Leonardo Sbaraglia it is like a classmate who is glad that life has gone well for him.
With an endearing smile, he has the ability to make his interlocutor feel comfortable from the first moment. He immediately predisposes for the talk, without the need for prologues or warm-ups. The dialogue begins to flow even before the ceremony of turning on the recorder takes place.
Since his debut in “The night of the pencils” (1986), knew how to build an enviable film career. He kissed Antonio Banderas under the orders of Pedro Almodóvar in “Pain and Glory”shared leading roles with figures from the national cinema such as Héctor Alterio, China Zorrilla and Ricardo Darín, and is the only Argentine actor who when watching “Taxi Driver” can affirm that he worked with two of his interpreters.
His middle name is Maximus. That imposition exercised from the cradle led him to seek to be the best in everything he does. For some years he has been connecting with his paternity in titles such as “Accused”, “Wandering Heart” Y “Today the world is fixed”.
The movie premiere “Manager” for Paramount + it serves as an excuse for the meeting. A Buenos Aires noon in an idyllic corner of Belgrano, oblivious to the daily tribulations, serves as a refuge for Sbaraglia to charge the phone before embarking on a trip that represents a nice job opportunity, allow himself to drink something cool to appease the spring heat and start the conversation with NEWS.
News: The movie is called “The Manager” and the manager is you. Tell us a little about your vision of Álvaro, the very particular character that he embodies.
Leonardo Sbaraglia: At first it was very interesting because he introduced me to the movie Winograd, I had done “Today the world is fixed” with him and from then on we had a very good relationship, we got along great, we understood each other very well. The possibility of doing “The Manager” came almost suddenly and I didn’t hesitate, because I really liked the script, it was very attractive, well written, very funny and also had a certain epicness. For me, as an acting challenge, it implied something interesting, which was to appear bigger, more defeated and I think that with very little we achieved a beautiful transformation. Álvaro is a man with mustaches, I gained a little weight and they also gave me a paunch, he is already a guy who combs his hairline and all of that is very well achieved because it also helped to find the character of the character. The film bets a lot on the development of that man in life, it talks about a second chance. Of a guy who somehow manages to open his heart and that is something fundamental in the script that is written with great skill by Patricio Vega, the screenwriter of Los Simuladores. It has many game lines, on the one hand there is the epic story of the one who risks and wins, but in the middle there are more subterranean questions.
News: What questions?
Sabaraglia: There is a very interesting father and son story. Álvaro is a guy who lives in the shadows, he has been in the same company for 35 years, gentrified. His partner and his family got bored of him, then he realizes that he has the last bullet left, and if he doesn’t put that one in, he knows that he won’t have many more opportunities left.
News: You worked as an actor from a very young age, you never had another job. What is it like to get into the skin of another worker? Do you have to investigate it or is the script enough?
Sabaraglia: In this case, it is a person who started in a company and was promoted to management throughout his life, so you have to learn how a company works, what functions a manager performs, that is essential. I met Marcelo, the real manager, and we talked a lot.
News: He has worked with a large number of directors. What does Ariel Winograd give you so that you have decided to make two films almost continuously with him?
Sabaraglia: Ariel has a lot of work, has shot many movies and loves the actor very much. He has a way of working that makes you feel very free and comfortable, he is very demanding, but he creates a space for you to search where he gets what he wants without making you feel it. He is all the time working and improving your work on the set, he likes to shoot a lot. So that leads you to try, to risk and he is in love with acting, It makes you feel very loved and content.
News: Cecilia Dopazo plays her ex. How did you take that?
Sbaraglia: It’s a comeback (Serie). It was beautiful, since “Wino” had sought us out more than ten years ago for another film that we couldn’t finalize and that was shot with other actors, the idea of the reunion was already there and it happened now. It’s nice because we worked on “Clave de sol” until ’91 and we were dating there for a couple of years. Later we coincided in “Tango feroz” where we were no longer a couple, in “Los 90 son nuestra” with Carlos Gandolfo and also in “Caballos Salvajes” which was the last thing. Phew, it’s been almost 30 years, it’s tremendous! (thinks and laughs), but It is very interesting to cross paths with colleagues that you have not seen for a long time because the reunion seizes you from a more mature, adult and calm place, less pretentious. Did you know? We would have to get together with Pablo Rago again, he almost coincided with us in “Today the world is fixed”, but it did not happen. You have to meet Pablito and Fernán Mirás, it would be nice, the next one is given to us.
News: Since we are talking about Dopazo, it is impossible not to think about the director Marcelo Piñeyro. He surprised me that you were not part of “The Kingdom”.
Sabaraglia: He called me, but I couldn’t join him, whenever he sees the possibility of doing something together he calls me, what happened is that “El Reino” coincided with the fact that he was in three different jobs, but we have a relationship in which we are always looking for opportunities to working together, with no one I filmed so much, we made five films! He is a great director.
News: “The manager” changes a couple of letters and is “The guarantor.” What memories do you have of that great show?
Sabaraglia: Do you know that sometimes when I speak I get the titles confused? (Serie). I have beautiful memories, not only of Sebastián Borensztein who continues to do barbaric things, but above all of Lito Cruz. He was one of the best companions one can find in life. I learned a lot with him. Apart from having had beautiful teachers like Agustín Alezzo, Augusto Fernándes or Joy Morris.
News: Today we are summoned by a Paramount+ movie and the strong announcement of the platform was the movie “The Simulators”. You worked with Szifrón on “Wild Tales”. They call him? I see it for some villain…
Sabaraglia: Oh ok! If the phone rings, welcome, I’d love to. I think Szifrón is a genius, he is a director and a brilliant person, I am not saying this alone. He is erudite, delicate, fine, elegant and above all wise despite being very young, he is a wonder that we have in this country. I wish! I would love to be the villainalthough there are also the classic villains, I don’t want to take away their work, but if a new one appears it could be.
News: A new anniversary of “The Night of the Pencils” was recently celebrated, did you talk about the film with your teenage daughter?
Sabaraglia: Do you know my daughter hasn’t seen the movie yet? The other day we were talking about it because she did a wonderful joint project on the subject at school and I told her I had to see it. What happens is that it is a very hard film. I was a year younger than her when I made it, she’s 16 and I was 15, I turned 16 during the course of filming. It seems crazy to me how fragile one is at that age and having made such a movie, but it was a great learning experience.
News: Speaking of the youngest, he participated in N5, the video of Lali Espósito. Is it a way of approaching the new generations?
Sbaraglia: I didn’t do it because of that but because of my relationship with Lali. With her we made “Accusada”, we hit very good vibes and when he told me: “I know you are difficult, but I want you to be there”, I replied: “Obviously!”. It’s good, Lali is more and more Lali, it seems to me that this year has been quite a hinge for her. She’s always done very well, but now she’s upgraded, she’s doing great in Spain, she even talked about the fernet on the program El Hormiguero!
by Leonardo Martinelli
