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«The ‘promo’ is harder than recording the documentary». Andrew Pajares he shows signs of exhaustion before starting the interview but his words brim with enthusiasm when he begins to recall a career full of successes and anecdotes: he was plagiarized by Mel Brooks, turned down Kirk Douglas, requested the Goya for Mariano Ozores… We talked to him about the premiere of ‘Pajares & CIA’, the documentary series
ATRESplayer PREMIUM that reviews the trajectory of a man who is living history of Spain.
– ‘Pajares & CIA’ brings together a host of great names in Spanish cinema: Antonio Resines, David Trueba, José Sacristán, Javier Cámara, Concha Velasco, Carmen Maura… How does it feel to see so many colleagues claiming their figure?
– That’s the title company. Actually, I haven’t seen the documentary yet. I’m going to see it on Sunday at the premiere. I would say that it is practically a trailer of my professional life because we would need six hours or so to tell it well. What has moved me the most is that there have been so many colleagues, some with whom I have worked and others with whom I have not, who have been kind enough to give their opinion of me. Luis Miguel Dominguín already said it: “Let them talk about one, even if it’s good.”
– The documentary starts with some images showing the harassment you suffered from the press in the 90s and at the beginning of the century…
– Don’t tell me that the documentary starts like this?
– Yes, but don’t worry because it’s a very short part. Do you feel that that stage in which you became the protagonist of gossip magazines has been left behind and that now you are only known again for your acting career?
– In ’91 precisely I picked up a lot of awards for ‘Ay, Carmela!’. What I remember from that time is the good. I think the 90s were the best of my life professionally. As for the rest, everyone has ups and downs, good things and bad things. But that must be forgotten and we must keep the good. Above all, I stay with my job, which is what I like most in life: working and dedicating myself to this.
– You were always a stage animal. Now that you work less, do you miss contact with the public?
– I have a personal show of about an hour and 45 minutes that I do from time to time. When they call me for a gala, I do it and then I go back home. That’s how I take off my monkey and, besides, you have to keep eating because this is not Hollywood. What I do not do is a comedy or a musical because I am not in conditions. I’ve had four back operations and I have more irons than the Terminator. Whistle at airports. I don’t have the strength that Arturo Fernández had, for example.
– She began her career as an artist singing in a women’s orchestra. How were those beginnings?
– That’s how it is. He worked in front of Chicote. At that time there was a bar of young ladies who socialized downstairs or made their contacts and such. So there was an orchestra and I sang, and I also sang with the mother of my son, may she rest in peace. I met the sea working. The first time I left Madrid was working first in the show of the Vuelta Ciclista a España and then later with this women’s orchestra. They were charming, they had me in palms and I was like their child.
– Then he goes to Radio Madrid, where he coincides with one of his greatest references in the world of comedy: Luis Sánchez Polack (Tip). What memories do you have of that time?
– Tip and Coll, apart from being great, were an example of democracy. Because Tip was on the right and Coll was on the left but they got along perfectly and loved each other very much. And the result was great because I think they were the best couple that there has been within the absurd. Personally, the personal affection was with Tip. On Radio Madrid they were Tip and Top but Joaquín Portillo had to take care of his wife, who was disabled, and so he found another partner. They really were great. I think they’re the best comic couple I’ve ever met.
– You also formed an iconic couple with Fernando Esteso. The nine films that you starred in together achieved tremendous success but neither Fernando nor you made much money from them…
– We charge around 500,000 pesetas per film. To earn a little more, we invested 10% in production. But the truth is that we have seen little of that money. It is unfortunate. On the other hand, the good thing is that there are already four generations of people who have seen those movies. What’s more, recently some of my films have been remastered. There are few actors who have had so much affection from the public and that is thanks to those very funny movies that I have made with both Fernando and myself. And then there has been another type of cinema such as ‘¡Ay, Carmela!’, ‘Grandes occasions’, ‘Makinavaja’, the films I have made with Berlanga and Garci… I have worked with very interesting people, true geniuses.
– How were the filming of Mariano Ozores’ comedies?
– They were very funny. We had a great time during the shoot. Mariano shot with two cameras: normally, one against Fernando and the other against me. They were shot in four weeks but, as we were going so fast, by the time we got to the third week we were almost done. Then Mariano told us to go slowly so as not to stay a week without getting paid. Then everyone did their work more slowly to cover the time of the eight hours of filming.
– Was the Goya of Honor awarded to Mariano Ozores in 2016 a vindication of those films?
– Don Mariano Ozores is the man who knows the most about comedy in this country. Now he is very old because he is already over 90 years old. From time to time I call him and he sends me a little kiss. Another friend to whom I send a warm hug is Antonio Resines, who is having a hard time. I went to see him personally when he was president of the Film Academy and I told him: «Antonio, don’t you think that Mariano, with more than 100 films directed and almost all of them being very successful, doesn’t deserve a Goya de Honor?». He told me that I was absolutely right and that year he was awarded the Goya.
