If the theatrical entails repetition and each new function requires craftsmanship, with “Dead laughing”it happens landing in different scenarios all the time. For Lorna CepedaArgentina is not just another point: not only did she work several times in the country but she also lived here for a few months (in fact, her ex-husband and her ex-brother-in-law, Diego Torres, are Argentine). “I love Argentina. It is always a delight to be here,” he says.
News: It seems that with Natalia Ramírez, whose counterpart you were in “Yo soy Betty, la fea”, you have made a true alliance of friendship and profession.
Lorna Cepeda: Yes, it is wonderful to work with her. He has acting resources that are always a joy. She is a very smart woman, very intelligent, brilliant, and a producer.
News: What is it like to go on a theater tour to different cities in the region?
Cepeda: Oh, yes, we have been visiting cities in different countries since last year, we have made quite a trip! Thank goodness we love what we do, because this is tiring. One day you get on a plane, you arrive, you get off, you do the work; The next day, the same thing again.
News: Rockstar style!
Cepeda: Yes, it is very special! It’s very, very challenging and it’s beautiful. Last year we had to stop because we recorded the third season of “Yo soy Betty, la fea”, which comes out in August, so we stopped the work for a few months. But this year we are at a thousand percent, all year round. And it’s traveling a lot but it’s very cool; The audiences are very nice, grateful, it is wonderful.
News: They have a proposal that has to do with laughter, something very necessary in these times.
Cepeda: Exactly, when we started doing this, we spoke with the author of the work and with Natalia that what we wanted was to make people laugh. Because you are absolutely right. What one wants in these times is to be a little light, to feel a lightness.
He says that many years ago a priest told him that his profession had the importance of touching people’s hearts. Until then, she carried the nickname of superficiality that show business can have. Her father had been a lawyer and mayor of the city and had not been too happy when Lorna and her sister, Angie Cepeda, turned to acting. But the priest’s words reconciled her to her decision.
Cepeda: That father told me: “You don’t know how important your career is to the rest of the world, to the community.” And the truth is that there I began to understand everything. I understood the issue of talents: talents are not for your own services, but for service to God, service to others.
News: Your vocational decision was also greatly influenced by surrendering to this “your will be done,” right?
Cepeda: Yes, I studied Psychology, I had finished that degree, but I did not feel happy, I felt like it was not the path I should take, although it is a divine career that helped me understand a little about human behavior. And one day it was like a rosary prayer that I said: “Little Virgin, help me, what do I do?”, “Dear God of my love, if acting is for me, let it be done. And if not, make me happy with the blessed career of Psychology or with whatever it has to be, but I don’t want to spend my life in a profession or in a job that doesn’t make me happy.” Because it really is too important to be able to choose what you like to do or what you feel you came into this world to do. It is very difficult to be in a place where you believe you do not belong and be very unhappy.
News: After that, he was offered his first role and his acting life was on track. But then she had complex personal and financial situations, while raising her three children alone. Did your profession come into play?
Cepeda: Yes, I, head of the household, of course. So, you know, schools, all that kind of stuff, you know what the costs of having a child are like. Now imagine three. Then, of course, everything comes crashing down on you precisely because you can’t get out of the hole at the moment. Let’s say, the further you are in the hole, the deeper you sink. So, there is a moment when you have to be resilient, have a lot of strength and understand that nothing stays the same.
News: Despite the fact that there are three seasons of “Ugly Betty.” It is the evolution, it is the movement. If history had stayed still in that great success of the late nineties, pretending to sustain that, it would have been over.
Cepeda: Clear! The thing is that nothing stays the same, everything is movement and one has to go with the movement. The problem you have is that sometimes you don’t realize that you are resisting this movement, these changes. And one should flow like the waves, as they say, in the middle of the ocean, because that’s how it is. Then, of course, there came a time in my life when I was absolutely disconnected from all this reality, simply trying to resolve the financial situation.
News: What was he worth, since his profession had been put on hold?
Cepeda: Well, I had to do things: I sold the clothes, I sold the books, I sold the armchairs. I sold everything I had. My sisters helped me for a moment. They, the truth is, were firm with me, helping me in everything. My friends, my friends, I mean, I had help from the world.
News: Do you sometimes suffer from loneliness but you are never so alone?
Cepeda: There is always a fairly important support network, it happens that you think you are alone, but no, you are not. One really is not alone. And if you have the faith, even more so. Because that’s when many people appear that you have no idea about. Many miracles happened to me.
News: The last big turning point in your life was when you were diagnosed with melanoma about 6 years ago?
Cepeda: That’s how it is.
News: There she promised: “If I’m still alive, I’m going to live happy and different, lighter, less stressed.” Were you able to fulfill that purpose?
Cepeda: Yes of course.
News: How did he do it?
Cepeda: It’s a process, it’s not that you do it and promise it happens from one day to the next, no. Obviously, I have an amazing therapist, who has helped me a lot. I have also sought in many places to try to improve myself, I have done everything to improve internally, to try to heal wounds. I believe that one does not finish healing, one continues healing for the rest of one’s life. But I decided to try to have a better, calmer life, more to laugh, more to have a good time, more to enjoy it. Obviously there are stressful moments, I’m not saying no. But in those moments I remember and say: “I am here, in this moment, here I am.” It is not such an easy process, but it is a process in which you do have to be persistent.
News: There is a level of trust, of “if this is happening, somehow I will have the tools.” It’s an interesting tension between how much we can do and how much we have to slack off to keep it happening.
Cepeda: Look, there was a time when I was angry, annoyed, when they told me: “You change and the rest will change.” And all of a sudden I find myself in this situation where, well, I had to change and I made changes. I had to make changes. I had a spiritual slump for about a year in which I was involved in doing everything: masses, confessions, meditation, whatever you want, I did. And at a certain moment, the magic happens, everything begins to change. I also changed managers in my profession, it was a very big step. There are certain changes that you have to make in your life. And, from there, when you do it internally, you make decisions and that’s how they led me to return, thank God.
News: Was the first internal situation to dismantle to get out of the role of victim?
Cepeda: Yes, you say: “How come I put myself in that role!”
News: From that he built a very different love bond.
Cepeda: Of course, of course, everything changes for you. The only thing you have to do is first see what doesn’t work for you in your life. When you start to make that type of change, suddenly people or situations appear to you: a new job appears, if you are worried about finances; If you are worried about loneliness, suddenly you meet someone cool for you; That is, if you are worried about a thousand things, suddenly things start to appear. But it’s after you make those blessed changes yourself.
Lorna married Juan David Morelli, a Colombian businessman she met during the pandemic, in a very intimate, and almost improvised, ceremony on the beaches of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
News: How does love live today?
Cepeda: Happy, from a totally different point.
News: How long have you been married?
Cepeda: It’s been 3 years, but we’ve been together for 6.
News: It’s not much, but it’s a new life that coincides with your internal transformation, right?
Cepeda: Of course, we had to go through things too, eh, but today we have a real relationship. Thank God, I am very happy.
Thanks: Fashion designer @sergio_tiradomexico; Hair and make-up @nevarezubaldo_
