He says “good morning” at the front door and those of us on the first floor already know that he has arrived Jorge Marral, the way of projecting his voice and that unmistakable saying give him away. Marrale, one of the most prestigious and beloved actors, has not only won all the imaginable awards in film, theater and television but also the affection of the public, we do not need to Wikipedia his greatest successes because we know them.
Jorge Marrale’s present finds him starring “María Marta, the country crime”the series that is already available in hbo max and in which he shares a cast with a dream team that includes figures as attractive as Laura Novova, Carlos Belloso, Mike Amigorena, Muriel Santa Ana, María Leal and Nicolás Francella.
There he plays nothing less than Carlos Carrascosa, the widower of María Marta García Belsunce, the main suspect in a rarefied family plot who was first convicted, then acquitted and released. Marrale builds it from the silence that hides an internal whirlwind and breaks it as always. Interpretation, truth and the justice that takes time to arrive in this talk with NEWS.
News: Why with that good face has he made such memorable villains?
Jorge Marale: (Laughs) I also did some great ones like Father Mario, my character from the movie “Maracaibo”, or the analyst I had played in “Vulnerables”, but I’m flattered that you say that because it means that Acting has little to do with the image but with investigating the interior for its construction, it is so interesting because one brings out what is not on the surface that sprouts under the pretext of acting. Fiction is a direct assistant to reality and I think this series is going to prove it, because it allows us to complete something that is in the imaginary and by incarnating he puts things in another place.
News: Carlos Carrascosa is a character known by everyone from the media, but at the same time totally unknown from the intimate. How did you deal with that when interpreting it?
Marrale: In principle, what I had was what I had been informed and it always seemed to me that the whole situation was complex, strange, where the truth was very difficult to detect. When I had the chance to read Martín Méndez’s scripts and connected with director Daniela Goggi, I began to shape my own image. I didn’t want to talk to Carrascosa but to build it with the story we were going to tell. I was discovering that there were some issues that one could detect, errors in the information, certain modes of behavior of Carlos Carrascosa’s family that gave me guidelines to disarm a swarm and find the end of the ball. I managed to put together the architecture of that story that discovers the Judicial system, the information system, the social system… They are very key events that leave a mark. I feel that every unsolved crime leaves a question, an enigma. Look at all the fiction that is built around the mystery.
News: Right now there is a great phenomenon that is True Crime and the platforms are taking advantage of it. On the other hand, what you say is true, let’s think about everything that is happening these days with the unsolved crime of Nora Dalmasso…
Marrale: It is that society needs to know. What remains hidden and does not find an answer, makes you, me and everyone start to speculate, with which, instead of getting closer, we move away from the truth. And in a very tragic way, largely due to the lack of specificity of Justice to find out who committed those crimes.
News: Regarding the social aspect, I think a key point is that people had a hard time empathizing with the family, for obvious reasons. How did you overcome that to love your character?
Marrale: Carlos and María Marta met very young. It was a crush, it seemed to me that what happened to them as a couple was very strong, in fact, after that meeting, he was a sailor and stopped embarking. The series also talks about how having lived alone in the middle of the sea helps him to endure the loneliness of prison. He had a clear idea: Stop working, travel with his wife and enjoy. The idealized conception of that possible life crashed at 200 km per hour against the reality of the murder of his wife. From there I tried to see how he was going to reconstruct that stillness towards the outside.
News: Was that lack of reaction what made him the perfect suspect? At the time, Ángeles Rawson’s stepfather was judged by the media for having a guilty face…
Marrale: Exactly, Carrascosa did not have the mechanism to show his pain and to me, not from the human point of view but from the interpretive point of view, that inner procession seemed to me one of the richest elements. With Daniela Goggi, the director, we play a lot with an element, especially in the court scenes, the camera that looks at everything, he knows that people already believe that he is guilty.
News: Society was divided as the title of two soap operas, “The rich don’t ask for permission” and “The rich also cry.” Is that division going to reignite when audiences see the series?
Marrale: The social related to these issues has a weight, if it happens in La Matanza it is one thing and if it happens in Recoleta, it is another. There is a previous archetype that accommodates the questions and it has to do with culture. In this case, a number of events occur that cause one to say “But what did they do? How is this?” and when suspicion is installed it leads you to find guilty. suspicion is monstrousbut let Hitchcock say so (laughs).
News: Rami Malek won the Oscar for almost imitating Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” How did you manage to escape Carrascosa’s imaginary?
Marrale: I think that this is the great work of the actors in accordance with the story they have to tell, with the direction and with the other partners. How we build that framework and how we act to get to the truth as characters. What else is interpretation but that? We all have an expandable world and a reserved one, and I find that working on the secret is very interesting because it confronts you with an unquestionable truth. I thought that the best thing was to get into the unknown, the unshown, delve as deep as possible, I gambled on that.
News: As a spectator, do you feel that truth you speak of? What actors come to her?
Marrale: For me someone superlative is Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro is also admirable, his Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull” was wonderful. Obviously Marlo Brando, and of the newer names I really like Benedict Cumberbatch.
News: Continuing with the search for the truth, these days the trial against neighbor Nicolás Pachelo and the Carmel guards began, it is a crime that is still present. Do you think it will be resolved?
Marrale: It continues and I don’t know if it will have a cut, a resolution. Therefore, interpreting is wonderful in that sense, it is also a risk because the people who starred in this case are mostly still alive.
News: Jorge, you almost have no prizes left to win. She already has the ACE de Oro, the Konex, a pair of Cóndor de Plata, the Clarín Award, the Martín Fierro… As María Marta will be seen throughout the world, is she going for the Platinum Award or are we already aiming for the Emmy?
Marrale: (He laughs) It’s been a long time… I don’t want to underestimate the task, but I’ve been summoned for projects in which they also let me do, I like to act. I still don’t think how it can have repercussions that “María Marta” is seen in other countries, it is rare for me because I have always had a local projection, the massiveness is a mystery. I am interested in knowing what impact the story will cause in other countries.
News: You have four children, but only Federico is an actor, how do you see it?
Marrale: He is in a fabulous stage, he is an actor, a musical composer and he is doing a program that for me is fantastic on Public TV called “Dos20”, he is as director of actors and also as an author. His origins as a composer strengthened his ability to write and he is with a play at NUN Theater called “What will come”, which is very interesting.
News: “Dos20” brings together two actors in the same setting and tells different stories in 20 minutes. With the current crisis in national fiction, it is somewhat reminiscent of classics such as “Limit situation.” Do you think ideas like this could revive audiovisual production on open television?
Marrale: It seems to me that a program like this confirms that it is a possible path, there is a preconceived idea that fiction is expensive and we are missing out on an identity issue, not everything can be the economic factor. Many people lack access to the platforms, so we must continue to maintain fictions on the air channels. You have to lose your fear of national production, the public wants to see Argentine figures because there is a form, a language, a look that is ours.