– What do you think when you hear someone say that those movies were sexist?
– It’s bullshit. It is as absurd as the humor of Tip and Coll. It has nothing to do with sex or machismo. We didn’t invent the nude either. Before us there were the films made by Landa, López Vázquez or Sacristán in which naked girls and sex scenes appeared. It’s curious. In any case, the first ones who criticized those absurd nudes were us. It seemed stupid to me but in those days people wanted to see nudes and, if not, they went to Perpignan to see it. The movies had nothing to do with sex. They were all about humor, about laughter.
– Among your fans there are some illustrious names. For example, Mel Brooks…
– It was a very funny anecdote. I met Mel Brooks in a hotel in Marbella. There was a gala dinner because he was going to premiere ‘The crazy, crazy adventures of Robin Hood’. When he saw me, he hugged me and started shouting: “Christopher Columbus!” I was trying to tell him that he had just won the best actor award at the Montreal Film Festival for ‘¡Ay, Carmela!’ but he only wanted to talk about ‘Christopher Columbus, by trade discoverer’ and ‘The magic garter belt’. Soon after, I was able to see ‘The crazy, crazy adventures of Robin Hood’ and all the gags of ‘Christopher Columbus, by trade discoverer’ appeared there.
– One of his most remembered roles is that of ‘Ay, Carmela!’, which earned him the Goya among other awards. Is it the performance you’re most proud of?
– It’s a very nice job. Azcona’s script changed the theatrical essence of the play. Doing that and turning it into a tragicomedy seemed like some of my best work. Perhaps not the most difficult because, with a director like Saura and colleagues like Carmen Maura and Gabino Diego, I had everything going for me. If I had done it wrong, it was to kill me. Perhaps the most difficult interpretation was ‘Makinavaja, the last choriso’ because giving life to a cartoon from the magazine El Jueves was difficult, especially because of the language.
– He was about to work with Pedro Almodóvar in ‘High heels’. Are you sorry that it didn’t end up happening or do you just remember it as an anecdote?
– I just pass the word.
– Watching ‘Pajares & CIA’, you give the impression that you are a well-liked person within the industry. Have you had any enemies in Spanish cinema?
– No. I’ve only bumped into a rude guy who’s teased me, but nothing more. Other than that, I haven’t had any enemies. I don’t have a bad memory of anyone I’ve ever worked with.
– I’m sure you haven’t been short of offers to work abroad. Why has it never crossed the pond?
– Because my America was in Spain. And because my English was not perfect, although I defend myself. I was very well here and I did not lack work. Yes there were offers. For example, one with Kirk Douglas. It would have been a pleasure to be at his side, but I didn’t like the part, even if it was Kirk Douglas. The film was released in August and was only in the Cine Capitol for a week, so I was right. But I have had offers, especially through Miami.
– I understand that he is a great cinephile. Are you still going to the movies on a regular basis since the pandemic started?
– Undoubtedly. I still go to the movies, although less than before because I’m afraid. But I watch a lot of movies at home, especially Spanish ones. Precisely today my wife is helping me vote in the Goya, which is the last day for voting.
– Although you can’t reveal your votes, can you say which are your favourites?
– Well, there is a good work by Javier Bardem (‘The good boss’) and also an excellent work by Javier Gutiérrez (‘The daughter’). And there are films by very young people that seem quite good to me and that will become important in the cinema. I think that the great winner may be ‘The good boss’ but maybe I’m wrong. Also, I am very fond of Fernando León de Aranoa. When I saw ‘Familia’, I wrote to congratulate him, and then he called me and reminded me that we had worked together on four episodes of ‘Ay, Señor, Señor!’, a series I did in the 90s. I didn’t remember his Name. He is a guy who writes and directs very well.
– You also took your first steps in directing. He co-directed a film (‘Desmadre matrimonial’) and a short film (‘Náufragos’).
– Yes. I presented the short film in Los Angeles. I remember that I met Amenábar on the plane. There was an important applause and a whisper at the end of the projection. It’s a good job: I wrote it, directed it and starred in it. He is my son and I love him. I shot it in a week, on the subway, with a great actress.
– Have you been wanting to direct a feature film alone?
– I would have to be very intimate because I wouldn’t know where to put the camera. Making a movie is not easy. It is very difficult.
– Do you consider yourself a nostalgic person? Do you have many memories of your career: photographs, awards, autographs…?
– A lot of. If you want to come to my house one day, I’ll invite you to a coffee and I’ll show you. I don’t know where to put them anymore. There are many and they are very endearing. The last one was the award for my entire career that the AISGE gave me a few months ago at the Alcalá Theater.
‘Pajares & CIA’ premieres this Sunday, January 23 on ATRESplayer PREMIUM.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism