Had you ever imagined interpreting the life of someone linked to faith?
To tell you the truth, it's not the first time I play someone who has something to do with the Church. At the age of 15, I did theater in the chapel that my mother attended and I played some saints, such as Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, among others. And then - how life is, eh - more than fifty years later I find myself face to face with Artemide Zatti.
What did you feel after Fr Campoli's call that confirmed you for this role?
Well, when Ricardo called me, I had a terrible fear. It was a challenge and a great responsibility. I have played many characters throughout my life, but this was special. Zatti's person and his story generated something different in me.
How was the process of getting into the character?
At the beginning I studied his history, his life, and it was not very difficult to get into his essence: he was a man who did everything with love, a gaze, a gesture, a word. This was my challenge, to get in touch with the essence of Zatti, which also implied getting in touch with those values that many times have been relegated or asleep in my life. One gives priority to other things without realizing that what is true is being with the other, concerning oneself with the other, taking care of them. Feel and offer that love. I tried to get in touch with these realities, and then also the professionalism of the other actors helped me to deepen my character.
How did you stay in character day by day?
Theater is different from cinema: in theater, you have to live the "here and now" while acting with that scenic “on-stage” truth. Instead in the cinema, there's a camera, it's not the same thing; but seeing the context, working with the actors, and the care of the technicians helped me a lot to get into the character. The love and care of the other were an essential part of daily acting.
In Luis Manchini's life, does Zatti's life still have an impact?
Of course, and in many things. Especially in what this man was looking for, to get in touch with love with the people around me. I see it even more now, in these moments that we have to live, in which nurses – out of pure vocation - leave everything to serve in hospitals.
Carlos Llorens
