It is no coincidence that in this interview I fondly remember Hugo Arana and María Onetto. There are actors who are loved not only by the public but also by their peers and Esteban Meloni, like Hugo or María, is one of them. He belongs to that invaluable group far from divinism, a versatile scholar, knowledgeable and generous with passion.
Few actors of their generation can say that they made classics like “August,” “They Were All My Children,” “Remembering with Anger,” “Othello,” “The Cherry Orchard,” or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” ”. There are also not many who have shared projects with Helena Tritek, Claudio Tolcachir, Daniel Veronese, Norma Aleandro and now Luis Brandoni, who directs it in the new staging of a contemporary classic like “Made in Lanús” by Nelly Fernández Tiscornia. There she shares a cast with a dream team that includes Alberto Ajaka, Cecilia Dopazo and Malena Solda.
He had memorable characters in novels that were events such as “Stolen Lives” and also in films such as “La chancha”, thus he came to be in the crosshairs of an industry that has a hard time getting excited about professional actors. But Meloni doesn’t stop, these days he is also directing “Femme Bot” in the charming Sala Poland. That 35-seat theater with a little bar where the new bohemia of the off meets, was the place chosen to celebrate her birthday. An entire declaration of principles.
News: “Made in Lanús” takes place in 1985, but the theme of those who leave, those who stay and those who fantasize about another life in a different place is more relevant than ever. Was that one of the reasons for participating in this show?
Esteban Meloni: Yes of course. It is an issue that is more current than ever in our country and also personally because I have lived in Spain for two years. I did “Express”, a series that lasted longer than I thought. I went to film a single season during the pandemic, when everything was closed here, so that job was a kind of saving miracle. In the end I ended up staying all of 2021 and 2022, then I returned to Spain in 2023 to fulfill other commitments, do theater… I always came and went, but I had never been abroad for two years. So when they called me to do this play, of which I had seen the movie, I automatically said: “What a good idea!” In addition, a text by an Argentine author like Nelly Fernández Tiscornia, on Corrientes Street and at this very particular moment, is like a love letter to Argentina.
News: On a personal level, how did you live those two years in Spain? Today many actors dream of an international career, but it also means putting work on hold locally.
Meloni: I really appreciate it, it seemed like something unexpected that saved me from the situation we were going through, because audiovisual or theatrical work was not activated here, but it was also very hard. Sometimes everything we went through seems very distant to us, but we had to swab ourselves all the time with fear of contagion on any filming because there were still no vaccines, it was very strange to work that way. I was very excited to do my first series in Europe, but the problem was that no one could travel, it was impossible for my family to visit me nor could I return. My parents are grown up and it was quite traumatic, added to the distance and missing. But it ended up being a happy experience once those early days passed because I did theater, television and made many friends.
News: And in Spain you crossed paths with Claudio Tolcachir who directed you in “Agosto” alongside Norma Aleandro and Mercedes Morán? He changed the offer of commercial theater a lot; today that setting would be almost unthinkable.
Meloni: Yes, we also shared “They were all my children.” It is true that today the commitment of commercial theater in general lies elsewhere. We saw each other a lot with Claudio in Madrid because he now lives there. I went to the Infanta Isabel theater where he was doing “Rabia” by Sergio Bizzio, which is going to have some performances here on Timbre 4. It is a monologue, he is alone on stage for two hours and what he does is spectacular, “Tolca” is a very brave actor.
News: Speaking of iconic actors and directors, it is now directed by Beto Brandoni as have Daniel Veronese, Javier Daulte and Helena Titrek. Is there an extra weight when it comes to acting for those sacred monsters?
Meloni: Helena Tritek’s case is special because she is my teacher, my mentor and my friend, but being guided by all the people you named is a privilege. I also had the honor and luck of working with people like Hugo Arana, Norma Aleandro, Lito Cruz, Ana María Picchio, Federico Luppi and now with Beto. The truth is that sharing professionally with all those people that I have always admired and who suddenly become your colleagues is something quite incredible. In general I always had very positive experiences, even with family. With Hugo Arana we shared a beautiful tour throughout the country, he was like a father, like a brother. We were able to build fraternal bonds with people I had admired and will always admire. The profession has that, if you are persistent and work, at some point you start working with your idols.
News: When you interview an actor and then see him in a fiction, there is a somewhat strange feeling because there was already a personal relationship. Does anything strange happen when you have to go on stage with an idol?
Meloni: Is very crazy. I keep remembering people who are references for me like Cristina Banegas. I don’t know, on the one hand it’s like: Wow, how strong!, but then it’s all so normal. Because we are ordinary people with lives like anyone else’s even if we have an unusual job. The theater has that everyday thing because you see each other every day, it’s like a family that you meet for a while before the performance or you go on tour and you start sharing everyday things, like someone feeling bad, be angry or make you tea when you need it. All of this is transformed into a bond and particularly in my case I have had very nice experiences because we are all sharing the work. At the end of the day we are theater people and I really learned a lot from each of them.
News: You had a great highlight as the protagonist of “La chancha” alongside Puma Goity, Franco Verdoia’s film for which you won the Silver Condor award. What did that character mean of an adult man who crossed paths on a family vacation with the guy who had abused him as a child?
Meloni: That film for me is the most important thing I did because it is a leading character, but above all a journey of the character, very powerful things happen to that man in a short time and it deals with a topic that completely took me by surprise for various reasons. It’s a small movie that was made with a lot of effort and then became very big. They called me from Spain to do the series “Express” thanks to the fact that their casting director saw me in “La chancha”, in addition to what happened with the public, the awards and the festivals. We can’t ask more from life, from “La chancha” and from the profession (laughs).
News: In Verdoia’s previous film, “Life After,” he worked with María Onetto, her death still seems like a lie. How does she remember her?
Meloni: Yes, we worked with María several times, we were even going to repeat “Bodas de sangre” at the San Martín, but in the end I couldn’t because I was in Spain. We would have played mother and son, crazy because we were only a few years apart. I always laughed a lot with her, she had a very particular humor and she was an enormous actress, out of the ordinary. She made very difficult texts and in half of her dramas her humor always appeared, we were very tempted while working, there was a great complicity. I will always miss her, she was one of the best, she was unique, there is no one like her and there never will be.
News: While we are doing this interview, the future of INCAA, and therefore of national cinema, is uncertain. The same thing happens with the National Theater Institute. What do you think about that?
Meloni: Look, national cinema has been punished for years and I think that now we have to be very attentive because the danger is imminent and much greater. I have faith in this country, in the audiovisual community and in culture. But not in culture as a distant concept but in the people who make culture, in the film, theater and television workers. I think there are so many of us and so powerful that I have hope to resist, fight and ensure that things do not end up being as terrible as they seem. We have no choice but to think that this is possible, we must avoid relaxing even for a second. We need to be firm so that they do not touch what is ours, which belongs to everyone. It is defending our identity, the only way to see ourselves and ask ourselves who we are, to entertain ourselves with our humor, with our idiosyncrasies, a work or film from outside will never give you that. We need to tell our own stories, reflect on the past and the future, we cannot allow them to move against that.
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