Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, Celeste Cid and Emmanuel Horvilleur, Luis Alberto Spinetta and Carolina Peleritti. The bond between musicians and actresses has been fertile material for various speculations, journalistic chronicles, diverse fantasies and fertile ground for imagination in all its forms.
The story between Fito Páez and Cecilia Roth was no exception. And to Daryna Butrykhaving been able to play the protagonist of “All About My Mother” in the successful Netflix biopic “The love after Love” It allowed him to access greater visibility and an increase in his media exposure, after an extensive acting career in projects such as “Porno y gelato”, “Planners”, “Santa Evita” and the first season of “Argentina, land of love and revenge”.
An endearing cafeteria located in the heart of Belgrano serves as a refuge from the bustle and hustle and bustle of the surroundings of Cabildo and Juramento on any given afternoon. Daryna appears ready to dialogue with NEWS, after having released the film “Julio, happily ever after” and the “Frágiles” series on Flowin which he shares a cast with Luciano Cáceres, Malena Sánchez, Carla Quevedo and Rafael Spregelburd, among others.
News: How did you come to star in “Julio, happily ever after”?
Daryna Butryk: The director was looking for the co-star, Claire, I did the casting over Zoom. I was on vacation in a small town in Córdoba without Internet and I went to a nearby city to connect. I went into a small restaurant and asked them if there was good Wi-Fi to do the casting. This is how we connect for the first time with both the director Juan Manuel Solé and Chepe Irisity, the protagonist. They were looking for a Yankee or someone who could do the American accent. I studied English since I was a child and I am fluent in the language, my mother always insisted that it was very necessary and she was right. I also find it very fun to imitate accents… or the typical way of listening to Shakira and trying to get her tone of voice, to play Cecilia Roth I also had to work on that.
News: Does it change a lot if the casting is in person or not? Is virtual more reassuring?
Butryk: I don’t know if it’s more reassuring. There are like two very different instances of virtuality. One is if you have to film yourself because there you have to direct yourself, illuminate yourself, act as best as possible, edit the material and send it, that is very complex. But if you do a casting over Zoom you always have someone on the other side and it becomes more similar to the in-person one. Then if it’s in person you have everything, sometimes there is a partner with whom you connect a lot and other times you are more alone or more nervous.
News: Is it true that Belén Blanco had a lot to do with your decision to be an actress?
Butryk: That is a very tender story. I saw her once in the theater, but I never met her as a colleague. But when I was 16 I went to the theater for the first time with my fellow plastic arts scholarship recipients, they had much more idea about the theatrical world than I did. They invited me to the San Martín to see “Dear Ibsen, I am Nora” and I was dazzled by Belén Blanco’s performance. It was not a classic interpretation, he ran through space, he broke all barriers, the setting and his way of approaching it were different. I remember something happened to me on a bodily level, I had an emotional impact and I thought how much I would like to generate that for someone. I still have the flyer saved.
News: Is it true that one of your grandmothers had an amusement park and others had a chocolate factory like Willy Wonka?
Butryk: (Laughs) It’s absolutely true. I had a privileged childhood in that sense, I miss all that very much. My maternal grandmother worked in an amusement park, I went from Monday to Monday, she spent the time running around with a cousin who was almost the same age as me and everyone knew me, it was very cute. My other grandmother worked in a chocolate factory, so all the employees and workers gave me candy. She came out overflowing with chocolates, and cavities too! When my baby teeth fell out I started taking care of myself a little more, but before that it was terrible. To this day I love chocolate, it is very difficult to let go.
News: You were born in Ukraine and you came with your mother in 2001. A very turbulent year for Argentines
Butryk: We didn’t have much data because the Internet and access to information was not so close at hand, many Ukrainians emigrated, some within Europe, others to the United States, Canada or Argentina, so we followed those plans. At first it was difficult for a single mother with a daughter to get up from scratch.
News: Now Ukraine is going through a difficult time with the Russian invasion. What is your opinion on the subject?
Butryk: Like any war, it seems sad and regrettable to me. And being involved in some way, because I have my grandmothers in Ukraine, several uncles, my old man and his family, it is a very moving issue. You try to help wherever you can and in that sense, anyone interested in collaborating can go to the Ukrainian Embassy website and find out how to do it. Let’s hope all this ends soon.
News: The series “Frágiles” was recently released, in which you participate, and on your Instagram there is a very moving text about fragility and María Onetto. Can you tell us a few words about that?
Butryk: María will always seem to me like an actress from another planet, someone who just by being there, simply by her presence, radiated a very special energy. It was a very big loss for all of us. I have no idea about her personal situation or why what happened happened, but It seems important to me to think about the fragility around, even in this field of acting, where not everything is always as pleasant as it seems. Because the actor does not work every day of his life, one of the strongest challenges is being able to keep a healthy head in those moments where you are waiting for the next project. Especially when you are trying to “get there” in the middle there is a lot of waiting, uncertainty and negatives. I’m not speaking for María because in her case what happened surely had to do with other issues, but it made me think about how much fragility there is in an actor who exposes himself, opens his heart and lets himself be seen. That sensitivity is very evident not only when he is working but when he is not working.
News: “Julio, happily ever after” takes up themes from the romantic comedy. Do you have a favorite movie in that genre?
Butryk: Yes, I really like romantic comedies, my favorite is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Speaking of comedies and their variants, in “Barbie” I really liked a monologue that the character of América Ferrera does and I also found something of that Ken who is looking for himself a little and is so devoted to that Barbie in “Julio, happily ever after ”. Ken feels like a person only through the eyes of Barbie and Julio is a kid who is a kind of Disney “prince”, deeply in love with love, looking for his soul mate for life as the movies sell us. It is the first time that you see a sensitive man who falls in love, becomes enthralled and Claire, my character, the girl he loves is much more modern, she is in the “let’s see”, she is more realistic and detached.
News: You have been acting for a long time in important productions such as “Porno y gelato” or ATAV, but was “Love after love” a before and after in your career?
Butryk: Maybe, that whole project was a before and after because there was a very special pre-production and a very particular filming. It was a very big challenge to play an actress of Cecilia Roth’s caliber, with her voice, her imprint and her personality. Working with such a beautiful team, not only of actors among whom I made great friends like Mica Riera, Iván Hochman or Mariano Saborido, but also with a technical group that gave everything to make this project what it was. Regarding my career, I had visibility before with ATAV, but this was a boom.
News: What do you think is the secret of “Love After Love”? Even Lucrecia Martel said that Fito’s series was like a miracle.
Butryk: I think we are in a time of a lot of audiovisual production and also of great consumption through platforms, the content is constant, the eye is hyper-trained. With the series it happened that there was a desire for it to turn out incredible, Fito’s story is heartbreaking and he is a chosen one who took music to another level where the public always connected. Something very nice also happened, this story reflects that of many people who were teenagers in those years and used music as an exorcism for the time of terror that this country lived through, they grew up with their songs, there is something about the music that transports you. to the fundamental moments of your life. It takes you back to the places where you were happy.
by Leonardo Martinelli
