Damián De Santo: I had zero information. Not even for my children, who are teenagers. In my time, sometimes there was a threesome, but it was mostly mischief. “I like it” talks about something else: about loving each other in threes. I’m a pretty free guy, but I don’t know if I can do that much. When I fall in love with a woman, I want to be with her. Before Vanina I had two other partners: one of seven years old and another of six, I was not free for much time, I always bet on the couple.
News: So what interested you about “Like”?
From Santo: I was interested to see how this generation has this new imprint, to investigate those heads. How do you handle yourself in a trieja? Is it always in threes? One day with one and another with another? Between them? And what if it’s two guys and a woman? With another man, you have to have your points very clear, I suppose: this yes, this no. Experimenting is good, but I’m already a little old.
News: Do you know if they have triejas among the public?
From Santo: Yes. They whitewash it when they ask to take a photo with us. There are triejas of two women and a man, two men and a woman, triejas of the same sex. The majority, young people. Little by little, those of our generation are adapting to all this, but they also have to adapt to us. It’s a round trip.
News: Did doing this work change you at all?
From Santo: It confirmed to me that one has to try to find peace of mind, being honest with oneself. For example, with Vanina, now that we have grown children, we decided to live in separate houses; and it was very healthy, because sometimes you have to be there for yourself. Today we no longer share everything, we see each other when we feel like it or when both of our times allow it. Sometimes sincerity hurts at first, but it’s better in the long run. It’s no use ignoring it, because over time things become noticeable.. Maybe you don’t say it with words, but with actions.
News: Was living in separate houses the product of some crisis?
From Santo: No. Obviously, things happened to us, like everyone else, but we knew how to cope with them. Living in different houses was a gradual process.
News:How do they manage that you spend a good part of the week in Buenos Aires?
From Santo: We decide everything together. When I am sure of something and I want to do it, she super supports me; I am also like that with her.
News: Could those freedoms have led you to “Like” it?
From Santo: I don’t see it that way, but Vanina tells me that this work was for me to do (laughs).
News: As a child, he suffered a very conflictive relationship between his parents, with shouting and even fighting between them, which meant that he could not see his father for 12 years. What is he like as a father?
From Santo: If any of my partners had been like that, I wouldn’t have had children. But be careful! I’m not overprotective; On the contrary, I am quite severe. Today, when everything has changed, kids are crying out for limits; and it is our fault, the adults, because the children learn from what they see.
News: When Mirtha Legrand asked you about your parents, you said that “luckily” they were already dead and theorized that in order to enjoy them, you had to “kill them while they were still alive,” which generated a strong disagreement where you ended up saying “Your foolishness.” “It doesn’t allow you to listen to me.” Would you approach that situation differently today?
From Santo: Sure, because I have much more peace of mind when saying things. I said it as a joke, but there is no doubt that my parents screwed up the lives of me and my brother Fabio. Killing parents is a therapeutic phrase, because children idealize parents. Jorge Guinzburg would have made a whole program with that.
News: But Jorge was different from Mirtha and from another generation.
From Santo: Yes, but if you say you upgraded, you have to listen to me. What bothered me was that he asked me something very personal and that he didn’t let me finish. I think we both learned from that.
News: As a child you had a duodenal ulcer and when the doctor asked you what you would like to do, you answered that you wanted to study and he advised you: “Do it, it will cure you.” Indeed, did studying theater heal him?
From Santo: Yes. At 14 years old I started having pain in the pit of my stomach, vomiting, everything I ate was bad for me, I couldn’t even sleep. Obviously, I was a psychosomatic four, but shortly after starting to study, my head changed; and here you have me.
News: More than a gastroenterologist, this doctor was a psychologist
From Santo: Completely. With my brother we say that we don’t get spurts or faloperos by chance. But acting, plus the satellite containment of my maternal grandparents, showed me a way.
News: Were you able to reconcile yourself with your parents’ history?
From Santo: Yes, when I started having partners, when I saw that it wasn’t that easy. That’s why I value my relationship with Vanina so much. If one day we separate, I won’t feel like a failure; but as a success for many years.
News: How did your parents take that you chose to be an actor?
From Santo: My old man supported me a lot. My mother bought the tickets and she didn’t tell me. I found out after she died, because I found all those entries. She was also proud, but since she was opposed at first, she didn’t want me to find out. A nonsense.
News: His theatrical debut was with “La tiendita del horror”, where no one saw his face because he was acting as a plant and, as he said, there he understood that he was more interested in enjoying than appearing. Do you really not care about her recognition?
From Santo: At first, no. Inside that plant, I already knew I was going to have a long and probably good career. I enjoyed every role I played, even my first small extra jobs in movies; and I am very grateful to life for all that.
News: He worked selling all kinds of things, he was a tutor, head of checking accounts at a bank and now he has his cabins. On TV he started playing a rapist in “Risk Zone”, in 2018 he debuted as a host in “Morfi” and ended 2022 singing in “Who is the mask?” Is your secret about him versatility?
From Santo: I always tell myself this at home, in front of the mirror, but I don’t tell anyone (laughs). Seriously, do you know what’s going on? As a kid, my parents told me: “Do you want money? Go work”; and I was delighted. I was born to act, but I have no drama in doing other things. For the cabins I painted, put cherry, metal, bricks. I, like a good Gemini, am all of this: the ying and the yang in a person.
News: He is also filming a movie. Tell me.
From Santo: It is a police film, “The Kiss of Judas”, written and directed by Martín Murphy. I perform with Freddy Villarreal, “Campi”, Alfredo Casero, Fernando Lúpiz and Adriana Salonia. and it will be released in theaters next year.
News: It is his return to the cinema after playing Luis Sandrini in “Yo soy asi, Tita de Buenos Aires”. Was that his most important film?
From Santo: Along with “The Dream of Heroes”, by Sergio Renán. Above all, because it was a super production; nothing to envy of Hollywood. The one with Tita Merello marked me not only because of the responsibility of interpreting Sandrini, but because of a family theme; at home they loved him.
News: Any project?
From Santo: You want to do radio. I would settle for a program at Giardino.
News: What type of program?
From Santo: One that combines humor with current affairs. Like those of the “Negra” Vernaci, Sebastián Wainraich, Juan Di Natale, Matías Martin.
News: Is Giardino your place in the world?
From Santo: Today Yes.
News: Because today”?
From Santo: Because we put our house in the complex up for sale and we want to buy a motor home to travel with. Besides, I cook well and I love driving. They are moments of freedom and, while driving, I solve many things.
by Sergio Núñez
